La Center’s John Lambert became the first football coach in Southwest Washington to record 200 wins at one school when the Wildcats beat Kalama on Friday
Paul Valencia
Clark County Today
John Lambert shakes his head every time he is reminded that he has been the head coach for the La Center Wildcats since the 20th century.
Makes him seem old, even if he doesn’t feel old.
In fact, he feels young enough to coach for years and years and years.
“It didn’t enter my lexicon,” he said Friday night when asked if he ever imagined, back in 1999, that he would still be the La Center football coach more than a quarter-century later.
“I think I was just really focused on the moment, trying to coach, enjoying the moment,” Lambert said. “And then let’s go to the next year and improve.”
Moment after moment, season after season, Lambert and the Wildcats have created special memories with each other and for the community.
They shared something special again on Friday night.
After the game, a huge decoration was unveiled. Lambert and the team took a photo standing behind this behemoth of a sign.
Then it was folded up, ready to be taken home.
Only, another photo was requested.
Lambert wasn’t so sure. After all, it would take an effort to unfurl.
John’s wife Kerry Lambert was the voice of reason.
It was a big moment, she said. It deserved a big poster.
It was, perhaps, one of the biggest moments in La Center football history. Because, for the most part, John Lambert’s tenure as head coach is La Center football.
Friday night, Lambert became the first Clark County high school football coach to amass 200 career victories at one school.
Win No. 1 came in 1999 in Week 1 vs. Hoquiam.
Win No. 200 came Friday night in Week 8 of the 2025 season with a 42-16 victory over Kalama.
Before John Lambert became the head coach, the Wildcats had won less than 140 games — total — in the previous 70 seasons.
(Our thanks to Southwest Washington high school football historian Bryan Levesque, who has records on La Center football dating back to 1929.)
Lambert thanked today’s Wildcats and yesterday’s athletes, giving them much of the credit for his record of 200-82.
He still remembers the first win, too, at the old field “down there,” he said pointing toward the middle school where La Center varsity football used to play.
“We were predicted … to go 0-9 that year, my first year,” Lambert said. “And not expected to win, there was no pressure.”
He does not recall ever being nervous that first game. In a way, he was too young — age 28 — to be nervous.
“I don’t think I was self aware enough to have too much anxiety. It was like the-more-I-coach-the-more-I-realize-the-less-I know kind of thing,” Lambert said.
There have been a number of memorable victories among the 200.
One of Kerry’s favorites is the rare game she missed. She was busy, after all, having just given birth to twins Mary and Tom about 18 hours before kickoff.
“I’m holding our twins (in the hospital) and it gets mentioned that the Woodland game is the next day. In that moment, it seemed like it was a world away,” Kerry said. “The next morning, I realized, it’s Woodland. I said, ‘You gotta go.’”
It was 2002. Going into that game, La Center had lost 23 consecutive games against rival Woodland over the course of 39 years.
“He left the hospital, he coached the game,” Kerry recalled. “I remember him coming back into my hospital room that night saying, ‘We did it. We won.’ We’re holding the babies and thinking, ‘They did it.’ It was the greatest 48 hours for him, ever.”
That was win No. 21.
John’s favorite win, he said Friday night, was No. 149. The 2017 Wildcats beat Cascade Christian in triple-overtime in the state quarterfinals.
He also enjoyed No. 170, when La Center rallied from a 25-0 deficit to win at Mount Baker 26-25 in 2022. Mount Baker ended up playing in the state championship game that year.
Of course, No. 200 is a big deal, too. Friday’s win sets up a game next week against Seton Catholic for the Trico League title.
“It’s something special,” La Center quarterback Nate Rembisz said for the whole team to be part of this milestone for their coach. “The bond has been growing so much. We’re a big family. It’s a connection that we can’t break.”
The Wildcats would do anything for their coach.
“He’s a great coach, the best coach in the world,” Rembisz said.
“He’s the reason why we are.”
Lambert said he is touched when he runs into a former player, at a store, a gas station … wherever. Recently, he bumped into a man who played for Lambert 24 years ago.
“This is a guy who looks like a lumberjack telling me how important I was in his life. That really humbles you, right?” Lambert said. “Having moments like that mean everything.”
More moments are planned for the future.
Plus, soon enough, there will be another milestone.
Lambert, at 200 wins in Southwest Washington, is No. 2 on the all-time wins list for the region. Jon Eagle has 213 wins in Clark County, with 86 wins at Evergreen and 127 at Camas.
Expect John Lambert to cruise past that 213 number. The Lamberts have said for years that John intends to coach until at least the 2035 season, when their youngest will be a senior.
Even then, this era might not come to a close.
“I love what I teach. I love what I coach. I love the community,” John Lambert said. “If I’m loving it, I’m not going (anywhere). Why would I stop something I enjoy?”
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