"How many people can actually say they had a full rewarding life doing what they wanted to do right up to the last day of your life?," said Glendale High second-year Coach Alan Eberhart, who coached at Crescenta Valley from 1993-2006. "Forty-five years is so long to coach, but he loved football, coaches and the kids.
"We [as coaches] were his kids, too. He took care of us, too. He was a master teacher and he spent his life showing us how to do it the right way. All of my varsity coaches at Glendale played or coached with Gordy."
Crescenta Valley first-year Coach Paul Schilling, who had Warnock on board this season to serve as a linebackers coach, said Warnock was more than a coach.
"He was the father that everybody loved," Schilling said. "He affected the lives of 120 players at CV on the varsity and junior varsity teams.
"It was a real emotional night [Friday] for our seniors. Gordy took care of us."
FALCONS AND NITROS SET TO BATTLE
After three weeks of competing in nonleague games, the Pacific League will begin play Thursday with Burroughs facing Hoover at Glendale High's Moyse Field.
The main area game that figures to receive plenty of attention will be Crescenta Valley battling Glendale at 7 p.m. Friday at Moyse. The Falcons come in at 2-1, while the Nitros are 0-3.
Schilling said don't be fooled by Glendale's record.
"They are 0-3, but they can very easily be 2-1," Schilling said. "Coach Eberhart is trying to teach them to win, but they haven't felt that yet.
"They are like lightning in a bottle and I hope that bottle stays plugged up for another week. Everybody is 0-0 at the start of league."
