Wildcat 1981 team photo
When you show up for Friday’s Wildcat football game against Richardson High School, be sure to find your seat well before kickoff. Players and coaches from the state championship team of 1981 will take the field for a special presentation to mark their accomplishment.
Many of the players have raised their own families in Lake Highlands, but some will travel back to Wildcat Stadium for Homecoming Week. Pre-game festivities will begin at 6:45 p.m. and include crowning of LHHS’ homecoming queen.
The championship game between LHHS and Houston Yates was played at the Houston Astrodome before a crowd of 38,000 screaming fans. You may view the full game on YouTube below.
Scott Johnson, who played on the team and spoke to Advocate about the experience on the 30th anniversary, says winning the game was a relief.
“For our class, the history had always been to win; in junior high, the only game LHJH or FMJH ever lost was to each other.”
As sophomores, the Class of 1982 went 10-0. As seniors, their record was 15-0.
“Along the way, there were plenty of games that easily could have gone the other way, but someone would always manage to make a play and we’d keep on winning. We had a lot of good players. I think we ended up with 12 or 13 guys that went on to play Div I football, but there were plenty of teams far more talented. But we had coaches and players with tremendous heart and character (and characters) that refused to accept defeat and always held together because we believed in each other.”
