Woodbridge High School - Valhalla Yearbook (Woodbridge, VA)

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Frosh Formulate Winning Attitude Freshman football was the incu¬ bator for future Viking superstars. This was where the life of a Viking football player began. The team had a record of 4-4-2, evidence of a hard fought year. The defensive unit, led by Jody Rector and David Cooper, refused to give up ground to opposing offense. “The defensive unit was much more than I expect¬ ed, ” commented Coach Steve Dials. The offense, led by quarter¬ back David Gandy and halfback Steve Hougasion, had problems functioning as a unit, but man¬ aged to put up enough points to win. This combination of a “hot” defense and a “cold” offense kept the score very close in almost all of the games. After the freshmen found out what Viking football was all about, they broke out of their shells that were formed in Jr. High, and began to win like Vikings.

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k m r mi W Hij ' Ay! | v Rain, rain, go away, JV football wants to play. Sound silly? Well, this helpless feeling of frustration often came over the JV football players and coaches with 42% of their already shortened season rained out. “Game experience is an impor¬ tant part of JV football,” philo¬ sophized coach Jim Thomas. “The more game experience the team got, the better they played. We had very little experience as a group when we started out. ” Proof of this assessment could be seen in the two games against the “super rival” — Gar-Field. In the first game the Indians reeked havoc on the Viking defense and controlled the game tempo. In the second game, the Vikings had a few sur¬ prises for the rampaging Indians. Our defense built a stone wall in front of our goal line and shut out G — F. At the end of the battle, the scoreboard held the results of all the sweat, sore muscles, and hard work. The score was G—F zero, WSHS zero. The teams had fought to stand-off. The JV season was a rags to riches story. Many of the players began the season on the bench and ended it in the thick of the battle. George Mack and Tracy Schroder were just two of the many outstand¬ ing players who burst into top rate players. Others were Ben Montoya, Pat Oden, and Billy Jones. The JV season was a stormy one, but the team built capable players for next year’s varsity. The 1975 Junior Varsity Football Team. 19 t

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5,000 Miles On One Pair of Shoes Val Hardin pushes Stonewall runner to the limit. The 1973 State Champion Cross Country Team. Streams of sunlight dotted the over¬ cast sky. The sun was trying to burst through the gray ceiling. I was really nervous standing on the line waiting for my last big meet, the state cham¬ pionship. My mind began to wander back to how it all began . . . . . . June; Halleluia, school ' s out. Man just think, Cross Country season is just three months away. I didn ' t really do too well last season; guess I didn ' t try hard enough, but that was last year and this year I ' m gonna do better — a lot better. That is how it all started; it seems like only yesterday that I stumbled into the locker room after the first practice.. . “OOOh man! I said to some foot¬ ball players. “19 miles the first day. It was one of Coach Jim Rodgers ' killer work outs. I had thought I was sore after the first day, but I found I was “dying on the second and “dead on the third! Even though I ' d run 500 miles over the summer and thought I was in shape, I found out I ' d been kidding myself about how tough Cross Country at WSHS was. ... I wished they ' d hurry up and start this dumb race. My stomach felt like I had swallowed a fish and he was swimming around down there. I remembered the first time I had that fishy feeling; it was my first Varsity Race against Oakton . . . It was a hot day, a good one for running. Oakton was a tough team and I was scared stiff. I stepped up to the starting line. Suddenly, I had the urge to go to the bathroom. Should I go? No, better not. Not enough time. After what had seemed an eternity, the race got under way. Mike Cobb shows look of determination as he competes with other runners. 21