From the Sports Desk

with Carey Phillips: 11/30/00

Making it even more special was how that title came about. The Mustangs had to go 6-0 in the second half of the WAC season.

"This has got to be the most rewarding and blessed season for me," Coach Dolphus Brown said. "That's taking nothing away from my other two conference championships."

SM went 18-4-2 and reached the first round of the state 3-A playoffs.

This marked the first time the Mustangs had won a league title in the four-year alignment ending this school year. It's the same alignment that brought Enka and Tuscola into the league, and those schools had been dominant.

"We looked at this as part of a four-year cycle," Brown said. "We knew Enka and Tuscola would be hard to beat. We wanted to catch and pass them. The gap narrowed, and we got where we wanted to be."

SM was 3-2-1 at the midpoint of the conference season with no margin for error.

"At that point of the season, we were not a team that had good chemistry," Brown said. "We challenged our seniors to lead the team. They responded, and the whole team responded."

The highlights of the year were home wins over Franklin and Enka. The former avenged a loss to an arch rival, and the latter clinched the tri-championship and a spot in the state playoffs while eliminating Franklin from the post season.

"I thought at the time we beat Franklin that was about as enjoyable a win as we've had," Brown said. "Then to come back and beat Enka like we did, especially with Franklin watching and knocking them out of the playoffs, was even better."

He said losses to Enka and Franklin during the first round of conference play were low points.

Seniors included Josh Fuller, Chris Tennant, Nicholas McDonald, David Leonard, Israel Vargas, Jimmy Welch and Dan White.

Fuller was named all-conference and second team all-region after scoring 16 goals and registering nine assists.

"His speed and determined play are going to be missed," Brown said. "He could put a lot of pressure on and is going to be hard to replace. In his role as a captain, he exemplified good leadership."

Tennant also received all-conference and all-region honors.

"He was the anchor for our defense," the coach said. "He led the team like a champion. He's a quality guy who hopefully will be playing someplace next year."

McDonald was chosen for the all-conference team.

"He is probably as good defending the ball as any player I've ever coached," Brown said. "He helped control the midfield. He probably will be playing next year."

Leonard was an all-conference player who scored 10 goals despite being a defender.

"He played stopper most of the year," the coach said. "He's a tough, rugged player who won't back down from anybody. We're going to miss his tenacious play in the middle."

An exchange student, Vargas led the team with 17 goals and also had seven assists.

"He was a very key player for our success," Brown said. "We're going to miss his speed. He put so much pressure on defenses. He's an outstanding person and very coachable."

"Jimmy is one of the most determined athletes I've ever had," the coach said. "You could always count on him to give 110 percent. He managed to come up with timely goals and assists. You'd love to have 11 players like Jimmy Welch."

"Dan has a strong left foot and as a starter gave us some real important minutes," Brown said. "There were a few times he was able to keep our team loose at key moments."

Juniors included Cory Carpenter, Matt Taylor, Will Peoples, Damon Houghton, Silas Webb, Jose Vives, Josh Hamilton, Daniel Thorpe, Aaron Buchanan, Munene Mwaniki and Peter Gilman.

Carpenter scored 16 goals and had 11 assists to lead the team in points. He was the lone SM junior named all-conference.

"Most of Cory's goals and assists came against conference opponents," Brown said. "We'll look for him to be one of the leading guys on our attack next year. He took over his brother's spot on penalty kicks, and he's money. That's a nice feeling to have."

"Matt was a dynamite defender," the coach said. "He was as big a surprise as we had. He's one of the most tenacious defenders in Western North Carolina. We look forward to Matt being a big part of our defense next year. He's a tremendous warrior on the field."

"Will really came on strong down the stretch as our keeper," Brown said. "He made some outstanding saves. He was as big a key to winning the Enka game as anybody else. If Will stays focused next season and works in the off-season, he will have a chance to go down as one of the best goalkeepers in Smoky Mountain history."

"Damon is an outstanding player," the coach said. "It was unfortunate that he missed the last part of the season with an injury. We expect him to be a key player next year. He's a tough defender and gives a physical presence on the field."

"Silas gets the clutch award," Brown said. "He really stepped up when Damon went down. Silas was a big reason we were able to make our run. He has height and plays the ball in the air well. He's a solid team player and will be making a major contribution next year."

Vives joined the team late in the season as a transfer from Blue Ridge. In just six games he scored four goals.

"Those four goals were as clutch as we had all season," the coach said. "He really gave us a lift when he showed up and impacted the way we finished."

Speaking of Hamilton, Thorpe, Buchanan, Mwaniki and Gilman, Brown said, "Those five guys all have potential to help us next year. They need to work in the off-season and get stronger."

The lone sophomore on the varsity throughout the season was Stephen Brown.

"He brings something to the table that's really important in that he gives us a solid backup at goalkeeper," the coach said. "He could probably start for most teams in our conference. He also has a strong left foot and scored seven goals and had four assists. Stephen could be a major contributor in the midfield next year."

Sophomore Eric McManus split time between the varsity and JVs.

"He has a chance to be a major contributor as an attacker or midfielder," Brown said. "He's one of the best conditioned athletes we have." Michael Tennant was the only freshman on the varsity.

"We haven't played many freshman, but Michael gave us a lot of minutes," the coach said. "He's going to contribute a great deal next year and support the attack well. He needs to get stronger."

Like all Mustang athletic programs, soccer will be entering a new era next year with a move into the Mountain Athletic Conference. Barring a last minute appeal, the new four-year alignment was to be adopted Wednesday.

Defending state 3-A champion Asheville and perennial power Roberson will be providing stiff competition.

"We're not quite at that level, but our goal is to pursue that," Brown said. "It will take a commitment from our players we haven't had before. We feel we will definitely be in the battle for a playoff spot. We're not going to relinquish the championship to either of those teams at this point. They're going to have to win it on the field."

It's not just Asheville and Roberson that will be tough. Franklin and Enka, the teams SM tied with for the title, will return 10 and nine starters, respectively. Tuscola will also have nine returnees as will North Buncombe.

"It will be a real fight for the playoff positions," Brown said. "It will be exciting, much like it was this year."

When the last alignment started, Brown saw a need for the Mustangs to catch and perhaps surpass Tuscola and Enka. That happened this season. The next four years will be a chase to catch Roberson and Asheville. Four years from now we can look back and see how it turned out.

Back to Sports: 11/30/00.