Calhoun’s Lamb looks back on tough loss, great year
Veteran coach proud of the way his team fought all season even in defeat
The season came to an end last Friday for the Calhoun Yellow Jackets with a loss to Cedar Grove in the Class AAA Elite Eight. It’s only the second time in the past nine years that coach Hal Lamb’s team didn’t advance to the Final Four.
While the loss will hurt for a while and it didn’t allow the Jackets to reach their ultimate goal, Calhoun players, coaches and fans will likely look back on this season and have fond memories of what they accomplished, especially after two early losses to Dalton and Cartersville that brought doubt into the minds of many in Northwest Georgia. But as both of those teams remain alive in their respective classifications’ playoff races, it shows that they weren’t bad losses in the slightest.
And Calhoun came a long way from those early-season setbacks to reel off nine straight wins, earn their 16th straight region title and advance past the second round of the state playoffs for the ninth straight season.
The Calhoun Times caught up with Lamb this week as he reflected on the tough season-ending loss, a questionable call by the officials in the loss, his team fighting back after the early-season losses, how proud he was of the senior class on this team and the future of Calhoun football with so many young players getting valuable reps in 2016, among other things. Here’s what he had to say:
CT:
How tough was the loss on Friday to come up short of the ultimate goal of playing for a state title? How proud of the player were you to keep fighting until the end even though the game was probably out of reach?
The loss was a tough one because we fell short of our goal. However, I’m very proud of this team for being very resilient. I’m proud of our guys for fighting to the end.
LAMB: CT:
How different do you think the flow of the game would have been if the touchdown in the second quarter had stood rather than being called back due to offensive pass interference? How difficult was it for you to see that call be made in such a big situation?
That penalty definitely changed the flow of the game. We definitely had the momentum, and the very bad call snatched the momentum right away from us. I don’t know if we win the game, but I think it’s a much closer game if we tie it 14-14 at that point. You just can’t make that call in a quarterfinal game. Malik (Lawrence) was trying to get to the back of the end zone and the defensive back was holding him and the referee called offensive pass interference.
LAMB: CT:
Have you been able to reflect on how good a season it was yet or is it still too soon after the loss? if so, how much pride did this team give you coming back from two losses early in the season to very good teams to have the season you did?
I am very proud of this team because they really got better each week. After the Cartersville loss, we
LAMB:
could have gone in two different directions, and our team decided to go in the direction of being a better team. After that game, there were a lot of doubters, but we believed in each other and stayed the course. And then came the injury to Olico (Dennis). Once again we could have folded, but we refused to do that. We went 10-3 and the 3 losses are to teams that are still playing on semifinal weekend.
CT:
How good were the group of seniors that led this team on and off the field and how much will you miss them as a coach?
I’m very proud of our seniors. They did an excellent job in keeping this team together. They are a great bunch of young men.
LAMB: CT:
How much of a bright spot was Gavin Gray’s performance (327 passing yards, two touchdowns) even in the loss on Friday? How much does that and the performance of so many other underclassmen this season give you hope for the future?
Gavin has a chance to be very special if gets bigger and stronger. Some injuries forced us to play a lot of young kids, and I thought they held their own in some very tough games. We have some young kids that have a chance to be very good if they continue to improve and hit the weights.
LAMB: CT:
How quickly does the work start for next year’s team and how motivated do you think the returning players will be to get back to the Elite Eight and go further next year?
The work and mindset of next years team started today (Monday) in the weight room. I think our players are very motivated to be better next year. Every player we have must get bigger, stronger and faster in the offseason for us to continue to have success.
LAMB: