Scholarship Trophy

Scholarship Recipients

                2005        Ryan Hedberg       Corey Schmidt         Brendon Winslow

                2006        Josh Gonzalez       Ryan Harvey            Addison Randall

                2007        Matt Altieri            Dan Finlay                Cameron Nagle

                2010        Sam Welch            LaRoy Jones             Tyler Gilmore

Coach Ira “Red” Finney Scholarship

A new tradition at Dixon High School began in the spring of 2005 by recognizing the efforts and sacrifices athletes make in pursuit of furthering their educational and career goals.  The DHS Football Staff initiated a scholarship trophy on behalf of all DHS football coaches…past, present, and future.  The trophy is appropriately named after Dixon’s legendary Head Football Coach Ira “Red” Finney who led the Rams to 10 League Championships and two Section Championships during his 21 years of coaching football.  His drive for excellence was an inspiration to his players and contributed to their success later in life.  A trophy in his honor will remain on permanent display at Dixon High School with the names of each year’s scholarship recipients. 

Coach Finney began coaching and teaching at DHS in 1950 where he amassed an impressive 126-49-5 record in football.  In addition to his duties as DHS Athletic Director for 19 years, “Red” coached football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis for a combined 27 league championships at the varsity level and seven more championships at the JV/Frosh levels.  He also taught U.S. History, world history and health education at DHS.  In 1958, his football squad received the San Francisco Examiner trophy, which is awarded to the best small schools in Northern California.  His ’71 - ’72 teams featured running back Robby Robbens who gained more than 5,000 yards rushing in his career at DHS; including 23 touchdowns his senior year.  In 1973, “Red” was selected to coach in the inaugural Solano County All-Star game where he and six DHS players won handily 40-2.  Also coaching that game was Vacaville’s Tom Zunino, who became close friends with “Red”.  Although their teams didn’t play each other annually, Tom still considers Coach Finney one of the most “highly respected coaches in the area”.  Another career highlight was the 30-10 victory over a bigger Central Catholic of Modesto in 1974, earning DHS their second sectional championship in four years.

“Red” started his coaching career at UC Berkeley where he played baseball, then served as an assistant coach.  His first job after leaving the Golden Bears was coaching and teaching at DHS.  Little did “Red” and his wife Mary realize they would spend their next 40 years in the small town of Dixon.  Little did they realize the impact Coach Finney would have on his athletes, many of whom still live in Dixon, such as UC Berkeley standout and former 49er--Ted Seifert.  Despite Coach Finney’s laundry list of achievements, he was quick to acknowledge the work of his colleagues in an article culminating his career at DHS.  He selflessly stated, “I was always fortunate in our football program to have dedicated and knowledgeable coaches who were Arch Yelle, Chuck Ary, Del Holly, Bruce Jones, Steve Horowitz, Paul Newchock, and Dom Traverso.”  In appreciation for his service to the community and dedication to high school athletics, scholarships are presented in Coach Finney's honor at the annual Golf Tournament.

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Last modified: 07/27/11