![]() Much of that tradition and the foundation of Norco football’s success was instilled by Gary Campbell, who arrived at the school in 1970 after one season as head coach at Banning. Now, it’s the last thing you want to hear.” “At the time you played, you love that stuff. ![]() “I keep telling my kids they’re going to hear people on one side yell, ‘ We are,’ and people on the other side yell, ‘ Norco,’” Steve Campbell said. Of course, for the visiting team that can be an issue, no matter how much their coach might be considered part of the family. “It’s very much a town atmosphere, a town feeling, something the whole community is behind, and that’s what makes it special.” It was an honor to wear that jersey around school, around the town, to represent something that had been started years and years before. “I know the community has grown, but back then on Friday night that was what people did. “It’s like a little piece of Texas in the middle of Southern California,” Steve Campbell said in a phone conversation from Arizona. Current players or coaches might have had dads or granddads play for Norco, and the lore and tradition and heritage have been handed down from one generation to the next. The football field (as well as Hillside Ave., which overlooks the east sideline) remains the community’s gathering place on Friday nights. In fact, Steve Campbell was Chastain’s quarterback tutor when on break from Arizona State, where he was a backup from 1995-98.Įven though there are now five high school football programs in the Corona-Norco district, as opposed to just two when Campbell first got there in 1970, the town still identifies with the team. He helped win a CIF title for Gary Campbell in 1998 after Steve’s teams won championships in 1992 and ’93. Chastain played quarterback for Gary Campbell, as did his dad. Want more? Standing across the field, on the home sideline, will be Chuck Chastain, Norco’s head coach. Gary Campbell will be on the premises Friday night, and he and Steve will participate in the induction of the newest members of the Norco High Athletic Hall of Fame. The game will be played on Gary Campbell Field, renamed in 2009 to honor the coach who won 276 games and three CIF titles in 34 seasons at Norco before retiring after the 2003 season. The Black Hawks are coached by Steve Campbell, who not only played at Norco but grew up around the program as the son of iconic Cougars coach Gary Campbell. When Williams Field High of Gilbert, Ariz., plays its Week 0 football opener Friday night at Norco, it will be a homecoming. ![]() It may not exactly be an “only in Norco” moment, but it will be pretty close. ![]()
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