Imagine more than 14,000 fans at Long Beach Veterans Stadium rabidly cheering for a high school football game that didn’t even involve Long Beach-area schools!
It happened regularly in the 1970s and 1980s when Banning High and Carson High’s teams – the Pilots and the Colts – squared off in their annual Marine League showdown.
To understand the feverish nature of this rivalry, a little background on the schools is required.
Banning High, named for shipping magnate Phineas Banning, first opened to students in Wilmington in 1926. After suffering damage during the 1971 earthquake, the school was rebuilt in its present form on Lakme Ave. in Wilmington, opening in 1975.
Carson High opened in 1963, mainly to ease overcrowding at Gardena, Narbonne and especially Banning high schools. Both Carson and Banning were part of Los Angeles Unified School District, as neither Carson nor Wilmington had its own school district.
As a result, both Carson and Banning were in the same sports league, the Marine League of the Los Angeles City Section of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). The two schools are just over two miles apart from each other.
Banning football coach Gene Vollnogle added to the intrigue by moving from his successful post there to accept the Carson High head coaching job when the school opened in 1963. He told Daily Breeze sportswriter Dan McLean in 1967 that he made the move because “it was a challenge. We (Banning) were at the top and I wanted to see if I could do it again.”
After a couple of building years, he would go on to do it again during the next two decades, the golden age of the Banning-Carson football rivalry. His Colts defeated Banning five straight years from 1965-69.
But Banning’s on-field fortunes would improve with the elevation of Chris Ferragamo to head coach in 1969. One of Ferragamo’s players that year was his brother, Vince, a sophomore quarterback, who was 15 years younger than Chris.
Banning reversed the trend, winning the Oct. 16,1970, game with Carson in a 35-34 thriller. Vince Ferragamo threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more, and the rivalry was on.
No less a high school sports authority than Cal-Hi Sports has called the following year’s Nov. 13, 1971, meeting between Carson and Banning “one of the greatest regular season games in state history.” That same site also voted that 12-0 Carson state champion team the best team in L.A. City Section high school football history.
The game was played at Long Beach Veterans Stadium on a Saturday afternoon. Daily Breeze sports reporter Richard Blue described it well: “The lead changed hands four times, the score was tied twice, there were five touchdown passes, two PAT kicks that were partially blocked but still good, a touchdown that wasn’t, five lost fumbles, nearly 800 yards total offense and the winning score came with just 36 seconds left in the game.”
Carson ended up winning the wild battle, 29-28, despite four touchdown passes from Banning QB Vince Ferragamo. Carson countered with QB Doug Ellison and future NFL star wide receiver Wesley Walker. Down 28-21, Carson scored a late touchdown and running back Jim Vaipou ran in a two-point conversion to put the Colts ahead for good.
Carson went on to beat Banning four more times in a row, but Banning turned the tables later in the decade with five straight wins of its own.
The early 1980s were fiercely competitive, with Banning coming out on top more often during the decade’s first half.
In 1980, Banning standout running back Michael Alo became the only player in school history to win National Player of the Year honors. In fact, the 1980 Banning team was voted second best in L.A City Section history in the same Cal-Hi Sports poll that put the 1971 Carson team in the top spot. Unfortunately, Alo later suffered a career-ending injury that kept him from making the NFL.
Several key players in the Banning-Carson series did make it to the big leagues. Banning’s Vince Ferragamo went on to a pro career with the Los Angeles Rams that included a starring role in the 1979 Super Bowl, which the Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Carson’s Wesley Walker had a long and successful career with the New York Jets. Running back Freeman McNeil, a mid-1970s star for Banning, went on to a successful pro career, also with the New York Jets, after a standout four years with the UCLA Bruins.
Carson coach Gene Vollnogle retired in 1990 after winning more than 300 games and 10 L.A. City Championships during his career. He died in 2017, and the Carson High football stadium subsequently was renamed in his honor.
Chris Farragamo retired as Banning coach after his second stint there ended in 2017. He currently is an assistant coach at New Mexico Highlands University. The Banning High football stadium was later renamed Chris Ferragamo Stadium.
The Banning-Carson rivalry is alive and well, though perhaps not burning with quite the intensity it once did. Carson has dominated in the 2000s, at one point winning 16 straight games against Banning.
The next installment of the big game takes place at Vollnogle Stadium in Carson on Oct.17, 2025.
Sources:
Cal-Hi Sports.com website.
Daily Breeze archives.
Los Angeles Times archives.
Carson-Banning Rivalry, 1963-1990
Year – Winner – Score
(Asterisk indicates L.A. City Championship game between the two teams.)
1990 Carson 41-14
1989 Carson 41-0
1988* Carson 55-7
1988 Carson 24-13
1987 Carson 35-7
1986* Carson 21-11
1986 Banning 37-10
1985* Banning 31-6
1985 Carson 6-0
1984* Carson 33-20
1984 Banning 28-7
1983* Banning 30-29
1983 Carson 14-12
1982 Banning 14-3
1981* Banning 21-14
1981 Carson 13-12
1980+ Banning 26-0
1980 Banning 26-14
1979* Banning 14-13
1979 Banning 28-23
1978* Banning 7-6
1978 Carson 6-3
1977 Banning 38-7
1976 Banning 41-13
1975 Carson 27-20
1974 Carson 28-0
1973 Carson 11-9
1972 Carson 26-6
1971 Carson 29-28
1970 Banning 35-34
1969 Carson 42-3
1968 Carson 48-6
1967 Carson 40-7
1966 Carson 40-21
1965 Carson 28-0
1964 Banning 33-14
1963 Banning 26-14
* — L.A. City championship + — L.A. City semifinals Longest Carson win streak: 6 (1986-90). Longest Banning win streak: 5 (1978-80). Cumulative score: Carson 815 (22.0), Banning 634 (17.1).
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