Big turnaround: Wildcats football team dominates this year Big turnaround: Wildcats football team dominates this year (October 20, 2004)

By Max Schneider
10th grade, Woodside High School

"Nothing comes easy," the coach shouts as his players sprint across the field. "It ain't gonna be easy Friday night!"

The players, sweaty and tired from the drills, use their last morsels of energy to finish off the run.

Hard work and perseverance are qualities characteristic of the players on the Woodside High School football team and of its coach, Steve Nicolopulos.

The Wildcats have a shiny 6-0 record so far, with a combined score of 212-78, including Friday's 56-29 victory over Jefferson, when running back Tyreece Jacks scored four touchdowns and carried the ball 226 yards.

The team is capable of blowout wins (against Sequoia, the Wildcats had a 44-point lead at halftime) and come-from-behind victories (against Gunn, it took a miracle touchdown in the closing seconds to win).

The season is in stark contrast to last year, when the team finished 2-6 and the last two games were cancelled after an incident in the locker room where players were heard shouting an obscene chant against then-coach Packy Moss.

Coach Nicolopulos -- brought back after being fired in 1996 when he reportedly shouted obscenities from the sidelines -- said that he didn't want to worry about the past. Instead, he said, he would focus on improving the team.

Nicolopulos has plenty of experience with championship teams. From 1992 to 1996, the last time he was Woodside's head coach, the team had four consecutive winning seasons, including two as Peninsula Athletic League champs.

He was also an inspiration to his players, recovering in the 1996 season from Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the nervous system.

This year, before the season started, he said the focus would be on building a team. He said it was "gonna be 11 guys on offense, 11 guys on defense, and 11 guys on special teams that are gonna make a difference."

That's what happened. The team is cohesive and on target, almost like a family, with Nicolopulos taking a fatherly role.

He said he wants his kids to be "be successful at everything ... football, school, life."

During practices, he lectures them on everything from shower habits to leadership roles, and everyone seems to respect him.

Student support

The team's major improvement has been noticed, and then some, around campus. The level of excitement about the team is high, with hundreds of students coming out and supporting the Wildcats at Friday night home games -- another sharp contrast with last year.

"Having a stronger start gave them motivation," said Derek Thompson, a Woodside student who has attended all the games in the past two seasons. "The drive and the attitude is definitely different this year."

Thompson cites an "oh so improved passing game" as a big factor in the team's turnaround, noting the return of star senior quarterback Julian Edelman, who himself rushed for 107 yards Friday against Jefferson.

The defense, once lethargic and dispirited, has been sharp and swarming this year, making the Wildcats one of the best defensive teams in the district, and leaving their opponents stunned.

NEXT GAME

The Wildcats next game is at 7 p.m. Friday, October 22, against Hillsdale at Woodside High.

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