On opening night of another Vaquero football campaign, members from the 1982 WSC and Mission Bowl championship team gathered at La Playa stadium for some nostalgia.

Mark Crane, 1982 team member and uncle of Vaquero women’s basketball forward Sarah Crane, helped organize the event.

“We all love each other, we played ball together, and we battled together, we all wish we could play together again right now.” Crane said.

Former players acted as if 1982 was a few days ago, calling each other by old nicknames like Lizard, Diaper Baby and Coon Dog, while joking and laughing with their old coaches and chowing on tri-tip.

“It’s always the best thing as a coach to keep in contact with all your former players,” legendary City College coach Bob Dinaberg said. “With social media now it’s much easier, it was very special to spend time with these guys again.”

Dinaberg coached the Vaqueros from 1969- 1986, winning 9 conference championships, earning berths to five bowl games and posting an unprecedented .780 winning percentage.

City College honored the team during half time of Friday night’s game against Hancock.