Blood, Sweat And Cheers Taylor Blackwell a athlete is made in training, but because we tend to dwell on events, it is the outcome of the contest that we see and not the rigorous preparation. Before stepping into the public arena, the true athlete must be dedicated to the one goal of sport: excellence. The greek poet Hesiod wrote, “‘badness you can get easily, in quantity: The road is smooth and lies close by. But in front of excellence the immortal gods have put sweat, and long and steep is the way to it, and rough at first. But when you come to the top, then it is easy, even though it is hard.”’ On Friday nights from August 25 to November 18 the Montevallo Bulldogs were in action. Those Friday nights were the results of months and years of arduous work. It is the end results that everyone sees. They do not see the off season running, the hours and sweat put into lifting weights, the two days in 100° August weather, the agilities work-out after a two and a half hour practice, the same play done over ten times just to get one block perfect, the signal drills, or the extra running for being late to practice or breaking training rules. These are aspects of football that people do not know about. A winning team is not made over night; it takes dedica- tion by players and takes coaches who know when to “‘go for it’’ on fourth and four at t he goal line (Shelby County), when to throw the bomb against Jemison, when to sus- pend players and when to show love, understanding and at times disgust. The ten and two Bulldogs have been called by some the best in Montevallo’s history and called ‘‘Awesome”’ by the news- papers. Coach Gilliam comments that they are the most physical team he has ever coached. Even with these lables and the years of preparation, the men in the or- ange and blue still did not reach their ultimate goal: 2A State Champs. The season was a great suc- cess and did not go unnoticed by other state teams, newspapers and coaches. The Bulldogs did achieve a 4th state rating in Class 2A, named five players to the All Metro Team in Class 1, 2 and 3A, named two players to the Bir- mingham News All State team, named five players to the All County team and had Coach Gilliam named twice Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year for Shelby County. The dogs were also Area 7 Champs and the only team in Shelby County to go to post season play. The 1983 season came to a sudden end on Novem- ber 18 when the Handley Tigers defeated the Bulldogs 34 to 14. Coach Richard Gilliam states, ““These men have been winners since their Freshman year, and to- night is no different; they are still winners as far as | am concerned.” The '83 'Dogs are the only MHS team to go to the State Playoffs since 1978 and with the talent that is returning next year, MHS hopes to be represent- ing Area 7 for the second straight year. Team captain Barry Worthey, head coach Rict ard Gilliam, Co-captain Jeff Chism, Tri-captain Taylor Blackwell and honorary captains Jeff Gentry, Clyde Sailes, and Dwayne Jackson led the Bulldogs to a 10-2 season p20 Sports
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Bulldogs Games Ill IV V The ‘Dogs traveled to Colum- biana to play their third game of the year facing the Shelby County Wild- cats. Both teams were undefeated at this point in the season, and it boiled down to who wanted to re- main the only undefeated team in the county. The 'Dogs were tense at the begining but loosened up after a combination of Taylor Blackwell handoffs to Jeff Chism on one scor- ing drive in which Chism took it in the last three yards. The Bulldogs defense stood tough and did not al- low the 'Cats a single score. The only score for the cats was a blocked punt and recovery in their endzone. MHS's other scorers were Andy Chism on a pass from Terry Rutledge and Anthony Prentice ona three yard run. Rick Dobson stood Junior James Lucas takes a breather after Coach Gilliam “called off the Dogs”’ early in a 36-6 blast- ing of Briarwood Stepping up and over, ‘‘Amp ’ Prentice helps MHS move toward pay dirt after a 26 hour rain delay halftime against the Calera Eagles 00 SAO Sports Football Barry Worthey out on defense with seven individual tackles. At the final whistle it was the ‘Dogs on top 20-7. The following week the Bulldogs traveled to Alabaster to face last year’s 3A State Champs, the Thompson Warriors. MHS seemed to be really fired-up, but there was little action for the ‘Dogs’ offense as Thompson took advantage of poor execution and stopped the Monte- vallo running attack. The Bulldogs’ On The Loose closest pentration was to the War- rior 12 just before half-time. For the defense it was action all night as Thompson created big plays on offense to beat the Bull- dogs 20-0. Avenging the previous week’s loss Taylor Blackwell guided the Bulldogs to a 36-19 Area victory over the Chelsea Hornets. Black- well, having only a few passes all year, hit Andy Chism for 32 yards to
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