DAHLONEGA — West Hall football had plenty of chances to give up on the 2015 season as it skidded through a five-game losing streak.
Instead the Spartans picked themselves up and charged back into the postseason for a third straight season.
Yes, West Hall had some help along the way, but the Spartans also did what was required on the field Friday, knocking off Lumpkin County 14-7 in Dahlonega to complete a three-game win streak. Their victory, combined with East Hall's defeat of Banks County and Franklin County's win at Fannin County pushed West Hall back into the Class AAA bracket.
"I think it says a lot about my kids that we were staring 2-8 right in the face when we had that five-game losing skid. But they kept believing and kept working. I'm just really proud of my senior class and the rest of them," West Hall coach Tony Lotti said. "(During the season) everybody kept wanting to talk about last year, but that was a different year. And I knew everybody else would be better, but we stared adversity in the face and got some help and we're lucky enough to be playing for one more week."
West Hall (5-5, 3-3 Region 7-AAA) will take the No. 4 seed from Region 7-AAA and will travel to face Calhoun in the first round next week.
"As far as my guys go, we're going to strap it on and play as hard as we can and let the chips fall where they may," Lotti said. "During that five-game skid if it could go wrong it did -- on the field and off. But we found a way to fight back... We're going to enjoy this right this second because these opportunities don't come along here often."
West Hall jumped ahead in the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run from quarterback Cameron Shirley and extended its lead to 14-0 at the half on a 54-yard second quarter touchdown run from Kwon Williams.
Lumpkin County fought back in the fourth quarter when Zach Matthews capped a 95-yard, 21-play drive with a two-yard touchdown plunge. But the Indians (2-8, 0-6) could not get back in the end zone, as West Hall held on to get back into the postseason.
Lumpkin County's season is now complete.
