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1983 State Champion O’Connell Football Team Honored at Homecoming

1983 State Champion O’Connell Football Team Honored at Homecoming

The former state champion Bishop O’Connell Knights football team was honored during halftime of the school’s homecoming game on Saturday (Oct. 26).

A number of members 1983 O’Connell the detachment was present. They gathered at center field for a photo while teammates stood behind a banner proclaiming the team’s Virginia Catholic championship victory during that 1983 campaign.

The team finished 9-2 overall that year and 4-2 the following year. Washington Catholic Athletic Conferenceincluding a 20–19 win over longtime league leader Gonzaga College High School.

The private school Knights opened that season with a 42-0 win over D.C.’s Ballou and then routed the Yorktown Patriots 33-3 in the second contest. O’Connell and Yorktown were then Arlington’s constant rivals.

After halftime, members of the 1983 team, including then-assistant coach Jim Hayes, gathered near one end zone and talked for a while.

“O’Connell had a lot of good players back then,” said Hayes, who later became O’Connell’s head football coach.

This 1983 team, which included 18 seniors, was inducted O’Connell Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.



  • Dave Facinoli grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland and attended Friendly High School. After attending Prince George’s Community College and James Madison University, where he covered sports for both college newspapers, he began a local newspaper career that included sports editor positions at the Alexandria Gazette, Arlington Sun Gazette and GazetteLeader, among other local newspapers.