September 15, 2026 • 19 mins
Worth County football head coach Jeff Hammond breaks down the Rams’ loss to Thomasville that snapped a school-record 17-game winning streak, including the penalties, offensive inconsistency, and self-inflicted mistakes Worth County must clean up.
Coach Hammond also explains how the Rams are responding in practice and previews a physical rivalry matchup with Fitzgerald as Worth County returns home.
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Coach Hammond also explains how the Rams are responding in practice and previews a physical rivalry matchup with Fitzgerald as Worth County returns home.
Presented by Phoebe Orthopedics & Sports Medicine #sponsored
For more great coverage of high school sports in Georgia, Florida, and across the country, visit www.itgnext.com.
Follow us on socials!
Instagram: @itgnext.georgia
Facebook: @itgnext.georgia
TikTok: @itgnext
X (Twitter): @itgnext_georgia
YouTube: @itgnext
Are you a business that wants to work with ITG Next? Email us at info@itgnext.com or visit our website to learn more about advertising and sponsorship opportunities.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, guys, welcome in to our weekly Worth County
Coaches Show with the head coach of the Worth County Rams,
Jeff Hammond, who's gracious enough to loan us a few
minutes of his time. And he is a busy, busy man.
And so let's get to talking Worth County Rams football.
And again, brought to you by our friends at Phoebe
Orthopedic and Sports Medicine. Coach, welcome in.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
How you doing, buddy? I'm good, Bill. How are you, man?
I'm doing good.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Coach, a rough, rough week.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You know, listen.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
We don't say that, thankfully. We have not said that
very often. In fact, I don't know when's the last
time y'all lost a football game. It's been about a
year and a half, but Friday night was one of
those rare nights.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Well, we got beat by a better team on that
given night, and it happens.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
We don't ever like it to happen. We were fortunate
to win 17 straight. Yep. Set a school record, most
wins ever in a row. Yep.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
But done a lot of good things over that stretch.
But I thought Coach DeLay and his staff did a
heck of a job. His kids played inspirational. I didn't
think we started playing football until the second half and
ran out of time and didn't play well enough in
the first half to give us a chance to win
in the second half.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, Coach, it seemed to me, of course I was
not there, but looking at all the tape and all
the highlights and reading all the stories I could on
it and looking at things, it appeared that the difference
in the game was really the first quarter and then
the first half. And again, correct me if I'm mistaken,
I'll let you kind of describe some of this, but
(01:40):
it looked like uncharacteristically could not find any offense in
the first two quarters.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Well, we had some chances, and we didn't execute. I mean,
some of them were poor play calls by me. I'll
take credit for it. Really, a lot of our, to me,
our issues were penalties the other night, and we were
undisciplined at times, and that's my fault. I haven't done
a good enough job to explain to them when, where.
(02:11):
It's just we were uncharacteristically undisciplined. and I haven't just
done a good job preparing them. So if we've got
to get back to the drawing board and clean those
things up, you can't go out there and have 10-plus
penalties and five, six penalties over 15 yards and beat
a good football team.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
I just don't think that's– we've never done that, and
we've got.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
To get that fixed and move forward to be a
really disciplined football team that plays at.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
A high level.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Well, certainly, I think, you know, when you lose a game,
there's a lot of things you can point to. There's
a lot of different factors. One thing I noticed, and
I'll let you talk to this, you know, Lennon Worthy
has always been at the top of his game. And
one of the things I've always noticed about him is
(03:05):
he's pretty accurate. One of the most accurate quarterbacks I've
ever seen and ever heard about. You know, his completion
percentage is always sky high. And I noticed even he
had a rough night completing less than 50% of his passes,
which is, again, like a lot of things, I think
Friday night was uncharacteristic.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, but it goes back to he's not going to
be perfect. I mean, he's never going to be perfect.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Right.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
And sometimes you get spoiled when they are so consistent,
which he has been his whole career. But there's been
other games like the other night. There's been other games
that he didn't play real well. And we were able
to get away from things and run the football and
take some pressure off of him.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
And we weren't able to.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Do that as well, though. I mean, we got to
run the ball a little bit, but we never got
a chunk gain out of it. So we've got to
be more balanced offensively in the run and throw where
we're not asking them to go out there and throw
it every snap. And defense is pinning their ears back,
bringing pressure because they know we're throwing it.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
And when– A kid ain't got their best stuff.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
We've got to be able to go to something else
to take pressure on and only ask him to do
what he's doing well that night. Because there were times
that he played very well. And there were throws he missed.
He knows he missed them. And it happens. I remember
as a player in college, I think I had five
(04:36):
drops in my entire career, and I had three in
one game. So, I mean, it happens to the best
of us. And there's nobody that feels worse about when
he misses.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
A throw than he does. But we've got to do offensive.
We've got to be able to do more than just
sit back in the pocket and spin it.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
We've got to be able to line up, run the football,
move chains, convert third downs, and not really rely on
him to make every play. But when he's feeling it,
we can. But the nights he ain't feeling it, we
can't say, hey, we're just going to get beat because
he ain't got his best stuff there.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah. Well, and it was kind of one of those
nights again, really the, I think the only thing y'all
had a 20, what 23 yard field goal from Brody. Uh,
that was in the first quarter. Uh, of course, Thomasville
comes up with 14 points. So really coach, I mean,
it's tough when you dig a hole like that, uh,
to try to bounce back.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I mean, you guys go in, I think, what was it?
24 to three and a half.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And we, and we got it back down to one score. Uh,
we outplayed them in the third quarter.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Uh, We scored two touchdowns, one in the third and
one right in the start of the fourth.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
We were right there with.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
One score game and couldn't manage to get a stop.
I can't remember if we did get a stop and
had a chance to go down.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
There and tie it and didn't. You're right.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
It's hard to play well-coached football teams that– or going
to limit your possessions and all that when you're down
three scores a half. So, I mean, it's one of
those things that I think that this loss hopefully helps us.
(06:29):
And usually the same thing I told the kids that
Friday night, I've been a part of some really good programs,
some really good football teams.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And a really good team's always got better after they
got beat.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
I think a lot of things you think of, if
you go back to two years ago, we lost to
Fitzgerald in the middle of the season. And since that game,
we were like 25-1. We went on a stretch in
that year and got beat in the quarterfinals and then
turned around last year and didn't lose one and played
(07:01):
our first two games this year and won.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Both of them.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
So, I think that the kids have to go back
and the coaches and me and community, they all have
to understand that on any given Friday you can lose
and not be spoiled because we haven't lost. And you've
got to prepare, practice with a little fear if we
(07:28):
don't play good this week, we're going to get beat.
And I think that we lost that a little bit.
I've been preaching to them for a couple months now
that our schedule is rough, and we're going to be everybody's.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Super Bowl right now.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I mean, Thomasville, kudos to them, but when they beat us,
you thought they just won a championship.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And they were excited, and they should be. I mean,
I'm not upset about that.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I mean, their kids.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Played hard, and they wanted to win more than we did,
and they were excited that they did.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
But we've got to remember that that's what we're going
to get each week from everybody. And that if we
don't play at a high level, we don't practice at
a high level, we can.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Experience what we experienced Friday night multiple times. Yep. Okay. So,
I mean, we've got to learn from this and go forward.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
And I feel like after one day of practice and
how we flew around yesterday, it started, you can tell,
it was back to the old, okay, I don't like losing.
I'm not going to win if I don't work. And
I thought they went out there and flew around and
bumped around really well last night.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Now we just got to get better.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah, you're right. Sometimes I have said this before, and
some coaches will look at me like, are you nuts?
But sometimes there is a such thing as a good loss.
If you can learn from it, bounce back from it,
as long as it don't eliminate you from playing football–
And this one didn't.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You know, you can learn things from it.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
And it sounds like your team, at least in the
early results, sounds like they didn't like what happened to
them Friday night.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
They didn't. But I will say this about them last week.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
We did some things, mistakes that aren't characteristic about Worth County.
And that's my job to help get that cleaned up
and teach them better and do a better job as
a head coach. But I will say this. I thought
they played extremely hard. And there were games before early
on when we were here where we might have lost
(09:42):
a game. And I thought we didn't play hard.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I didn't think. I thought we played really hard.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I don't think we played really good at times.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
But the effort was there.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
And if effort's there, it's my job to put them
in the right position to be successful. And we've got
to do a better job at that and be a
better teacher or we ask them to do something that
they're physically not able to do that's what they pay
us to do as long as they keep giving us
great effort we'll be okay but my challenge to them
(10:16):
is I know you're going to play hard on Friday
but Can you play that hard Monday through Wednesday to
be ready to play on Friday?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Well, got to get back up on the horse, so
to speak, because as you mentioned earlier, things ain't going
to get any easier. And that includes the opponent you're
going to be taking on this Friday night, Coach, as
you guys return home. to take on a big rival,
a big nemesis, and that's against Fitzgerald, Purple Hurricanes. This
(10:48):
little matchup between work and Fitzgerald has become really, like
I said, a big rivalry. Fans look forward to it.
I would expect that's the way it's going to be
Friday night.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
I would too. I think there's no love lost between
either programs. Right, right.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
And to be honest with you, these are fun games
to go coach in. is that when you go play
somebody that wants to beat you worse than anybody on
the team and us wanting to beat them as bad
as they want to beat us, those usually give you
(11:23):
pretty good football games. The biggest thing with us, though,
is making sure we don't overdo it and we keep
our heads and we play with character and don't get
caught in next curriculars.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Because in these type of games, that can happen.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And being good young men and playing the game the
right way and trying to be as physical as they are.
And after the whistle, everything stops and you catch your
breath and you go do it again. So, I mean,
I'm looking forward.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
To this week. Well, and you should.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
You know, we remember two years ago it was those
purple hurricanes that came into Sylvester. I believe that was
two years ago. eliminated the Rams from the playoffs. And then,
of course, last year, which I thought was one of
the better games, you guys really took care of business
against Fitzgerald, I think 30-7 the final score. So, sounds like,
(12:21):
you know, the team has a short memory, I guess
is what I'm saying. You know, and it goes back
to this good rivalry between the two teams.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah, I mean, it's, I mean, last year, Going into
that ball game, probably nervous.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
As I have been in a long time coaching football.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
And because I knew we were good enough to compete
for the whole shebang at the end of the season.
But my thought process was, how can I make us
believe we win a state championship when we can't beat Pittsburgh?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
And the kids responded. They played really well. It was
close at half, and we were able to pull away
in the second half. But this Fitzgerald team ain't last
year's Fitzgerald team.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
That's right. This Worth County team ain't last year's Worth
County team.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
That's right. That's right.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
I mean, Fitzgerald, they look this year like they have
in the past.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
They're going to run the football. Everybody in the stadium
knows they're going to run the football.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
They're going to try to bully you at the line
of scrimmage and test your manhood.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
And you've got.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
To be willing to get down in the trenches and
play for 48 minutes, which a lot of high.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
School kids don't like doing that anymore. That's right. And
they're really, really good at it. And then defensively, they're fast.
They're physical. They like to tackle. I mean, they're going
to put us in issues. And if we're going to
win this football game, we're going to play really, really well.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
And we're going to be mistake-free because I– these type
of games where, and talking from an offensive-minded coach, normally
in a football game, you get.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
12 to 13 possessions a game.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
When somebody is four or five yards running you to
death and they're not in a hurry, okay, if you
can't get off the field on third downs, then you
might get six to seven possessions a game.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
So, If you look at it that.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Way, every series is very important for you to go
out there and get points. And if they do get
out to an early lead, not freak out and play
to their hand. I mean, they want to get out
to a two-score lead and do what they do, and
(14:50):
you freak out and say, all right, we've got to
throw whatever snap to get back in the game. And
that's just doing what they want you to do. So
it's going to be a chess match. So, I mean,
I'm going to have to do a really good job
of controlling tempo as well.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
And we know what they're going to do. And defensively, we're.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Going to get a tackle on first down for no gain.
We need to put them a second long. And then
we don't need them to be fourth and two all night.
Because if they're fourth and two all night, I mean,
their type of offense can go grind out two yards.
So we've got to do a good job with defense
of getting stops and defending right runs and not getting
(15:29):
washed out of our gaps. It's going to be a challenge.
It's a good challenge for us. I mean, it really is.
Because I know we're not in the same league as
them no more, but what happens in the playoffs when
we see a team very similar to them? So it's
going to be a good challenge, and hopefully we're up
for it. We're going to be prepared, and we're going
(15:50):
to play as good as we can play and And
if we win, great. If we lose, if I lose
a game, I want.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
To be happy that we played really well. Sure.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Right. Right.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
The other night we lost. And I'm not taking anything
from Thomas Hill. They had a great plan. Their kids
played really well.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
But we had five to eight plays during that game
that were self-imposed.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
That if we don't do those things, the outcome might
be different. Yep.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
And so those are the things that, as a coach,
you get upset when we lose. That's the only time
I get upset when we lose is that we lost
because of us, not because of them.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
All right? And then.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
So we need to start playing really good football right
now and be mistake-free in the things that we can control.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
You can control a late hit. You can control a lady.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
You can control a false starter jumping offside. Sometimes you
can't control a hole. Those things happen. We're getting better.
We're going to continue to get better. We're going to
see how good we can be. Like you said a
while ago, from Thomasville, Fitzgerald, K-Road, that's a jauntlet of
(17:17):
a stretch. The beauty about it is We're not even
reaching it. This is going to develop character. These games
are going to develop character. There are going to be
things that we can pull from later on in the season.
Even if it doesn't go our way, our season's not over.
(17:41):
We still have every goal that I have for our
team still ahead of us.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
It's real easy. Here, I have three goals for my
football team. Make the playoffs. win the region, win a
state championship. So non-region is fine.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
It's all said and good and done, but football really
doesn't start for us until we hit region.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
I know everybody's going to say power rankings and all
like that. I agree. Non-regions have a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
To do with you now than they used to, but
still playing really good at the end.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Of the year is more important than playing really good
at the beginning of the year. That's right.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
That's right. Well, Coach, it's 3-0 Fitzgerald, 2-1 Worth County.
You guys do come back home. That's the good news.
And that's always a great place for you all. You
feel comfortable at home. And it's time to get back
up on the horse and get a win.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Well, we're going to try. I mean, that's the best
thing I can tell you.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
We're going to try.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
And Coach is going to do our best to get
them prepared. Kids are going to play hard. And however
it shakes out, it shakes out. If we're fortunate enough
to get a win, we'll be very thankful.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Coach, thank you so much for taking time to talk
to us. Look forward to talking about a Worth County
win next week.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
All right. Sounds good. I'll see you next Tuesday. All right, Coach.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
See you then. By the way, big thanks to our
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Speaker 2 (19:50):
Head Football Coach Jeff Hammond. See you next week, guys.
All right, guys, welcome in to our weekly Worth County
Coaches Show with the head coach of the Worth County Rams,
Jeff Hammond, who's gracious enough to loan us a few
minutes of his time. And he is a busy, busy man.
And so let's get to talking Worth County Rams football.
And again, brought to you by our friends at Phoebe
Orthopedic and Sports Medicine. Coach, welcome in.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
How you doing, buddy? I'm good, Bill. How are you, man?
I'm doing good.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Coach, a rough, rough week.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You know, listen.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
We don't say that, thankfully. We have not said that
very often. In fact, I don't know when's the last
time y'all lost a football game. It's been about a
year and a half, but Friday night was one of
those rare nights.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Well, we got beat by a better team on that
given night, and it happens.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
We don't ever like it to happen. We were fortunate
to win 17 straight. Yep. Set a school record, most
wins ever in a row. Yep.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
But done a lot of good things over that stretch.
But I thought Coach DeLay and his staff did a
heck of a job. His kids played inspirational. I didn't
think we started playing football until the second half and
ran out of time and didn't play well enough in
the first half to give us a chance to win
in the second half.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, Coach, it seemed to me, of course I was
not there, but looking at all the tape and all
the highlights and reading all the stories I could on
it and looking at things, it appeared that the difference
in the game was really the first quarter and then
the first half. And again, correct me if I'm mistaken,
I'll let you kind of describe some of this, but
(01:40):
it looked like uncharacteristically could not find any offense in
the first two quarters.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Well, we had some chances, and we didn't execute. I mean,
some of them were poor play calls by me. I'll
take credit for it. Really, a lot of our, to me,
our issues were penalties the other night, and we were
undisciplined at times, and that's my fault. I haven't done
a good enough job to explain to them when, where.
(02:11):
It's just we were uncharacteristically undisciplined. and I haven't just
done a good job preparing them. So if we've got
to get back to the drawing board and clean those
things up, you can't go out there and have 10-plus
penalties and five, six penalties over 15 yards and beat
a good football team.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
I just don't think that's– we've never done that, and
we've got.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
To get that fixed and move forward to be a
really disciplined football team that plays at.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
A high level.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Well, certainly, I think, you know, when you lose a game,
there's a lot of things you can point to. There's
a lot of different factors. One thing I noticed, and
I'll let you talk to this, you know, Lennon Worthy
has always been at the top of his game. And
one of the things I've always noticed about him is
(03:05):
he's pretty accurate. One of the most accurate quarterbacks I've
ever seen and ever heard about. You know, his completion
percentage is always sky high. And I noticed even he
had a rough night completing less than 50% of his passes,
which is, again, like a lot of things, I think
Friday night was uncharacteristic.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Well, but it goes back to he's not going to
be perfect. I mean, he's never going to be perfect.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Right.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
And sometimes you get spoiled when they are so consistent,
which he has been his whole career. But there's been
other games like the other night. There's been other games
that he didn't play real well. And we were able
to get away from things and run the football and
take some pressure off of him.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
And we weren't able to.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Do that as well, though. I mean, we got to
run the ball a little bit, but we never got
a chunk gain out of it. So we've got to
be more balanced offensively in the run and throw where
we're not asking them to go out there and throw
it every snap. And defense is pinning their ears back,
bringing pressure because they know we're throwing it.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
And when– A kid ain't got their best stuff.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
We've got to be able to go to something else
to take pressure on and only ask him to do
what he's doing well that night. Because there were times
that he played very well. And there were throws he missed.
He knows he missed them. And it happens. I remember
as a player in college, I think I had five
(04:36):
drops in my entire career, and I had three in
one game. So, I mean, it happens to the best
of us. And there's nobody that feels worse about when
he misses.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
A throw than he does. But we've got to do offensive.
We've got to be able to do more than just
sit back in the pocket and spin it.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
We've got to be able to line up, run the football,
move chains, convert third downs, and not really rely on
him to make every play. But when he's feeling it,
we can. But the nights he ain't feeling it, we
can't say, hey, we're just going to get beat because
he ain't got his best stuff there.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah. Well, and it was kind of one of those
nights again, really the, I think the only thing y'all
had a 20, what 23 yard field goal from Brody. Uh,
that was in the first quarter. Uh, of course, Thomasville
comes up with 14 points. So really coach, I mean,
it's tough when you dig a hole like that, uh,
to try to bounce back.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I mean, you guys go in, I think, what was it?
24 to three and a half.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And we, and we got it back down to one score. Uh,
we outplayed them in the third quarter.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Uh, We scored two touchdowns, one in the third and
one right in the start of the fourth.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
We were right there with.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
One score game and couldn't manage to get a stop.
I can't remember if we did get a stop and
had a chance to go down.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
There and tie it and didn't. You're right.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
It's hard to play well-coached football teams that– or going
to limit your possessions and all that when you're down
three scores a half. So, I mean, it's one of
those things that I think that this loss hopefully helps us.
(06:29):
And usually the same thing I told the kids that
Friday night, I've been a part of some really good programs,
some really good football teams.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And a really good team's always got better after they
got beat.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
I think a lot of things you think of, if
you go back to two years ago, we lost to
Fitzgerald in the middle of the season. And since that game,
we were like 25-1. We went on a stretch in
that year and got beat in the quarterfinals and then
turned around last year and didn't lose one and played
(07:01):
our first two games this year and won.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Both of them.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
So, I think that the kids have to go back
and the coaches and me and community, they all have
to understand that on any given Friday you can lose
and not be spoiled because we haven't lost. And you've
got to prepare, practice with a little fear if we
(07:28):
don't play good this week, we're going to get beat.
And I think that we lost that a little bit.
I've been preaching to them for a couple months now
that our schedule is rough, and we're going to be everybody's.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Super Bowl right now.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I mean, Thomasville, kudos to them, but when they beat us,
you thought they just won a championship.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And they were excited, and they should be. I mean,
I'm not upset about that.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I mean, their kids.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Played hard, and they wanted to win more than we did,
and they were excited that they did.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
But we've got to remember that that's what we're going
to get each week from everybody. And that if we
don't play at a high level, we don't practice at
a high level, we can.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Experience what we experienced Friday night multiple times. Yep. Okay. So,
I mean, we've got to learn from this and go forward.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
And I feel like after one day of practice and
how we flew around yesterday, it started, you can tell,
it was back to the old, okay, I don't like losing.
I'm not going to win if I don't work. And
I thought they went out there and flew around and
bumped around really well last night.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Now we just got to get better.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah, you're right. Sometimes I have said this before, and
some coaches will look at me like, are you nuts?
But sometimes there is a such thing as a good loss.
If you can learn from it, bounce back from it,
as long as it don't eliminate you from playing football–
And this one didn't.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You know, you can learn things from it.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
And it sounds like your team, at least in the
early results, sounds like they didn't like what happened to
them Friday night.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
They didn't. But I will say this about them last week.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
We did some things, mistakes that aren't characteristic about Worth County.
And that's my job to help get that cleaned up
and teach them better and do a better job as
a head coach. But I will say this. I thought
they played extremely hard. And there were games before early
on when we were here where we might have lost
(09:42):
a game. And I thought we didn't play hard.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I didn't think. I thought we played really hard.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I don't think we played really good at times.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
But the effort was there.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
And if effort's there, it's my job to put them
in the right position to be successful. And we've got
to do a better job at that and be a
better teacher or we ask them to do something that
they're physically not able to do that's what they pay
us to do as long as they keep giving us
great effort we'll be okay but my challenge to them
(10:16):
is I know you're going to play hard on Friday
but Can you play that hard Monday through Wednesday to
be ready to play on Friday?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Well, got to get back up on the horse, so
to speak, because as you mentioned earlier, things ain't going
to get any easier. And that includes the opponent you're
going to be taking on this Friday night, Coach, as
you guys return home. to take on a big rival,
a big nemesis, and that's against Fitzgerald, Purple Hurricanes. This
(10:48):
little matchup between work and Fitzgerald has become really, like
I said, a big rivalry. Fans look forward to it.
I would expect that's the way it's going to be
Friday night.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
I would too. I think there's no love lost between
either programs. Right, right.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
And to be honest with you, these are fun games
to go coach in. is that when you go play
somebody that wants to beat you worse than anybody on
the team and us wanting to beat them as bad
as they want to beat us, those usually give you
(11:23):
pretty good football games. The biggest thing with us, though,
is making sure we don't overdo it and we keep
our heads and we play with character and don't get
caught in next curriculars.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Because in these type of games, that can happen.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And being good young men and playing the game the
right way and trying to be as physical as they are.
And after the whistle, everything stops and you catch your
breath and you go do it again. So, I mean,
I'm looking forward.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
To this week. Well, and you should.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
You know, we remember two years ago it was those
purple hurricanes that came into Sylvester. I believe that was
two years ago. eliminated the Rams from the playoffs. And then,
of course, last year, which I thought was one of
the better games, you guys really took care of business
against Fitzgerald, I think 30-7 the final score. So, sounds like,
(12:21):
you know, the team has a short memory, I guess
is what I'm saying. You know, and it goes back
to this good rivalry between the two teams.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah, I mean, it's, I mean, last year, Going into
that ball game, probably nervous.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
As I have been in a long time coaching football.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
And because I knew we were good enough to compete
for the whole shebang at the end of the season.
But my thought process was, how can I make us
believe we win a state championship when we can't beat Pittsburgh?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
And the kids responded. They played really well. It was
close at half, and we were able to pull away
in the second half. But this Fitzgerald team ain't last
year's Fitzgerald team.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
That's right. This Worth County team ain't last year's Worth
County team.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
That's right. That's right.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
I mean, Fitzgerald, they look this year like they have
in the past.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
They're going to run the football. Everybody in the stadium
knows they're going to run the football.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
They're going to try to bully you at the line
of scrimmage and test your manhood.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
And you've got.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
To be willing to get down in the trenches and
play for 48 minutes, which a lot of high.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
School kids don't like doing that anymore. That's right. And
they're really, really good at it. And then defensively, they're fast.
They're physical. They like to tackle. I mean, they're going
to put us in issues. And if we're going to
win this football game, we're going to play really, really well.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
And we're going to be mistake-free because I– these type
of games where, and talking from an offensive-minded coach, normally
in a football game, you get.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
12 to 13 possessions a game.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
When somebody is four or five yards running you to
death and they're not in a hurry, okay, if you
can't get off the field on third downs, then you
might get six to seven possessions a game.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
So, If you look at it that.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Way, every series is very important for you to go
out there and get points. And if they do get
out to an early lead, not freak out and play
to their hand. I mean, they want to get out
to a two-score lead and do what they do, and
(14:50):
you freak out and say, all right, we've got to
throw whatever snap to get back in the game. And
that's just doing what they want you to do. So
it's going to be a chess match. So, I mean,
I'm going to have to do a really good job
of controlling tempo as well.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
And we know what they're going to do. And defensively, we're.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Going to get a tackle on first down for no gain.
We need to put them a second long. And then
we don't need them to be fourth and two all night.
Because if they're fourth and two all night, I mean,
their type of offense can go grind out two yards.
So we've got to do a good job with defense
of getting stops and defending right runs and not getting
(15:29):
washed out of our gaps. It's going to be a challenge.
It's a good challenge for us. I mean, it really is.
Because I know we're not in the same league as
them no more, but what happens in the playoffs when
we see a team very similar to them? So it's
going to be a good challenge, and hopefully we're up
for it. We're going to be prepared, and we're going
(15:50):
to play as good as we can play and And
if we win, great. If we lose, if I lose
a game, I want.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
To be happy that we played really well. Sure.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Right. Right.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
The other night we lost. And I'm not taking anything
from Thomas Hill. They had a great plan. Their kids
played really well.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
But we had five to eight plays during that game
that were self-imposed.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
That if we don't do those things, the outcome might
be different. Yep.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
And so those are the things that, as a coach,
you get upset when we lose. That's the only time
I get upset when we lose is that we lost
because of us, not because of them.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
All right? And then.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
So we need to start playing really good football right
now and be mistake-free in the things that we can control.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
You can control a late hit. You can control a lady.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
You can control a false starter jumping offside. Sometimes you
can't control a hole. Those things happen. We're getting better.
We're going to continue to get better. We're going to
see how good we can be. Like you said a
while ago, from Thomasville, Fitzgerald, K-Road, that's a jauntlet of
(17:17):
a stretch. The beauty about it is We're not even
reaching it. This is going to develop character. These games
are going to develop character. There are going to be
things that we can pull from later on in the season.
Even if it doesn't go our way, our season's not over.
(17:41):
We still have every goal that I have for our
team still ahead of us.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
It's real easy. Here, I have three goals for my
football team. Make the playoffs. win the region, win a
state championship. So non-region is fine.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
It's all said and good and done, but football really
doesn't start for us until we hit region.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
I know everybody's going to say power rankings and all
like that. I agree. Non-regions have a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
To do with you now than they used to, but
still playing really good at the end.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Of the year is more important than playing really good
at the beginning of the year. That's right.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
That's right. Well, Coach, it's 3-0 Fitzgerald, 2-1 Worth County.
You guys do come back home. That's the good news.
And that's always a great place for you all. You
feel comfortable at home. And it's time to get back
up on the horse and get a win.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Well, we're going to try. I mean, that's the best
thing I can tell you.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
We're going to try.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
And Coach is going to do our best to get
them prepared. Kids are going to play hard. And however
it shakes out, it shakes out. If we're fortunate enough
to get a win, we'll be very thankful.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Coach, thank you so much for taking time to talk
to us. Look forward to talking about a Worth County
win next week.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
All right. Sounds good. I'll see you next Tuesday. All right, Coach.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
See you then. By the way, big thanks to our
friends at Phoebe Orthopedic and Sports Medicine. Whether you need
complex orthopedic trauma surgery or treatment for a minor pickleball injury,
the team at Phoebe Orthopedics and Sports Medicine has you covered.
They've got the largest orthopedics team in Southwest Georgia, and
they're experienced physicians, advanced practice providers, and certified athletic trainers
(19:28):
and occupational therapists focused on restoring mobility, relieving pain, and
getting you back to the activities that you enjoy. Learn
more at Phoebe. Phoebe, a better way to orthopedic care.
Big thanks to our friends at Phoebe Orthopedic and Sports
Medicine for sponsoring our weekly conversation with Worth County.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Head Football Coach Jeff Hammond. See you next week, guys.
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