‘Always a Viking’: Football player has pride in Valley High despite years of frustration

Zaryan Hall walks across the Valley High School campus with a sense of pride. He loves being a Viking.

Affectionately known as “Ziggy,” Hall is a four-year starter on the varsity football team at the South Sacramento school in the Elk Grove Unified School District. Despite winning only two games in his prep career, he never considered transferring to a school with a stronger football program.

Hall refused opportunities to play elsewhere in an era when high school student-athletes come and go. He remained a Viking because he is loyal to the silver and blue, and he wanted to flip the perception that Valley is a losing football program. The 6-foot-3, nearly 300-pound senior lineman wants to shed light on the campus culture and, hopefully, plant the seeds for future success as he finishes out his high school playing days.

Hall has done his part. He is the team’s best player, a strong two-way lineman who knows no quit.

“I’m not the type of person that’s going to, like, shy away from a challenge,” Hall said. “I don’t run from adversity. I like it. Playing on a good team isn’t gonna stop me from playing football. Either way, I’m going to play football, so win or lose. I love it at Valley, honestly, and I feel like, if more people didn’t look at Valley like how they do, Valley would be a great football team, but nobody ever really wants to come here.”

What has really kept Hall loyal, he said, is the atmosphere on campus. It’s more than just football.

“It’s a bad light shed on Valley,” Hall said. “Everybody thinks, like, all the bad kids go here. They think it’s ghetto. They think we’re a Title 1 school, so they automatically think bad of Valley, but realistically the people at Valley are cool. I love the administration. I love the teachers. Everything I value. It’s amazing.”

Title 1 schools fall under a federal education program that supports low-income students. Valley has its share, but that does not define the school, Hall said.

“To be a Viking is a great thing,” he said.

Hall said he takes his role on campus personally. He is trying to set a standard and build a culture, to show sports can be about more than wins and losses, that it can be about working as a team, overcoming odds and striving for goals. He reminds that when teams do not win a lot of games, that doesn’t mean players and coaches don’t care.

“I really just want to show people it doesn’t matter where you are, you know what I mean?” Hall said. “Like, it doesn’t matter where you are. You can play ball. It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be at Monterey Trail to play ball. You could be at Valley High School. You could be at these Title 1 schools that nobody really ever looks at. You could be at these schools and still play ball.”

Hall is proof of that. He said he is getting looks from George Fox University, Southern Virginia University and many junior colleges. His goal is to earn a college scholarship or play at a community college with the aim of going on to a four-year school. The youngest of six children, Hall has played football since his youth. He wants to show it is possible to “make it” from Valley.

‘Growing pains’

Valley suffered a 33-8 loss to the Cordova Lancers in a Greater Sacramento League game Oct. 6 at Cosumes River College. The Vikings followed that with a 30-6 loss to Natomas on Friday, falling to 1-7 overall and 0-3 in the GSL.

Hall, strong and determined, is tough to contain. He was double-teamed in the Cordova game and competed despite playing with a broken pinky finger, but the Vikings couldn’t slow the Lancers and Hall’s frustrations boiled over.

At the end of a play late in the third quarter, Hall’s helmet was inadvertently dislodged by a Cordova player. When officials did not call a penalty, Hall questioned whether they were being paid by the opposing team. The referee threw a flag, calling Hall for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Hall was ejected. He fought back tears as he walked off the field, saying: “It’s not fair. They took my entire helmet off.”

It wasn’t just about the helmet. It was years of built-up frustration.

First-year Valley coach Donald James remains optimistic about his team. He said he’s seen this before.

“We’re gonna be all right,” James said. “This is part of the growing pains. That talking back to the referee, I mean, I’ve dealt with that before.”

Nobody wants to lose, he said.

“We move on from this,” James said. “It’s a tough pill to swallow, but ... we have to move on.”

James previously coached at Mount Diablo High in Contra Costa County, where his first team went winless, including an 81-0 loss. But the coach didn’t quit or leave until he helped turn things around.

“In my second year, we went 2-8, and then in my third year, we won league,” James said. “Then, in my fourth year, we made it to the CIF playoffs. It’s step-by-step. It’s faith, man. Without God, none of this would be possible.”

James said he wishes he had Hall for another season. The coach appreciates Hall as a leader on and off the field.

“He’s doing a hell of a job and I’m proud of him,” James said. “(He’s) able to go to the next level if he continues to work hard and believe in himself. The sky’s the limit for that young man.”

Coach in it long term

Hall recalled his team’s only victory this season, a 28-0 effort over Western Sierra Academy of Rocklin on Sept. 15. That snapped a 23-game losing streak, leading to a postgame celebration and a sense of relief.

The win came against Western Sierra coaches Otis Washington and Ellis Jenkins, who coached Hall at Valley during his sophomore season. Washington and Jenkins are trying to breathe life into a Western Sierra program that has similarly struggled on the field, dealing with low roster numbers and players who are still learning to play the game.

“That was a good feeling,” Hall said. “... It isn’t really about wins and losses at the end of the day. It’s just about playing football, but it’s great to win, though. It was great to win. It was a great feeling.”

Hall is leaving his mark on the program with his play and James said he will continue to coach the program for the long haul. He is a campus supervisor at Valley, giving him daily access to players — to talk to them, to check on their studies and their lives.

Valley has tasted success before. The school opened in 1977 and trotted out competitive teams from the start. Some teams were great. Some Vikings went on to play in college and the NFL, including linemen Jerry DeLoach and Charles Mann, tight end Robert Awalt and linebackers Manase Hopoi and Keith Lewis. Valley fielded its best team in 1995, going 12-1, but the Vikings have produced just one winning season since 2001, going 6-5 in 2014 under coach Dave Filan.

“You gotta just show dedication, commitment,” James said. “They see that I’m very committed to it, though, regardless of anything. I preach that I’m with these guys for the long run. I know they’ve been used to coach after coach after coach.”

Bringing positive culture

Following the loss to Cordova, Valley principal Bridgette Kemp-Bell approached James and said: “Coach, we are on the right path here.”

James was moved by the words. He said he is inspired by Kemp-Bell’s support and spirit.

“You can’t beat that,” James said. “Every administrator said, ‘Coach, you got it, you got it. You guys got it.’ This has been the most loyalty and the best support that I’ve had (from) principals all the way down to my athletic director.”

Valley home games do not reflect a losing culture. The atmosphere bustles with music and activity.

Valley music teacher and band director Joe Updegraff said he keeps band members involved throughout the game. He usually lets them wander for a while following their halftime performance — teenagers being teenagers — but in the fourth quarter, the band comes back together until the end of the game.

“If it’s partially my job to help develop the culture of the school, then I can’t be bailing out,” Updegraff said. “Even if we’re losing, I can’t be bailing out. We’ve got to stay here and root on the team all the way through the end. That’s how you bring a positive culture to a campus. That’s how you help create pride in calling ourselves Vikings. Showing up to football games, and showing up to anything, and being a part of a culture.”

Whether the Vikings were tied, winning or losing, the crowd support was visible and vocal, led by a spirited cheer leading squad.

“It’s all about the fun with cheers, especially at Valley,” third-year cheer coach Chelsea Weldon said. “We definitely support our team.”

When Kemp-Bell sees players on campus or at a game, she often says she appreciates them for representing their school.

“We have a little phrase,” Kemp-Bell said. “Once a Viking, always a Viking.”

This story was originally published October 18, 2023 at 5:00 AM.