03/29/2024
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East Bladen High SchoolLUMBERTON – East Bladen’s varsity posted a 1-2 record Tuesday night in a men’s soccer scrimmage against Class 4A teams.

East Bladen beat South View 2-0 then lost close 1-0 decisions to Hoke County and Lumberton. The East Bladen jayvees tied Hoke 0-0 and beat South View 2-0 in earlier action.

Junior Caleb Hatchell drilled in a free kick from 35 yards out for the first Eagle goal in the win over South View. Hatchell hit the shot low and hard into the right corner of the goal.

Senior Grey Caballero banged in a follow shot in the box for the second East Bladen goal. The Eagles outshot South View 8-1 in the match.

The Eagles played Hoke County immediately after the South View game. “We gave up a cheap goal with 4 minutes left to play,” said Coach Jay Raynor. “We held our own during the match, but our legs gave out near the end of the 35 minutes.”

After a break, the Eagles took on Lumberton. “We came out strong and dominated play, putting 3 shots on goal in the first ten minutes,” said Raynor.

A foul deep in East Bladen’s defending one/third led to a Lumberton goal. “We had a lapse mentally and not one person stepped to the ball, and we gave them a great look from 16 yards out,” noted Coach Raynor.

“We didn’t quit and continued to make runs,” added Raynor. “We had several scoring chances but couldn’t find the net. We outshot them 6-4 and left a few goals out there.”

Sophmore goalie Spencer Scott was credited with 7 saves on the night.

In jayvee action East Bladen outshot Hoke 6-0 as the teams battled to a scoreless tie. Freshman Milton Estrada fired in both goals for the Eagles off of assists from freshmen Jake Evans and Gabe Barber.

Coach Raynor said that overall he was pleased with the scrimmage. “We have shown a lot of growth in the last week,” he said. “We aren’t a large team in size and numbers and that played a little bit of a factor tonight. Hopefully our fitness will continue to improve. When our legs went so did some mental aspects of the game.”

“We battled against some very talented 4A schools who are predominantly older teams,” concluded Raynor. “ We are young but have a lot of fight. My guys are working hard and understanding the game very well.”

East Bladen will host its’ own scrimmage Thursday against Harrells Christian, South Columbus and West Columbus. The scrimmage begins at 5 p.m.

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