Saturday night will be a time to raise funds for the current Carson High School football program as well as a time to reminisce about some old times when former players Rick Redican, Bob Frank and Dan "Sonny" Allen join coach Ed Jesse as inductees into the school's Football Hall of Fame.
The Adeles Dinner Dance, hosted by the Carson High Football Boosters Club, starts at 6 p.m. at Adeles. The dinner, silent auction and induction ceremony are part of a show that serves as a fund-raiser for the Carson football program.
Some old memories will be shared. Some good memories. Just ask Allen, a standout running back and linebacker for the Senators during the 1967 and '68 seasons.
"It was a lot of fun, there were a lot of great people," said Allen, who was better known as "Sonny" in high school. "What could possibly be better than to be a kid playing football?
"It was just a wonderful time," he went on. "It seemed like Carson had a gnarly attitude when it came to football. We weren't a big school - there were 200 kids in my graduating class (1969) - but we would lock horns with anybody in the state."
The Senators won the 2A state title in 1964 with a regular-season ending 14-7 victory at home against Fallon - a game that hung in the balance with less than a minute remaining when John Gamble forced a fumble and Ed Corda recovered the loose ball at the 4 to preserve the win. Carson lost its season opener to Yerington 25-7, then ripped off six straight wins en route to its championship.
The Senators actually went on to win 13 straight games over a span of two seasons before ending 1965 with back-to-back losses - 26-21 against 3A power Sparks and then 20-7 against Fallon (after Carson had lost six starters due to disciplinary reasons earlier in the week).
Frank was an all-state lineman for Carson teams that won back-to-back state titles in 1955 and '56. Redican played three varsity seasons and was part of a Carson squad that lost to Basic in the 1960 state championship game in Henderson.
Bob Frank
A 1957 Carson graduate who played four varsity football seasons. He was a two-way starter as a junior and senior for Carson's state championship teams of 1955 and '56. He played as a guard in Carson's Single-wing offense and as a defensive tackle - and received all-state honors at both positions. He played two more seasons at Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif., and later served as Washoe Tribe Chairman. Frank now lives in Towaoc, Colo., where he works in construction.
Rick Redican
A 1963 Carson graduate who played three varsity seasons, two for coach Harry Dickson and as his senior season for Ed Jesse. Redican played as a 6-foot-1, 165-pound defensive end at Carson. He later played as a walk-on at the University of Nevada, where he started at defensive end as a senior. He graduated from Nevada in 1968 and went on to work 33 years in the Carson City School District, starting as a Carson Middle School teacher and finishing as a vice-principal at Bordewich-Brey Elementary. He is the current principal at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic School in Carson City.
Dan "Sonny" Allen
A 1969 Carson graduate who started at fullback and inside linebacker as a junior and senior and he was an all-state linebacker as a senior. In back-to-back weeks that season, the 5-10, 200-pound Allen returned a kickoff 85 yards for a TD in a 41-33 win over Reno, then the next week, he rushed for 153 yards and two TDs in a 43-14 win over Boulder City. Allen went on to the University of Nevada, where he was a four-year starter. Allen now lives in Fallon and has served as an appraiser for the office of the Churchill County Assessor since 1993. He also serves as a Paiute-Shoshone Tribe Council member. His son, Chandler Allen, was a basketball standout at Carson; and his nephew, Jamie Green, now plays on the Carson varsity football team.
Ed Jesse
Spent four seasons as Carson's head coach between 1962 and '65, during which time the Senators won one state championship, missed a second title by the one-point loss to Fallon and narrowly missed taking a yet another title shot in '65. Jesse, 73, is now retired and living in Reno. He has five children - Rett, Ward, Kirk, Claire and Helaine. One grandson, Tyler Jesse, played football at Carson two years ago and another, Ryan Jesse, will play for the Senators this fall.
n Contact Dave Price at dprice@nevadaappeal.com
PAST INDUCTEES
2000: John Sullivan, Chet Wood, coach Pep Martin
2001: Tom Pardini, Ross DeLipkau
2002: John Gamble, Ed Yuill, Mert Baxter
2003: Mike Baxter, Mike Miller, Dale Saunders
2004: Pat Bacon, Bill Hoffman, Gary Bushman
2005: Bob Frank, Sonny Allen, Rick Redican, coach Ed Jesse
