BREMEN, Ala. – Friends, families, teammates and coaches made their way to Jesse George Gymnasium at Cold Springs High School Wednesday morning to celebrate the next stage one Eagle’s athletic and academic career. Lawson Burgess stood out on both the offensive and defensive sides of the football for Cold Springs last season and his performance earned him an opportunity to play at the next level for the Huntingdon Hawks and Coach Mike Turk.
Lawson knew almost immediately when he took a visit to the campus that Huntingdon was where he wanted to be once his prep playing days were over. He really liked the atmosphere around the program and its commitment to winning.
“When I went down there, I could really tell that everyone is a family. I really liked the coaches and everyone down there and it just felt like a family,” Burgess said. “They like winning and they earn it too. They work hard.”
Lawson is excited to get down to campus and get to work as well as meet new friends and teammates but admits he’s going to miss the Cold Springs community that he’s gotten to know and all of the friends he’s made in school and on the field.
“The thing I’m going to miss most is all these people and everybody around here. I just love this whole community,” Burgess said. “I’m going to miss my friends but I’m looking forward to making some new ones.”
One of Burgess’ coaches at Cold Springs, Justin Cornelius, saw Lawson develop in a big way from his first year on the field to his second. Lawson knew he wanted to play college football and Cornelius has seen his commitment.
“When Lawson got here and he was going into 11th grade, he was a kid that would trip over his own two feet. We’d be out at practice and he looked awkward out there running but this was something that he loved. So, he came out and we started working him and the transformation between his junior year of football and his senior year of football was huge because he knew he wanted to go somewhere,” Cornelius said. “It’s not about what he did in those three months that we play football, its about what he did from November to August, not from August to November. So, we’re very proud of Lawson and very excited for Lawson.”
Cornelius will miss having Lawson on the field next season but he’s excited that he will be representing Cold Springs at the next level. He had nothing but good things to say about Burgess’ work ethic, character and leadership so the future looks bright for the former Eagle as he transitions to life as a Hawk.
“Lawson was a lot of fun, he’s a great kid with high character and a good student. There’s not much more you could ask for from a coaching perspective than to have someone who performs well in school and on the field. That’s what we want, that’s what excites us; someone we know we can rely on,” Cornelius said. “When things got tough, we knew we could lean on this guy and that makes a huge difference for us not only on the field, but also in school. He’s somebody that’s going to represent us and represent us well.”
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