Montevallo High School - Montala Yearbook (Montevallo, AL)

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This is the beatnne God has avin ae A New Beginning as they wu PHS this dt . Be A oli 1 7 EXCITE — to put into motion or activity; to provoke os LUG iS Very UMportant bee all forth; to stir up And stir up is exactly what the Gyr ine day of theur Life if Bulldogs did as they burst into this season with the ili ty a winning attitude They put their all into motion and 7 it created a new unity withir ir school. The pride and Z spirit glowed everyday in every athlete, cheerleader, 5 i ! 056 b imember, teacher student, and community men + tn by a gou not a ant it tt n exciting way to begin a new year and r tney sha ; nat new tradition! it ¥ ie . Ni ; ’ :

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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