It still took another nine years to reach the top, but the year after upsetting Berkeley, Alameda came in 3rd in the ACAL; their best league finish to-date.  Then, the following year, they came in second. A few more second place finishes followed until November 1949 when the Hornets finished the season tied with their former nemesis Berkeley for the ACAL Title.

From that point on -- for the next 30 years -- the Alameda Hornets would rack up an amazing list of achievements, including:

• 12 ACAL Championships (1949, '54, '56, '59, '60, '62, '67, '68, '69, '71, '78 & '80) 
• 8 Second place finishes (1953, '55, '58, '61, '63, '64, '65 & '73) 
• 1956 team voted "Best NorCal Team" ever (to-date) 
• 6 NorCal Championships (1956, '62, '67, '68, '69 & '78)
• 1 State Championship in 1968 (plus one 2nd-in-the-State ['69] and one 3rd-in-the-State Ranking['67])
• Ranked #23 in the Nation (1968)
• 7 undefeated seasons 
• 3 undefeated seasons in a row
• The longest winning streak in California up to that time: 35 games

And while it's difficult to compare teams (with different schedules and different levels of competition) one team stands out as the best Alameda High team ever:  The 1968 Hornets.

The 1968 Season - A Look Back

THE TEAM

The success of the '68 season was not a surprise.  Going in, they knew they had a great team.  The previous season the Hornets had gone undefeated (9-0), had won the league championship and were ranked #3 in the state.  They had 16 players returning from that 1967 team, plus a number of very good prospects moving up from a JV team that had gone 7-1 the previous year.  

Everything was in place for a run at the state title; now all that was left was to channel the will, the focus and determination needed to make it happen.

THE COACH

Coach Forrest Klein began his career at Alameda as an assistant under former Head Coach Chuck Butler, who had brought AHS it's first undisputed ACAL Crown in 1954.  Klein took over the head coaching duties in 1960 and brought home not only a League Championship, but an undefeated record in that first season. 

By most recollections, Forrest Klein was a focused, determined task master, but he cared about his players and pushed them hard to make them their best.

Dennis Peterson (TE/LB, '68) recalled, "Coach Klein was a fierce competitor who coached with great passion. I believe much of his success was due to the great assistants he had and his ability to oversee their coaching. He was extremely organized during all of his practices with very little wasted time when we were on the field. Times have changed and I'm not sure some of his coaching techniques would be acceptable today, but it's very hard to argue with success. When I was an underclassman, I remember Coach Klein as a very scary and intimidating man. I later grew to understand his intimidating style and respected it."

In his nine years as head coach at Alameda, Klein turned an already impressive football program, into a regional powerhouse, amassing 5 League Championships (as well as 4 second-place finishes) 4 NorCal Championships, 1 State Championship and all but 4 victories in a 35-game winning streak that was, to-that-date, the longest in the state.  

For his accomplishments in 1968, Coach Klein was selected ACAL Coach of the Year (his second such honor in a row).

And while the players were certainly the heart and soul of the 1968 team, Forrest Klein was the master architect.

THE RECORD

It's hard to improve on perfection.  The 1967 team had gone 9-0 and won the ACAL crown.  So what was the goal for 1968?  To repeat of course.  But in doing so, the '68 Hornets not only repeated, going 9-0 and retaining the ACAL crown, but they also did it in record fashion.  The 1968 Hornets put together a string of impressive victories that amassed a school record 348 cumulative point total for the season.

Here's the game-by-game breakdown of how they set that record:

THE AWARDS

NOTE:  Detailed records regarding Hornet history have been hard to find, so we've pieced together this information like a jigsaw puzzle with a lot of missing pieces.  If you see any information that appears inaccurate, or you have information that will fill in some missing gaps, please feel free to notify us so we can update the website accordingly.  Thank you.

** Hornet Scoring Record:  The 1968 Hornet squad still holds the Varsity scoring record 
for Alameda High (348).  However, the 2002 Frosh Hornets had a great season themselves, 
going 9-0 and amassing a new school record 406 point total.
[ Other Records ]