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Smoky Mountain shuts out Falcons in key WAC contest
Martin Davis scored twice and added an assist as Smoky Mountain took a big step toward reaching the state 2-A soccer playoffs with a 4-0 win over West Henderson on Oct. 24 at Carr Hooper Stadium/Babe Howell Field.
“We had a wonderful crowd on a real cold night,” Coach Dolphus Brown said. “Our guys feel like we’re invincible at home. We knew we desperately needed to win this game. The guys played very inspired and shut them out.”
Smoky Mountain’s Coleman Morgan (19) battles a West Henderson player for position in last week’s 4-0 victory. – Herald photo by Carey Phillips
Davis opened the scoring at the 13:49 mark with an assist by Coleman Corzine.
“Coleman made a nice cross,” Brown said. “He collected it about 8 yards out center to far post area and drilled it in.”
The Mustangs went up 2-0 at the 30:04 mark on Corzine’s goal off a Joey Cox assist.
“Joey made a horizontal cross to Coleman, who was about 10 yards out, and he drilled it through,” the coach said.
SM built the lead to 3-0 just 1:35 into the second half as Cox scored with Davis providing the assist.
“Martin played the ball just inside the box on the right,” Brown said. “Joey collected it and made a couple of dribbles. He didn’t have a good angle, and the ball traveled about 15 yards.”
Davis scored the final goal with Cox providing the assist at the 49-minute mark.
“Joey played it from the center-mid area,” Brown said. “Martin turned, took a couple of dribbles with it and made a nice hard shot from 17 yards.”
The Mustangs had an 18-10 advantage in shots Thomas Hernandez made 10 saves for the Falcons. SM’s Sterling Brady and Cody Bryson had six and three saves, respectively.
“I give a lot of credit not only to the players but also to the coaches, especially Coach (Stephan) Delor,” Brown said. “He has been working with the players in practice on diagonal passing and making runs.”
The Mustang JVs finished the year 8-4-1 with a 1-0 loss.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, and it was,” Delor said. “Some of our key players had off nights. We could not find the back of the net, but our defenders and goal keeper played tremendously.”
Although there is no official JV conference championship, the Mustangs (5-2-1) tied with East Henderson and Brevard for first place and would have won the tie-breaker if it had been in effect.
“What a great group of kids they are,” Delor said. “Attendance at practice was tremendous, and they worked hard all season long. They maintained a high level of enthusiasm and became good friends. We challenged them to turn from boys to young men, and it’s been a fun adventure for all involved.”
He expressed appreciation to assistant coaches Chris Tyson and Scott Myers, the varsity players, varsity coaches Dolphus Brown and Matt Ramsey, the players’ parents, and managers Sarah Newbold, Samantha Tyson and Abi Jones for their help and support.
It had to take a total team effort to be successful, and I, for one, will remember this team for years to come,” Delor said.
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