COLUMBUS – At first, it was close; a back-and-forth battle.
Heritage Academy and Cathedral Catholic were scrapping tooth and claw on Thursday for a spot in the MAIS 4A Division II State Championship game, and early on it looked as if the two were equals. Both squads managed to grab possession of the ball for short moments during the first half and take a few shots on goal, though neither could pass the wall of bodies that guarded the net and a stalemate was set.
Then the Patriots found a crack in the Dons’ defense with just 4:53 left before the break in the shape of a flying header by Arthur Dawson that just managed to squeak into the back of the net to give Heritage a cheerful 1-0 lead at halftime.
Feeling much more confident with the advantage in hand, the Patriots pressed their offensive attack early and netted three more goals in the first 16 minutes of the second half and left no doubt on the field that they wanted back in the state championship game as they punched their ticket with a 6-0 win.
After the game, their jubilation was short-lived and wiped clean in the team huddle. Head coach Will Pearson reminded them what happened last year when they earned a berth in the state-title game, a 2-1 loss to East Rankin Academy, and how badly they want to right that wrong.
“This is the one we’ve been preparing for since last year. They boys were not happy with how it turned out of course, so we’ve been ready for it,” Pearson said of his team, which moved to 13-5 on the season. “We didn’t care how the district played out, we wanted state. State, state, state. That’s our goal to get there (no matter) whoever we had to go through. We wanted to get to state. They’re focused, they’re practicing. I couldn’t be happier for the boys. They played their hearts out. All week it’s been, ‘This game and the next.’”
After getting the Patriots on the board, Dawson used his head once more to give his team a 2-0 lead for his second and final goal of the night, and Gus King added to their lead with a score on an assist by Jackson Robertson. Two minutes later, Jacob Britt notched a goal on free kick, drilling the left side of the net while the Dons’ keeper leaped right, and Alex Luccasen kept the onslaught going with a low and slow rolling shot that slipped right through the keeper’s fingertips. With just 2:10 left to play, Ethan Singley put the finishing touches on the victory with a hard boot from long-distance.
After a somewhat quiet first half, Pearson said his squad settled in and focused on the here and now.
“I think just jitters kind of got us,” he said. “We changed up a little bit from our last game, so the boys were still seeing that. I think it was just jitters, (what happened) last year and what’s at stake was playing in their heads a little bit. Once that first one went in they took a breath and relaxed. As we started off we were quiet and weren’t talking too much. As we got rolling we got comfortable and saw what they had and what they were going to do and the boys really got rolling after that.”
Heritage will play Lamar School, which defeated Brookhaven Academy, 10-2, on Monday for the 4A Division II State Championship at Madison-Ridgeland Academy. The game will begin at 3:30 p.m.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
