Al Malanca switched from halfback to quarterback his senior year and led Lincoln High School's football team to a state championship in 1944. Abes coach Phil Sorboe called his backfield that year “the best he'd ever coached or seen.” With Malanca at quarterback and with Bobby McGuire at halfback, Sorboe switched to a T-formation. Malanca has been selected to the Tacoma-Pierce Country Sports Hall of Fame.
