With all of the Bear scoring coming in the first eight minutes of regulation, Houston County High’s boys soccer team remained undefeated in 2013 by holding off Lowndes High of Class AAAAAA 2-1 Friday at home.
As quickly as Jason Kirk’s club put goals on the board so early into the match, it could have easily been perceived as a runaway night for the home team. But Lowndes, a team that has taken on 9-1 Central Gwinett (3-2 loss), 6-3 Camden County (1-0 win) and 6-3 Collins Hill (3-1 loss), not only stayed on the field with shutout defense for the last 72 minutes but also notched its goal midway through the second half.
Still, the Bears improved to 9-0 and recently crept up to No. 4 in the state rankings for Class AAAAA.
Almost three minutes into play, Colin Little took the ball in to earn a corner kick. Drew Behrman and Ezequiel Morales played the ball to earn another corner try, though this time the Viking keeper covered it.
Andrew Weber made a head lead pass to Steven Moore, who did a lot of dribbling in the box. The Lowndes defense forced a goal kick at 34:22. Houston County continued to win the 50-50s, and 20 yards away from the net Everick Little settled a throw-in.
He would be the one scoring the first goal from that spot at 33:27.
Seventy seconds later, the Bears did a lot of passing from side to side. It was Weber taking a shot the visiting keeper touched but could not stop, and the Bears were up 2-0.
All the best scoring chances still belonged to Houston County. With 28 minutes remaining in the half, Everick Little passed the ball out left to Weber, but his shot missed high. Just a minute later, Moore set up Weber for another shot, one that was saved by the keeper away from the net.
The possession time for the Bears was made possible by the control in the backfield from Jonathan Scruggs, Dylan Krimmer and Morales.
Lowndes had its first corner kick at 21:20 but over-hit the ball. It was competitive, fast-paced soccer over the next 10 minutes. The Bears took a corner kick at 15:37, but the header try from Josh Bilbrey went an inch too high.
Freshman Adam Myers first real play on the ball came at 14:13 when he dove on a head shot off a corner. Bill Hess of the Bears followed it up with an attack in the opposite box but shot wide. It would then be Morales and Scruggs with great defensive work to break up a Viking charge.
Seven minutes before the half, Houston was hit with two non-contact yellow cards. The hosts still maintained possession with two corner kicks and big play from Everick Little. He also helped his keeper on the other end by disrupting a break at 4:12.
The last shot in the half came from Morales off a corner kick, but his header was off the mark at 1:20.
With Bryce Dawson playing keeper in the second half, the Bears took control early with two corner kicks in the first five minutes. Everyone from Moore to C. Little to E. Little to Behrman had a foot on the ball, and Will Pospisil was off target with his header.
Krimmer had a big defensive moment forcing a goal kick, and E. Little’s pass for Scruggs on the right turned into a crossing shot missed at the 30-minute mark.
Dawson’s first save was at 24:38, and E. Little backed him up with a powerful clearing kick at 22:22. However, the ball stayed with Lowndes, and when the Bears tried another clear it ricocheted to the Vikings for their scoring play at 22:03 (2-1).
With 21 minutes to play, Houston had two major scoring chances denied, one on a high leaping keeper catch from the right corner and a stop on the ground 45 seconds later. Lowndes defensive efforts picked up with numerous disrupted passes and forcing the Bears hold the ball and back away from the goal.
At 11:26, Weber finally got his team a shot (saved by Lowndes) from the middle of the field. Justin Little also had a long-range try caught at 10:22. Morales and Weber had steals setting up a high try by Moore with less than nine minutes remaining. Weber’s head shot off a corner at 7:33 hit the top bar.
Lowndes didn’t get close to a shot the remainder of the match thanks to E. Little, Krimmer and Scruggs.
HHJ News
