Stratford High School - Mnemosyne Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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1 .-Q ' I if Safely into the end-zone, l-lalfback Craig Iames 1321 signals another touchdown scored on Winston Churchill in the semi-final playoff game. Also in the endzone, teammates Robert King 18-ll, Chuck Thomas 1733, and Ronnie Stuka- lin 175 display their joy. Reaching for the ball, after one of Strat- ford's first-half fumbles is Senior Kevin Adams 143l. Adams fell short on the attempt and the ball was recovered by Kashmere's Stanley C-odine 1321, in the P Deci Regional playoff game. 'C Bulldogs were not as prepared as they thought they vvould be. Craig james, on the opening play of the ballgame, ran up the mid- dle 80 yards for a touchdovvn. The tempo of the game was set and Stratford won easily, 36-14. The semi-finals had the varsity paired with San Antonio Church- ill, a team that vvas also unde- feated after13 games. The Char- gers boasted a big defense vvhile Stratford boasted a big offense. ln a perfect, almost error-free game, Stratford leveled Churchill, 24-7, and Craig james broke the state record for most yards varsity football TTS

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'K F, XXX I A Q 3 fo 14,1 ' at ' S 1 X 3 we .f3 , -J ' 3 .. A , y,fLA:,',- 4 'g 1 1 FH 1 Q , 34 All-su. -V ---vi T-K' fl ,5 fs' Leaping into the air, Senior Split-end Ronnie Stukalin 173 pulls down a pass against Plano on Dec. 23, as Wildcat defenders look on helplessly. Catches like this earned Stukalin a place on the All-State team. Admiring the work of Senior Steve Han- zelka 1643, Seniors David DeBesse 1413, Bret Marquis 1613, Chris Hayes 1713, and Andy Paffett 1903 watch as LaPorte's Quarterback Ricky Byars 1113 is hauled to the ground. 114 varsity football Bounced high by Madison defenders on a punt return, Safety Greg lohnson 153, junior, holds tightly to the ball. On Nov. 24, in the bi-district playoff game, the Spartans defeated Madison 44-6, to advance to Regional Playoffs. for 280 yards against the Wild- cats, establishing a new District 17-4A rushing record of 1645 yards in asingle season. Winning district would seem enough for a team who had never won a district title in four years as a varsity ballclub, but they weren't about to stop there. The theme State in '78 origi- nated two years ago when the then sophomore team went L+ v-V -- -A --vw -fY---- 4 ' . fi . rl . ,- I f, V, i fi if , f fx I , g.:-1 if .fp fq f 3 . ,t l 1 V 1 :J TQ 1? 313: UIQ 1.3 Q .1 ., ic. ,bs if tt.. tt mt, S ,, .eff ,4 ri in 5- A-. W7'QW3:li1f7'i sf' WFP W1 L. '-if Q.,,i4 :J si 1 'w 1. ts su. Ks, if X. Wg J' gi T z o ,H J iff fn iff: 'gint 11 ,'fl'f' CD 1 li i i, if fi ll!! .111 G., Q l V'giiii'i i Ili, TZl fZtT.4iIl ened the next year when a ji ior-laced varsity went 8-2. T sophomore players mentally s team goal to win the state ch pionship, explained Co Cripps. Playing in the Astrodome the first time, before a crowd over 14,000, the Spartans rusl for 494 yards and destroyed M ison 44-6. 1 In the regional play-off gar the team suffered through first half fumbles, but still m aged a 31-9 victory over lege ary Kashmere to deserve number one area rating they h- all year. The quarterfinal game proi, to be especially interest because it was to be pla against LaPorte, who the had previously demolis pre-season play, 27-7. The week before the game, papers were covered with st on how LaPorte was looki revenge, and how they ready for the Spartans this undefeated and was strength- around. lt turned out that

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M ri Tff , v.-fvmzl Efffqp' ,'f3Q . Q. wt A . . A .li . A .-Q1 Lasse' J :WN rushed by a 4-A ball carrier in a single season. So far, the team had come through the playoffs in a manner many had never seen, at least not since the early 1950's with some of the Abilene teams. Most sportswriters were talking about the Spartans being the best high school team ever and having the strongest offense ever. In the state finals game, Plano the defending state champion, was the opponent. Plano was one of those teams who always got lucky. ln an earlier round of the play-offs, they tied Tyler-john Tyler. They tied on penetrations and advanced on first downs, 18- 17. In the semi-final game against 'lt's something we've worked for -- for 4 years, 9 months a year! Odessa Permian, they won 6-3 by virtue of two field goals. Obvi- ously overpowered, they were hoping for miracles like that against Stratford. No miracles were to come their way. The final score was 29-13, and the Spartans had captured the state champi- onship. In five playoff games, the Spar- tans maintained at least a 16 point winning margin. The offense set records for the most yards gained taveraging 471 yards per gamej, the most points scored taveraging 34 points per gamej, and Craig james broke the alltime full-season rushing record, finishing the season with 2415 yards and a 10 yard per carry rushing average. The Spartans, which had in previous years only placed one or two players as All-District, domi- nated the team, as well as the All- Greater Houston Team, and five 116 varsity football -5' mr' Ji!! W' I U 'wi' . -1-rf' -...qnnw 'W' players, Seniors Craig james, run- ning back, punter, first team, jim May, tackle, first team, Ronnie Stukalin, split end, second team, Bubba Mattinson, linebacker, second team, and Wayne Har- pole, tackle, second team, all made All-State. How does it feel to win a state championship? Magnificent, said Senior Wayne Harpold. We've reached the mountain- top. lt's the greatest feeling l've ever had in my life, added Craig james. Said Robert King, a senior tight-end, lt's something we worked for for 4 years, 9 months a year, and it's a wonderful feel- Sava .-. Blue Chi Running Back Cra t32j rids himself of a LaPorte t on the way to the goal line in the meeting between the two teams. racked up 210 yards on only 15 in the 27-7 Spartan victory. ing. For many of the players, were regrets about it all bei over with. Senior Safety Serafino said, lt leaves kind an empty feeling inside of when you're not playing f anymore. lt's a great fee win and all, but you get m emotions when you know you'll never play football each other again. Many Chuck's feelings.