All-time top Northside soccer scorer Alonso recalls amazing ride as Eagles football kicker

Northside High School’s most successful soccer goal scorer ever made most of his fame doing another kind of kicking. Justin Alonso was another in a long line of solid Eagle football placekickers, and he has the big championship ring to prove it.

Alonso on Friday announced that he will play college ball, soccer that is, for Middle Georgia State University. He was a three-year captain and four-year starter for Sam Said on the pitch at Northside, and he not only scored 37 career goals but assisted on 35 more.

It’s another story of a life-long soccer player who was asked, upon entering high school, to try football kicking. Alonso then became the one Kevin Kinsler turned to not only for the PAT and field goals, but also punting.

“It was amazing,” said Alonso about that portion of his time as an Eagle. “Once in a lifetime, especially at Northside. I will miss it a lot.”

In the 2014 season, Northside made it to the GHSA Class 5A football championship against Mays in the Georgia Dome. Alonso was a big part of that ride through the playoffs as he made three field goals at Mercer University in Northside’s win over Allatoona. The Eagles then beat Mays 25-18 with Alonso making a 32-yard field goal.

“I’ll never forget that,” he said about the game. “I would love to relive it.”

Alonso also punted Mays inside the 20 three times. For that season he had a 34-yard punting average, and in 2015 his average went up to more than 35 yards.

Alonso can fully focus on a college soccer career with Middle Georgia State, now a four-year NAIA program in Cochran. He said he is already starting to train (for college soccer is played in the fall). Even though offense was his forte in high school, Alonso said he will have to see how he will be used in the Knights program.

Alonso wants to study information technology and perhaps one day enlist in the United States Air Force.

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