Lumpkin football starts season tonight vs. Riverside

As the Lumpkin County High School football team prepares to take the field for the first time this season on Friday, it’ll be the official start of a long journey, one new head coach Heath Webb expects will take the Indians into uncharted waters and a new chapter of Lumpkin County football.
However, Webb says that journey started early in the offseason, with now being the start of what he feels will be several “paydays.”
“It’s about payday, because definitely the work has been put in,” Webb said. “We had a big number in the spring and not everybody made it. Not everybody could handle the hard work to see the payoff. For those that stuck it out, I’m really excited for those guys. I know it’s going to happen and I’m excited to see it happen.”
With that hard work and buy-in from his players, Webb feels confident enough in them to make a bold claim, saying that this season will end in a destination that is unfamiliar to Lumpkin County High School football, the state playoffs.
“At the end of the season, we’re going to look back and say, ‘we’re a playoff football team,’” he said. “We’re going to play a Game 11 and then we’re going to adjust the goal at that point in time.”
A playoff berth for the Indians would only be the third in the last 20 years and the first since 2014 when another first-year head coach, Ty Maxwell, led the Indians to a 5-5 regular season record and a home playoff game.
As for his start here in Lumpkin County as head coach, Webb says seeing the hard work from his players has been encouraging, giving him that level of optimism.
“It’s been rejuvenating because the kids are great,” he said. “The work ethic is tremendous and effort is great, coachability is great, so it’s been really good….It’s a kid business and when your clientele are such great kids, it makes it fun. It makes me want to work hard for them. I want to see them be successful because they’ve just been so great. So I’m excited for them and ready to work hard for them.”

SENIOR SPARK

But while Webb hopes to change the culture around Lumpkin football, the new coach is quick to emphasize that this is not a rebuild.
“You’re going to see marked improvement in Year One, and I want that for this group of seniors that have not had a great deal of success over their high school career,” he said. “A lot of times you get in situations like this and you say ‘let’s rebuild it with younger guys,’ that’s not my approach. I want these seniors to have success, to play and have a good time and be able to walk away saying ‘we were part of the change.’”
Webb said he understands that the program can’t change overnight, but thinks fans will be able to see a big difference immediately.
“Program building takes time,” he said. “Even though I think it’ll be evident, similar to the way it was evident at Armuchee back in the spring, you’re going to see marked improvement, but at the same time, it’s still going to take some time. But this will be the year that changes the course of history. We’ve told this senior class, ‘you will be the spark,’ this senior class will be the spark that lights a fire under Lumpkin County football. And I don’t just mean Lumpkin County High School football, I mean Lumpkin County football as a whole from little dudes to big dudes and completely change the way we’re viewed, the way we play, everything. We’re looking for a complete change.”
As for the senior class Webb is so intent on building behind, he said it wasn’t hard to make the seniors the focus, as most were already major contributors on the team.
“It’s a small class, but there’s really good talent within it,” he said. “That group will definitely contribute and will definitely leave a mark on the program because it’s a talented group….We’re really happy that we know that it’ll be a special year for them, because, yes, they’re going to win more ball games than they’ve ever won before, but at the same time, they’re going to have a heavy hand in that.”

SEASON IS HERE

The new-look Indians made their presence known throughout North Georgia last Friday night, beating Banks County, a team Lumpkin hasn’t defeated in a regular season matchup since 2004, losing its last four showdowns, in their scrimmage 62-7.
Webb said a major part of their success will be determined by how well they spread the ball around on offense.
“If we’re spreading the ball around offensively, if you’re seeing multiple people with their hands on the ball, then you’ll know that our scheme is going the way that it’s supposed to go,” he said. “If that’s the case…then you’ll know that things are going our way…chances are we’re playing pretty good.”
Webb said that was a pleasant surprise when he first came on campus.
“That was something I didn’t really expect was playmaker types, but we’ve got half a dozen real playmaker types that can really make plays,” he said. “...I didn’t think coming to Lumpkin County that we would have six or eight playmaker types where you’re thinking, ‘let’s get them the ball,’ but we do.”
That gameplan, and the success that followed, was evident on Friday night as the offense saw nine different players record a rushing attempt and 11 different players catch a pass. Webb even had four different players attempt at least one pass in the big win.
“Defensively, teams better be honest with us because we have them spread around the field,” he said about his playmakers.
The Indians look to start the season off with a bang this Friday at home at 7:30 p.m. against Riverside Military Academy.