Riverwood soccer knocks out HC Bears

A two-year run of state finals appearances for Houston County High boys soccer came to a shocking end Wednesday. Riverwood International Charter School, all the way from Sandy Springs in Fulton County, used two regulation penalty kicks to upset the once unbeaten and No. 2 ranked Bears 3-1 in the Sweet 16 round of the 2015 GHSA AAAAA tournament in Warner Robins.

For the last two seasons, Jason Kirk led Houston County to its first two state championship appearances in its soccer history, both matches losses to a McIntosh High team placed at No. 1 in national polls. In 2015, the Bears – as part of the regular season – defeated McIntosh in Fayette County, reclaimed Region 2-AAAAA glory in a penalty kick shootout over defending champion Greenbrier and garnered top 10 ratings nationwide itself.

Riverwood entered Wednesday with only one setback all season, and that was in the Region 7-AAAAA championship to everybody’s No. 1, Dalton High. The Raiders hit the pitch and showed it was capable of playing high-level soccer, battling the Bears to a 0-0 halftime draw.

For Houston County, the first defensive stand came from sophomore Tim Freeman. Two minutes into play, he ran alongside Riverwood’s striker in the middle of the field and delivered a good sliding stop. Brad Braxton, a senior on the back line, also sped stride for stride with an attack on the right wing. Goalkeeper Declan Furlough, the hero of Houston’s shootout region final against Greenbrier, moved out to play the ball and got help on the clear from sophomore Hunter Henry (36:30).

Furlough’s punt deep into the Houston attacking zone switched possession at 35:20, and the Bears had throw-ins deep in the penalty box area. Riverwood’s freshman keeper caught a ball tapped off the head of Houston’s 45-goal scorer, senior Steven Moore.

Senior Sean Palmer and Henry used their feet to disrupt Riverwood’s ensuing momentum, and Scruggs, Henry and senior Will Pospisil all blocked clearing attempts.

Kirk inserted junior striker JaVaughn Todd to add a new speed and ball-handling dimension to the Bear offense. His first touch, from Scruggs’ header up field, resulted in a lot of dribbling, but also strong Riverwood marking in the left corner. That gave Houston its first corner kick at the 27-minute mark. Senior Joey Barrick took it, junior George Slaughter went after it on the goal line, but Riverwood got there first for a powerful clear.

Todd remained a nuisance to the Raider defense as the half reached 25 minutes. Houston’s foul, though, put it against a free kick of 45 yards. The Raiders tried to go side to side with the ball, but Freeman broke it up.

At 20:10, it was the Bears taking a midfield free kick. It resulted in a penalty box throw-in 15 yards from the net, and the visiting keeper made the catch just at the top bar. Freeman was in the same spot for a set kick (18:49) that was caught at the goal. Riverwood turned that into a quick strike defended by Freeman and Pospisil for a goal kick.

As the half reached 15 minutes, Slaughter’s head clear gave Moore his first fast break. Todd took his pass but was wide of the goal. Thirty seconds later, Barrick stole the ball, but Moore shot wide off Scruggs’ lead.

Pospisil gave the Bears two key stops inside the last 10 minutes, and senior Sean Palmer, Henry and Braxton got the ball away from the Raiders with two minutes to go.

Riverwood’s Mario Aguero scored all three of his team’s goals in the second half. What set up the first was Furlough approaching the ball in the box only to see a Riverwood attacker charging from the left. The foul went against the keeper, and Aguero connected on the penalty kick at 35:27.

Furlough responded with a great save on a close in shot at 34:28. He also caught a long effort at 31:17.

Todd then created momentum for Houston’s offense. There was a wall of Raiders in front of Moore, but Barrick maintained possession. The keeper then used his hands to stop Moore’s shot.

The half going under 27 minutes, the Bears had free kicks and close throw-ins, and at the 23-minute mark the Raiders withstood Moore’s attack set up by Barrick and junior Michael Fussell. Riverwood would go up 2-0 at 20:06 as Aguero converted a quick two-pass combination in the box.

Henry, Scruggs and Todd went to work, getting Moore a turnaround shot that went high at 18:30. Houston couldn’t anything out of a corner kick (15:15), and when Moore was double-teamed in a corner, that gave the Bears a set kick caught with 11 minutes to play.

But as Freeman stopped the Raiders from shooting on one end, that broke Moore loose with the ball. He scored past three defenders at 10:21.

Riverwood pushed the ball from the kickoff, had good spacing, but sophomore Heath Henry broke things up in the box. The Bears could not avoid a box foul with the visitors on the run at 8:13. Aguero regained the two-goal lead with his second PK for 3-1.

Fussell made a good pass inside two minutes later, but the Bears couldn’t find a shot. Fussell was also set up by the Henry brothers for a high shot, but it was caught at 4:45.

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