Lawson wins MCA's Coach of the Year

HOT SPRINGS – Savage Heat Football is still racking up recognition months after the regular season and six-man state championship game, but this kind of recognition is for the man behind the successful program, Coach Jim Lawson.

Lawson was recently voted “Coach of the Year” for six-man football by the Montana Coaches Association, and it came as a surprise to the coach of nine years.

“That’s pretty neat,” Lawson said. “I’m pretty honored but the boys were the ones who did all the work. I’m not sure I deserve it, but it’s definitely an honor.”

A Hot Springs boy himself, Lawson has been instilled within the close-knit yet laid-back community all his life. He stated that he enjoyed bringing that same community together over some good football in the duration of the 2012 season, and that the support during the state championship, which took place in the town of Hot Springs against Big Sandy, was a phenomenal thing.

“Just having the town together and celebrating the victory [of the state championship] and uniting the town was one of my best memories of  [that day],” Lawson said.

He began coaching football nine years ago, and become head coach just three short years ago. The 2012 football season was only the program’s second year in six-man football after many years of co-op play with Plains football. Lawson has humbly stated in the past that his coaching is just calling plays and the boys do the rest; however, there is much more than meets the eye.

Lawson played football in Hot Springs and then went on to play safety at Montana Western College, so his experiences as a player are not too far away in his personal timeline. He knows what the boys go through, and he also knows how to positively motivate them.

“Jim is a great example for the boys,” Hot Springs athletic director Chris Clairmont stated. “Plus, coming from and then being in the community he grew up, he’s gained a lot of recognition from his peers, I could say a million more good things about him. We’re excited and extremely proud to have him as part of our program and hopefully we can keep him for a long time and keep getting awards like this [MCA Coach of the Year].”

Another positive thing still going for Lawson’s legacy is that of two players – seniors Dave Cross and Mike Gray – being selected for the 2013 Montana East-West Shrine Game. The 67th annual game, which brings in the best players from all around Montana, and from every class school, will take place in July. According to a news release, “the Montana Shrine Game is the premier all-star game in Montana and has a long history of distinguished players and coaches. It is one of the oldest high school all-star football games in the United States. Every year since 1947, Montana high schools’ finest players are selected to compete in a game to raise money and to help make the public aware of the expert orthopedic and burn care available at the Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Spokane, Washington. In recent years, the Montana game has become one of the top Shrine Games in the nation for hospital donations.”

“It’s neat to see Dave and Mike get the recognition they deserve,” Lawson said of the Shrine game athletes. Cross was selected as part of the West team, and Gray was selected as an alternate for the West team. Both athletes represent the town of Hot Springs well, and each had memorable touchdowns in their slough of undefeated games in the 2012 season. But Lawson stated both boys also have great attitudes.

Along with the Shrine game this summer, Cross, Gray, and other senior Wyatt Nagy and teammates Tanner Hoff, Nate Gray, and Jimmy Holland will also play in the Class-C six-man All State game in Custer on June 1. Lawson was also selected as one of the head coaches for the game, and he said he’s excited to coach the boys once more.

“It’s pretty amazing for me, I don’t’ know if I deserve all this stuff but I like to see the boys get recognized, they deserve it,” Lawson said.

The coach and his athletes will continue to play well, and coach well. As things continue to fall into place, with time to reflect before reacting, it’s hard not to remember how one arrived to the place of recognition. Lawson shared the best coaching advice he’d received: “You just got to find ways to get your best players the football,” he said. “With that, comes imagination and thinking up plays in order to do that, and I had a lot of good players this year, and I’ve received a lot of good coaching advice through the years.”