CHARLES KIMBLE
Sophomore season
The team finished with a record of 4-5, but that was largely due to the fact five or six sophomores at a time were in the starting lineup. The season previously was the first time the huge majority of the now sophomore players had ever worn a football uniform. There was no youth football in Benicia at that time. In Grammar School we only played flag football. However, there was some foundation work done in preparation for the following high school years as those boys were on championship teams as seventh and eighth graders.
Charles Kimble did not start in the first game of the season, a 19-7 loss to Courtland. However, he was later praised in an article for his performance as one of the new faces in the lineup.
He was cited for good defensive play in the 15-0 loss to Livermore.
In the 31-7 victory over Amador of Pleasanton in the third game of the season he caught a 25 yard touchdown pass from Dean Croney in the first quarter. Willie Castillo passed to Kimble for a PAT in the second quarter. Those were the only points Kimble scored on the season.
For the Davis game, a 26-6 loss, Kimble was the starting left end. He was 5′-10″ tall and weighed 167 pounds.
For the fifth game of the season, a 33-0 loss to Galt, Kimble was switched from left end to right end. On defense he was now playing “corner linebacker” and was stated in a newspaper article to have been a standout.
The Lincoln game was a 45-13 win. Kimble was cited for a good defensive game. He was stated to be a “hard hitting sophomore”. It was Benicia’s “best defensive game of the season,” Coach Goettel. (Source, The Benician, November 14, 1958) Kimble was the only sophomore starter in this game.
Benicia defeated Folsom 27-13 in the seventh game of the season. Benicia was behind in the game 6-0 at halftime. Kimble was one of the players cited for outstanding defensive play.
The next to last game was a 25-8 loss to Vacaville.
From the Oct. 12, 1958 issue of The Benician:
“KIMBLE SHINES
However, there were bright spots for the Panther rooters. Charlie Kimble, the quick-as-a-cat sophomore end stood out on defense as he hauled down Vaca ball carriers all night long.
Kimble played end and linebacker, caught three passes, and made seven of the first nine tackles for Benicia
Kimble was named on the San Francisco Examiner “Team of the Week” for his play against Vacaville, a 26-8 Benicia loss.
St. Vincent’s was the last game of the season, a 25-7 Benicia win. Kimble was named as one of the three co-captains for the team that game. The St. Vincent’s star running back was held to 19 yards on 18 carries. Kimble was stated to have been a standout in the game by the Benicia High School newspaper “The Prowling Panther”. (Source, November 25, 1958)
Charles Kimble was awarded Honorable Mention status on defense on the All Mid-Valley selections list.
From the Nov. 25, 1958 edition of Benicia High School’s then-newspaper The Prowling Panther:
“Kimble’s name will be placed on the award blanket which hangs in the main hallway. He is the first sophomore ever to receive this honor in football.”
Coach Phil Goettel was the teacher/adviser for the school newspaper and approved what was printed in it. Thus, I have to go along with the quote being correct. It could be argued that Harry Shoup was actually the first sophomore to receive the award, but perhaps Coach Goettel considered him to be a junior at that time since he was ineligible to play in what would have been his senior season.

Junior season
Charles Kimble was listed as a halfback standing 5′-11″ tall and weighing 184 pounds.
The team’s record was 8-1 with the only loss coming by seven points in a non-league game. They won the championship of the Mid-Valley Conference.
Kimble was unable to play in the first three games of the season, including the loss, because he had injured a wrist in practice.
In the 21-19 win over Galt, the first league game of the season, Kimble carried the ball 22 times for 119 yards ands two touchdowns. The first touchdown was on a three yard run and the second on a run of seven yards. The game was stated to have been an upset win by Benicia.
The second league game was against Vacaville on Sanborn Field. Benicia won 19-6. It was stated to have been another upset.
Vacaville had one of the top rushers and scorers in Northern California in the presence of Ron Minamide both this season and the following year. He ran for at least 1515 yards and scored 122 points on the season. However, he gained 365 yards and scored 37 points against Davis in a 53-20 rout.
Minamide ran 62 yards for a touchdown on his first carry of the evening against Benicia and had another run for 24 yards before halftime, but that is about all he gained.
Vacaville ran for only 15 yards net rushing in the second half. Kimble was a huge factor in the lack of offensive production by Vacaville. Kimble carried the ball 23 times for 178 yards. He scored on two one yard runs.
The comparison of the two backs in that game is interesting.
Next, Benicia defeated Lincoln 52-7. Benicia only passed three times and completed each for a total of 66 yards. Kimble scored on a five yard run for the first score following a fumble recovery by Mike Connell. The second touchdown by Kimble was on a 45 yard run.
In the 35-0 victory over Davis, Kimble scored on 35 and 19 yard runs in the first quarter and a 69 yard run in the third quarter. Davis only got across the fifty yard line once and that was in the final minutes against Benicia’s reserves. Davis only gained 133 yards net.
The 12-6 defeat of Folsom on their field decided the championship. Kimble scored the first Benicia touchdown on a one yard run in the third period. Benicia gained 306 yards to Folsom’s 168.
At least one week before the last game of the season Kimble was named to the San Francisco Examiner’s Prep Honor Roll. (The compiler of this writing was also named to the list that week as a lineman, for his play at an end position.)
The last game of the season was a non-league 14-13 victory over St. Vincent’s of Vallejo (precursor to St. Patrick’s). Kimble did not score in that game.
In the six games Kimble played that season he gained 730 yards, scored 60 points, and caught two passes for a total of 17 yards. He was named the Most Valuable Player on the team. He was named to the All Mid-Valley team on both offense and defense.

Senior season
The team’s record was 8-1 and they won the championship of the Mid-Valley Conference for the second consecutive year. The only loss was in the second game of the season, a non-league game, against St. Vincent’s of Vallejo 19-12. St. Vincent’s was undefeated that season. Benicia scored 215 points on the season and allowed 71.
The lineup for the first game of the season, a 34-13 win over St. Elizabeth’s, showed Kimble as the starting fullback and weighing 175 pounds and standing 5’11” tall.
Kimble ran for 45 yards, caught three passes for 19 yards, scored a touchdown on a 4 yard run, and added two PAT’s against St. Vincent’s.
Benicia was behind 12-0 at the end of the third quarter at Corbus Field in Vallejo in the St. Vincent’s game. In the last quarter Benicia scored 12 points and St. Vincent’s scored 7. Kimble made the key blocks for Jim Wilson to gain 63 yards on eight carries on runs around the ends in the second half. Fred Haderman passed 8 yards to Kimble for a touchdown. Benicia gained 287 yards on the night, but 154 were gained in the last quarter. Benicia ran out of time. This season a “Player of the Week” was sponsored by Benicia clothiers Wilson and Wilson. Kimble was named the recipient for this game, though the contest was a Benicia loss.
In the Rio Vista game, a 20-0 victory on their field, Kimble scored the first touchdown on a four yard run and also scored the PAT. He gained 50 yards on 15 times carrying the ball. Benicia gained 275 yards on the ground. Kimble was moved to left linebacker for this game. Rio Vista won the championship of their league for the 1960 season. Rio Vista only netted 45 yards of offense against Benicia.
From Page 5 of the Oct. 14, 1960 edition of The Benician:
“KIMBLE TOP GAINER
“Charlie Kimble, ace Benicia back, was the top gainer during the evening with 61 yards for 11 totes. On two occasions it appeared the husky Panther might be on his way for a long break-away, but both times last ditch Swett tackling brought him down.” (Source, The Benician, page 5, October 14, 1960)
Benicia defeated John Swett by a score of 13-0.
The first league game of the season was against Galt in the Lodi Grape Bowl. Galt and Vacaville were favored to win the championship with Benicia coming in third. Benicia won 20-6 in what was described as an upset. Kimble, playing left linebacker, intercepted a pass on the two yard line and returned it 60 yards to the Galt 39 before being tackled. Benicia held Galt to 108 yards on the ground and 51 by passing.
The game against Davis was played on Sanborn Field and was a 44-20 victory for Benicia. Kimble received a cut on his face in the second quarter. Benicia was behind in the game 7-0 in less than three minutes. Jim Wilson ran around right end for an 85 yard touchdown. In a simply outstanding display of ability and desire, Kimble made the block at the corner to free Wilson around the end, got back to his feet, and made the final block downfield to free Wilson to enter the endzone untouched. Along with other carries, Kimble had runs of 10, 10, 17, 14, and 13 yards. Benicia gained 241 yards rushing.
With there being an open date on the schedule for both Benicia and Clarksburg, a game was set for the two teams to play at Sanborn Field. Benicia won the game 26-6. Charlie Kimble scored three touchdowns and was again the leader on defense. The first TD was on a 7 yard run. Then he caught a pass from Fred Haderman for the PAT. The next time Benicia had the ball they fumbled. A Clarksburg player returned the ball 69 yards to the Benicia five yard line before Kimble tackled him. Kimble’s next TD came on a 9 yard pass from Dean Croney. Then Kimble ran up the middle for the extra point. Kimble ran 34 yards on a draw play for his last touchdown of the evening. He carried the ball 11 times for 82 yards in the game.
Folsom was the next opponent. The game was played in front of 2,000 fans on Sanborn Field and Benicia won 40-7 in their Homecoming Game. Folsom had two of the biggest starting defensive linemen Benicia ever faced, with one weighing 245 pounds and the other weighing 280.
From Page 3 of the Nov. 4, 1960 edition of The Prowling Panther:
“Rain or shine, we look for a close game,” Panther coach Phil Goettel stated yesterday following the team’s ‘slightly damp workout.'”
Kimble intercepted a pass and returned it to the Folsom 15 yard line. He scored one PAT in the game.
The Vacaville game was played on their field and decided the championship. Benicia won 6-0. It was coach Goettel’s ninth championship in fourteen seasons. The leading player on the season for Vacaville was Ron Minamide. He missed two games. Going into the championship game he averaged 7.6 yards per carry, and had gained 1,038 rushing yards, and scoring 19 touchdowns while playing only six games. Against Benicia, Minamide carried the ball 26 times and gained a net of only 67 yards with his longest run being for 13 yards. He finished the season having scored 125 points.
For comparison, Kimble only carried the ball 15 times for a net total of 40 yards and played the entire game.
“Charley Kimble played a tremendous game at linebacker.” (Source: Coach Goettel, on the Vallejo Times-Herald sports page, November 16, 1960)
Kimble only scored 42 points on the season, and only caught 14 passes for 98 yards for a 4.5 average yards per carry, and two touchdowns. However he was most times the lead blocker for other backs who gained approximately 1,000 yards.
At the end of the season the 1960 team, was ranked ninth in Northern California, the only Benicia team to ever be ranked so high up to that time. In order, the teams were: Lodi, Marysville, Marshall, Orland, Chico, C. K. McClatchy, Weed, Woodland, Benicia, and Dunsmuir. I know of no other football team in the history of Benicia High School to ever be ranked at the end of the season. I’ve never read anything stating the 1953 team was ranked. There may have been some later, but I do not know.
As a freshman, Kimble was on the junior varsity. At the end of the season he was named the captain of the football team. There was no vote for a Most Valuable Player to be named for that team. Therefore, logic says that Kimble was the MVP. For the next three seasons on the varsity, 1958, 1959, and 1960, he was named the Most Valuable Player. Thus he was the MVP each of his four years. No player has ever come close to being honored in such a manner for playing football at Benicia High School.
Charles Kimble did not play baseball, preferring track instead. Along with running sprints and relays, he was also a high jumper and shot putter when needed. He also did not play basketball, though at 6’-0″ he could dunk a basketball.
As a senior he was named to the “All Mid-Valley Conference” football team by the Sacramento Bee. Kimble was also honored by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame at a banquet in San Francisco at the Marine Memorial Club. He was also named to the San Francisco Examiner’s “All Inland Empire” all-star team, gained “All Northern California Honorable Mention” nomination (from a school with an enrollment of 390!), Charles Kimble was nominated to play in both the Shriner’s all-star game in Los Angeles, and the Elks Valley classic in Lodi, but he declined the offers. He never played in a football game again. He matriculated through Cal-Berkeley and became a doctor.
From the June 22, 1961 edition of the Benicia Herald:
“He has been described by Phil Goettel, High School varsity football coach, as the school’s best player in the last ten years.”
Each of the backs written of previously was a fine athlete and fine competitor.

James M. Garrett has lived in Benicia his entire life, having graduated from Benicia High School in 1961. He retired after a 27-year career of teaching at BHS in 2000. He is the author of “One Great Season 9-0!,” “Benicia and Letters of Love,” “The Mansion Stories,” and the compiler of “The Golden Era,” a history of Benicia High School football from the 1948 through 1960 seasons. Contact him at Jgstoriesnpoetry@aol.com.

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