Continuing the Legacy: Camdenton’s Pitts Building Inherits the Laker Spirit – Hot

CAMDENTON, Mo–We’ve reached week eight of the high school football season and 1st and 10.
On this Friday the 13th, luck will have little to do with some big time battles.

Lebanon’s a perfect 7-0 and faces 6-1 Camdenton.

That’s where we find KOLR 10’s Chris Pinson.

Hey Dan, while the war on highway 5 is roughly 40 minutes away from kicking off, Camdenton’s relying on previous experience and past traditions to guide it to victory.

“The premis is, everyone’s valued here. Everyone has a little cog in the machine,” said Camdenton coach Par Pitts.

Playing football for Camdenton high school is a lot like playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Wearing the purple and gold just means more.

“We try to make sure everybody knows they have value in our program. Whether they’re a scout team player or starter on Friday nights and working toward that goal of being 1-0 at the end of the week,” said Pitts.

Coach Pitts’ philosophy stems back to when he played under the friday night lights in the late 80s.

Pitts: “When I was a player here in our program, our coaches made every one of us know we were part of something bigger than ourselves. That’s one of our standards. Nobody’s too important to do a job and nobody’s not important enought to do a job.”

As a senior lineman in 1986, Pitts and his teammates won the Class 4 state championship, but in an odd way.

“We uh…we were in the state championship and tied. We won a state championship but it was a tie. So you guys tied for a state championship?! Yeah, 100 percent. Against Marshall,” said Pitts.

Nearly four decades later, Pitts is Camdenton’s head coach.

Guiding the Lakers to a 6-1 record heading into their showdown with undefeated arch rival Lebanon.

“Well they play hard, they’re well coached. They’re gonna run the football effectively and they’re gonna be physical on defense and they’re gonna be prepared, we know that, ahead of time, so we have to be prepared as well,” said Pitts.

“I mean, every year I’ve played it’s been physical, tough. Sometimes it’s not down to the wire sometimes it is, but it’s an amazing atmosphere. There’s nothing like it,” said Camdenton senior Garret Hilton.

While the Yellowjackets have gotten the better of the Lakers the last two meetings, coach Pitts embraces the adversity this battle will bring.

“Well I think iron sharpens iron, and when you play a good team you have to be at your best. What we tell our guys is we want to be the same guys no matter who we’re playing, but we know they’re going to be at a very high level so we have to be there too,” said Pitts.