PERRY — Von Lassiter tried to lead his offense to score against Kevin Kinsler’s defense while the two were assistant coaches at Northside.

Even though those matchups took place on the practice fields behind the school, Lassiter usually found that to be quite the difficult task.

When Lassiter’s squad now tries to get the best of Kinsler — the head coach at Northside — the stakes will be higher. Lassiter is the new head football coach and athletics director at Houston County after receiving unanimous approval Tuesday afternoon at a school board meeting. He’s the third full-time head coach at Houston County following Doug Johnson and Greg Robinson. George Collins also led the Bears as the interim head coach in 2007.

“I’m very thankful of the opportunity and ready to get started,” said Lassiter, who served as the defensive coordinator at West Laurens this past season. “The county administration has a strong desire for athletic success in Houston County.”

Lassiter will be a rookie head coach for the Bears after working as an assistant at Bleckley County, Dublin, Mary Persons, Northside and West Laurens. He has been a defensive coordinator (West Laurens), an offensive coordinator (Bleckley County) and a special teams coordinator (Northside). He spent two stints at Bleckley County and two at Northside working for Sam Barrs and Conrad Nix, who combined to win 456 games. Lassiter was on the Northside staff in 2007 when the Eagles won their second consecutive state championship. He served as the offensive coordinator at Bleckley County in 2006, when he helped lead the Royals to the best season in program history and a quarterfinals appearance.

“I’ve been fortunate to work for those guys and be allowed in the inner circle some and see how they do things,” Lassiter said. “Guys have entrusted me to run different aspects of programs, so I’ve done pretty much everything.”

Lassiter will get to instill that trust in his assistants as he’ll get to bring two new coordinators to Houston County.

“We’re going to be getting some good guys,” he said.

Lassiter, a Cochran native, will be reunited with Michelle Masters, his boss at Bleckley County and the current principal at Houston County.

Lassiter said Masters is an advocate for sports. She coached softball and now serves as the Region 2-AAAAA representative on the GHSA executive committee.

“She was a huge draw for me to come here,” Lassiter said. “She’s a team player who cares a lot about athletics.”

Lassiter takes over for Robinson, who went 17-33 in five seasons at the helm. The Bears are 18-42 in six seasons dating back to their last playoff appearance. Johnson guided the Bears to the quarterfinals in 2006 before retiring just prior to the start of the 2007 season.

Johnson went 100-78-1 in 16 seasons as the head coach, starting with the opening of the school in 1991. He led the Bears to the semifinals in 1993 and to the quarterfinals two other times.

The Bears never have won a region title, and they have gone 2-27-1 after Northside and Warner Robins.

“I know what work ethic I better have to compete against guys like Kevin Kinsler and (Warner Robins head coach) Bryan Way,” Lassiter said. “They are two of the best, and I’m just going to work as