Veterans succumbs to size and speed in first round loss to Pope

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Pope forward Otis Hearn celebrates his second of three goals during a first round victory at Veterans. (Clay Brown/HHJ)

WARNER ROBINS — The second half was much better than the first, but the result was unchanged as Veterans (14-5) lost to Pope (12-4) 3-0 in the first round of the GHSA state tournament.

The Warhawks are the fourth Houston County team to lose to an Atlanta-area school in the opening round of the tournament. The Lady Warhawks lost 10-0 to Pope’s Lady Greyhounds in the game before. Both of the Bears’ teams lost, too.

The size and speed, and in some cases skill, is a notable difference especially for soccer. But depth, Veterans head coach Matt Roth said, is one of the biggest disadvantages.

“We’ve got some talent here all across the county…[But] the size and the ability to do what they do and the numbers and the pool that they have, it’s just hard to compete with,” Roth said. “They have a lot more depth and I think that can show its side especially late in games where some of the schools down here we don’t have that kind of depth.”

Controlling possession was a constant, physical battle that often went in Pope’s favor. Just to get to the other side of the pitch took great effort from the ‘Hawks.

They were able to win more of those battles in the second half but the physical cost proved to be too much.

By the end of the game when they needed goals the most they just didn’t have the stamina left to make the runs they needed to in the final third.

“I think we were spending a lot of our energy trying to get control of the midfield,” Roth said. “That took away some of our pressure because we were having to drop people back and play to try and win that midfield spot to even get opportunities…At the end of the game I think we were just so gassed from having to fight that those runs just weren’t there anymore.”

Greyhounds senior forward Otis Hearn was the most obvious advantage of size and speed.

Standing well above most of the Veterans roster he was long, athletic and strong. He was also responsible for all three of Pope’s goals, including the first which came inside the first minute of the game.

But the rest of the team seemed to constantly have a step on the ‘Hawks, too. They got in front of through balls frequently and if they were able to turn towards the goal with the ball they were dangerous.

“[Hearn’s] speed and size was definitely a threat early on. We knew he was going to be a problem,” Roth said. “We didn’t compensate for that a lot of the beginning of the game with our nerves, [we’re a] very young team. I think they caught us off guard a little bit.”

Veterans has 10 underclassmen on the roster. Youth played some role in their struggles, but these early lessons can be invaluable in the next couple of years.

“They learned tonight it’s tough,” Roth said. “A lot of them, it’s their first playoff game, first time seeing speed like that, size like that. And I think that if anything it’s gonna help with their anxiety going into a game next season facing those opponents because that’s an intimidating task when it’s your first one ever.”