SUMRALL – The Sumrall boys soccer program finds itself in uncharted territory.
For two straight years, the Bobcats were put out in the second round of the playoffs. But that finally changed on Tuesday night with Sumrall defeating Poplarville 4-1 to advance to the third round - the farthest the team has ever gone in its history.
“We are one win away from South State,” said Sumrall coach Jared Lee, who is in just his second year of leading the program. “A lot of coaches have poured into the program before I got here.
“We can compete with anybody if we lock in, focus and play our game.”
The Bobcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Poplarville, which they tied earlier in the year. Sophomore Wyatt Jonesand eighth grader Henry Hamner spearheaded the offensive effort.
In the eighth minute of the game, Hamner crossed the ball to Jones, who easily found the back of the net.
“The backline fumbled it, and it popped out right at the 18, so I just put it in the corner,” Jones said. “I definitely thought (the game) would be tighter than this. I keep the mentality that every team we play is good enough to put seven on us, so I have to play my absolute best at all times to get anywhere close to winning a game. It helps with the physicality and gets me that I have to play at 100 percent or this game is not going my way.”
Notably, Jones is now closing in on 30 goals for the season.
“When I last checked the stats as a team, we had 60 goals, and he had 25,” Lee said. “That’s what you want from your striker. You want your striker to be a guy who is confident.
“One great thing about Wyatt is that he is really physical up top and can hold up the ball. Wyatt uses both feet and is really good at creating chances for himself.”
Jones and Hamner followed the same remedy, except with Hamner scoring twice each time in the 26th and 30th minutes.
“He really creates havoc and is so quick,” Jones said. “He’s young but super athletic and really good with his feet. He can hold up the ball as well as I can and against guys that are way bigger than him. I can rely on him, and we can play off each other really well.”
Part of the success in the first half resulted from Lee studying the game film from the previous matchup against Poplarville.
“We watched a lot of film the past few days,” Lee said. “What we really focused on was our last game versus them earlier in the year and how we got our chances against them. (In that game) we had 16 shots, and they had seven, and we tied them 2-2.
“When we looked back, most of our chances were coming off crosses from the far-left side, and then we didn’t bury the chances the first time. We wanted to replicate that action.”
The two programs traded goals in the second half, with Will Cronin scoring in the 64th minute and Poplarville (9-11-3) getting on the board in the 72nd minute.
“I guess we got tired of losing in the second round,” Jones said. “What makes this team different is the tenacity, (which) amped up the physicality. Our two center backs were sophomores last year and have gotten more experience this year. I think it’s easier for them to stay cool in high-intense games.”
Sumrall will now travel to face Pass Christian on Saturday.
“The guys came out strong,” Lee said. “When we do come out strong and come out with the effort that we need, then we are a very strong team that’s capable of competing with anybody.”
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