HSFT Stop #49: South Lamar High School

For South Lamar, last season ended on a much stronger note than it began. The Stallions went 4-7 overall and 4-3 in region play, and now they’re looking to carry that momentum into a new season. Head coach Clay Gilliam is entering his 10th year at the helm, and this year’s team brings something he hasn’t always had — experience.

“Definitely a run in the region,” South Lamar quarterback Kye Crimm said. “Having a winning record after these two years, after being young, coming out and having an older team this year, having more experience, we’ve been out here since ninth grade. A lot of us just played a ninth-grade year. Now we have a heavy senior team. We’re just really comfortable with the situations we’ve been put in before.”

That experience has also helped create a stronger sense of accountability within the Stallions’ locker room.

Receiver Jonah Newman says this team understands it takes everyone doing their job and being willing to do it for the guy next to them.

“Make sure everyone is held accountable,” Newman said. “Make sure everybody does their job to their fullest and make sure it is 100% all day. How to be a team, how to work together, how this team is more important than anything. If you’re not willing to go out there and put your body on the line for these guys, there’s no point being out here. I feel like we’re willing to stand behind each other no matter what the circumstances are, no matter how we feel after the game; we’re going to stand behind each other.”

That togetherness could be critical for a team already dealing with adversity. South Lamar lost its starting center to injury early in fall camp, giving the Stallions another challenge to overcome. But Gilliam says the team has responded well so far.

“You know, we’re trying to overcome it right now,” Gilliam said. “Our guys are really doing a good job with it. We’re day to day right now, but I’m very pleased with the progress that we’re making.”

And if South Lamar is going to make a run in the region, Gilliam knows his team has to play with that same physicality for all four quarters. He saw that drive and improvement late last season. Now, he wants to see it become the standard.

“I really saw it last year, second half of the season, that it was really good job of coming on and finishing strong with that, and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Gilliam said. “That’s what we’re trying to build off of for this year. We hope that translates into the third and fourth quarter out there to where we can still maintain our physical attributes and really get after people.”

The Stallions will kick off the 2026 season against cross-town rival Lamar County on Aug. 21.