Schools
Football Preview: Lambert High School
Lambert won't be able to sneak up on some opponents the way they did in 2010. The word is out that this is a talented, disciplined, well-coached football team capable of competing at the highest level.
Cumming Patch continues our weekly preview series of Forsyth County high school football. This week we are highlighting the Lambert Longhorns who are capable of competing at the highest level.
Lambert High School won't have the luxury of sneaking up on opponents in 2011. Not after going 8-3 and making the state playoffs in their first varsity season. In fact, Coach Sid Maxwell's Longhorns may have a target painted on their backs.
But this is a well-coached, disciplined team that is not about to fold under that kind of challenge. If they can find replacements for All-County defensive players like Calvin Johnson, Grayson Middlebrooks and Nate Litras, who combined for 286 tackles last year, the Longhorns should be in contention for the Region 7-AAAA title chase.
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Maxwell said his team had good spring and summer practice sessions and answered a lot of questions, particularly on defense.
"Spring is a time to divide them up and see where we are from last year, see how they’ve grown and see who is ready to play as we enter the summer," he said.
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"We found several players to fill some of the gaps left by graduation on defense," he said.
The Longhorns offense should be solid once again with four experienced linemen returning, including center JC Barefield (6-2, 253), tackle Trevor Duba (6-4, 264) and tight end Justin Reichling (6-3, 205).
Lambert will also have strength and depth at the all important quarterback position. Senior David Broadus (6-3, 210) will be the starting signal caller, but Brock Maxwell (5-11, 170) is a very capable back up who is an outstanding athlete.
The Longhorns also have the nucleus of a good defense with starting linebackers Matt Ham (6-1, 200) and Graham Stovall (5-10, 190) returning along with starting defensive backs Zach Price (6-2, 170) and Braxton Roman (6-0, 170). Reichling will start at defensive end.
Maxwell said last year's seniors set the bar high.
"Our senior class did a great job of setting a standard for us to try to compete with, and our challenge for this upcoming senior class is to continue from where we left off," he said.
