The Oak Grove boys’ soccer team faced a variety of challenges in the first round of the 6A playoffs on Tuesday night.
However, despite battling the Warriors’ two biggest challenges, injuries and rain, Oak Grove (13-1) defeated Harrison Central 2-0.
Throughout the first half, players were drenched in a downpour, but according to Oak Grove coach Jesse Lang, the rain didn’t play a significant factor for the Warriors despite outshooting the Red Rebels 13-3.
“I don’t think the rain had anything to do with it because we played in it the other night too,” Lang said. “I don’t want to say we were used to it, but it (rained) harder the other night. It was just one of those games where it like there was a cage on the front of the goal. They just weren’t going in. We were getting shot after shot after shot, and we kept telling them that it’s going to fall and to just keep pressing.”
Whether or not the rain played a hindrance, a key member of the Warrior lineup Miller Hayden went The Oak Grove boys’ soccer team faced a variety of challenges in the first round of the 6A playoffs on Tuesday night.
However, despite battling the Warriors’ two biggest challenges, injuries and rain, Oak Grove (13-1) defeated Harrison Central 2-0.
Throughout the first half, players were drenched in a downpour, but according to Oak Grove coach Jesse Lang, the rain didn’t play a significant factor for the Warriors despite outshooting the Red Rebels 13-3.
“I don’t think the rain had anything to do with it because we played in it the other night too,” Lang said. “I don’t want to say we were used to it, but it (rained) harder the other night. It was just one of those games where it like there was a cage on the front of the goal. They just weren’t going in. We were getting shot after shot after shot, and we kept telling them that it’s going to fall and to just keep pressing.”
Whether or not the rain played a hindrance, a key member of the Warrior lineup Miller Hayden went down with an injury that required him to leave the field in the 25th minute. This led to sophomore Cade Ortego getting called from the bench, who jokingly told Lang that he was going to score. The restart of play opened with a corner kick for the Warriors, which Ortego knocked in on a header in the 33rd minute.
“I probably tell coach that every time I go in,” Ortego said. “I was excited about the header. On that header, Parker (Stephens) put in the most perfect ball over the keeper’s head. He got that goal just as much as I did.
“Anytime you are on the bench, you want to be as locked in as you can for a moment like that. If someone goes down, you want to be able to step into their shoes, and stepping into Miller’s shoes is no easy task. We all know how to play together, and that’s the cool thing about this team. When I went on, all of us still know how to play with each other even though Miller was out. We have great chemistry on the team.”
Ortego’s goal gave Oak Grove a 1-0 lead at the half. For Lang, who was still confident in his team’s performance in the first half, the biggest adjustment his team needed to make was to stop trying to challenge Harrison Central’s speed and instead be more mindful to set up the offense.
“We told them at halftime that if nothing changes that we are going on to the next round,” Lang said. “(Harrison Central) had a lot of speed in the back. We were trying to match their speed, and we just couldn’t.
“(I told them) not to force things through the middle. Just play our game. Pass the ball around, move it outside, and then come back in that way we don’t have to beat them with speed. We kept playing the ball through in the first half, and (Harrison Central) was tapping it away, and the keeper was coming way out. If we could move the ball around, get in our position, go outside, then back in, then their speed wouldn’t matter.”
That adjustment was vital in setting up Oak Grove’s second goal. Ortego found space and looked to set up a goal for Hayden near the box. Instead, Hayden again went down to a hard injury, and Ortego managed to chase his own pass and quickly score the Warriors’ second goal in the 55th minute.
“I checked in, and Noah (Roblin) played me the ball,” Ortego said. “I was thinking that Miller behind me, so I was going for the flick, so I flicked it behind me. Then I looked back, and I realized Miller was down, so then I had to go run for the ball that I was expecting Miller to get. When I scored, I was excited, but at the same time, we all knew Miller was hurt because Miller doesn’t go down really.”
Oak Grove will play the winner of the Northwest Rankin-Ocean Springs game in the second round of the playoffs.
“We are deep, and we have great kids that are great players,” Lang said. “When one goes down, the other steps up and does their job.
“We have talked about it all year that the whole year is about tonight. Now the whole year is about Saturday if that’s when we play. Everything has been building up to this. We feel confident enough in our kids that we can go as far as we want to go.”
