NEWTON GROVE – Hobbton scored a goal in each half and defeated East Bladen 2-0 Thursday night in non-conference boys’ soccer action.
“It was a great game,” said Eagle Coach Jay Raynor. “Hate to be on the losing side of it but proud of kids and what they displayed last night. I saw a lot of growth in our team last night. We competed. Hobbton is a great team. They are sitting right now at the top of 1A. Last night was a measuring stick as to where we are and where we need to go.”
Raynor added, “Fernando (Rebollar) and Lee (Barnes) kept us in the game. Those two were forced to make numerous difficult saves in the match. Our backs were playing great and doing all they could. Hobbton’s attack was strong and relentless. In the first half we sat deeper which caused right many deflections off their shots. Lee did an outstanding job saving those deflections.”
“In the second half we were able to make a few adjustments and force Hobbton to go away from their style of play,” continued Raynor. “That forced a good amount of through balls and one-on- ones with Fernando or our backs. We did well in those moments. Fernando made several one-on-one saves as well as diving saves in traffic. He was also key in us generating our attack and flipping the field.”
Raynor noted, “Our backs of Debo (Lewis), Jayce (Hatcher), Zac (Metz), and Colin (King) were dominant last night. They were asked to perform over and over. The shot count and possession were lopsided lin Hobbton’s favor. Our guys had to defend time and time again. They did all they could. We gave up two goals off deflections. The game is brutal at times and those are tough goals but it happens.”
JD (McArthur) and Chace (Butler) left it all on the field and pushed through,” statd Raynor. Proud of them and their toughness. Ronnie (Covington) and Gabriel (Algozy) held the midfield down with JD. Gabriel was the player that we have needed to see all season. Ronnie creates turnovers in midfield just with his size and long legs. Gabriel was able to pick those loose balls up and help us transition to our attack. If he can do that each time out, that gives us more dimension as it will allow me to move Jamie (Delgado) into more of a scoring role, which we need to do.”
Raynor said, “Tevin (McClean) had a solid evening. He pressured their backs and forces turnovers that help us generate something of an attack. He and Jamie both helped create set pieces for us. That was huge because those were some of the limited scoring chances we had “.
“Our speed on the field is unmatched by our opponents,” noted Raynor. “All over the field we have speed. When we use that speed and when we work together to press, we create frustration to set in for our opponents. Our system and style creates havoc and is organized chaos at times. We can knock the ball around a little bit but we can also go direct and force teams to play a game they aren’t used to.”
Raynor concluded, “A success on the night was the last 25-30 minutes of the match where we altered Hobbton’s style of play. They want to play possession and knock the ball around, which they can do extremely well. However, we were able to make adjustments that forced them into playing long balls and through balls that were easier for us to defend. We sped them up and had them play our game. That says a lot about our guys. The kids played their butts off. To me, both games felt like wins. I would much rather have the victory but at this point with our youth, changing our style, changing systems, dealing with sickness, and other factors… last night was wins for our program.”
The Eagles, now 7-5, will resume Waccamaw Conference play at South Columbus Monday at 5 p.m.
Hobbton also won the jayvee game 2-0.
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