GAME RECAP: Catholic 4-4 Webb
In the Onrise Care High School Game of the Week, the Irish host the Spartans in an epic rivalry matchup full of goals and drama.
Rivalries defines sports. Though the act of competing alone is enough to drive some people, many need something more tangible—a target that looms closer every day. When practice feels too tough, that rival returns to mind and makes the next lap that little bit easier.
In every rivalry, the fight for superiority is essential. Victory is the fundamental metric of success. The greatest victory is the one that quiets the voice of the opposition constantly looming over you.
So what does it mean when you stare down your rival and walk away with a tie?
In a fierce matchup versus Knoxville Catholic (8-4-1), Webb School’s (8-3-1) sophomore forward Greyson Webb scored the final tying goal in the 76th minute. But no one walked away pounding their chests. Neither was happy to have been a part of a memory they wished was different: a story they could one day tell their children of how they demolished a sworn enemy.
When the Spartans made the five-minute drive down Dutchtown Road to play the Irish, both schools were still reeling from heavy losses at home to district foes. Webb had fallen, 5-3, against Baylor, and the Irish had seen a five-game win streak snapped by McCallie, 3-0. Those Chattanooga schools lead Division II’s AA-East district, and with an ever-shorter schedule ahead, every point is crucial for any school hoping to take a high seed in the district tournament.
Before the match, both coaches were naturally confident and hopeful. Webb coach Jared Ziegler said, “We’ve started slow against some other opponents, and I know if we start slow against…”—before he was interrupted by Catholic’s Gordon Heins, who hugged him from the side, saying “Don’t let him be modest.” The two chuckled. Even among rivals, there is always a touch of humanity.
Ziegler continued laying out his plan: “I really want us to have a good, fast start. We didn’t come out great against Baylor. Chasing a game is hard, especially as powerful as our region is.”
After the opening whistle blew, the Spartans claimed an early lead. In the third minute, a Spartan defender misjudged a backpass to junior goalkeeper Jonathan Shaver and accidentally sent the ball into an empty net.
With the own goal, the first objective set by Heins had come apart. Before the match, he had explained “the game plan is first to have a clean sheet, so the worst we can do is have a 0-0 tie.”
With a clean sheet off the table, Heins’s team moved to his second focus. “The biggest thing is getting shots on frame,” he said. “We’re playing with intensity, playing with a lot of heart and desire.”
The situation only became more dire for the Irish around the 25th minute. While facing an attack, Shaver ran far out past the goal to block a shot. As he made the deflection, the whistle halted play: Catholic’s keeper had left his box. He was called for a hand ball and given a red card.
At that point, the home side had climbed back from their opening miscue, taking a 2-1 lead after goals from senior midfielder Mario Rivera and sophomore forward Marcos Garcia, who scored in the 16th and the 18th minutes to temporarily put momentum back in Catholic’s favor.
Now, though, Catholic would have to hold its lead while down a player. As freshman Tate McCarthy entered the field to replace Shaver, the pendulum swung back towards Webb. Senior forward Pierce Miller scored the free kick to tie up the match at 2-2.
Catholic players battled on undeterred. It’s a good thing their field was surrounded by a running track because the players (and yours truly) may as well have been at a track meet at this point. The crowd grew increasingly loud as the match continued. A large contingent of Webb fans made the visit to enemy territory, and the stands erupted after every play in a mix of cheers and jeers.
Freshman Jack Tucker, who splits his time between striker and midfield, led the charge down both ends of the pitch for the Irish. Within a minute of the red card, he was tackling near his goal and pounding shots at the other.
“We’ve been training every day. McCallie was a huge loss,” he explained after the match, with a trickle of blood oozing down his fingers. “I thought we came out here and put in a great shift. I thought we should have won. We made a couple of personal errors. This team has has one of the greatest connections of any I’ve played on so far. There’s great connection; we all work as a group.”
Coach Heins expressed the same sentiments prior to the match: “They really work together well as teammates. There’s not really someone who’s a true superstar. They just work really well together, and they love being together. Coaches can do a lot of things, but the chemistry comes from the players. That’s been our biggest asset. They’re in it for the team, not just for themselves.”
That connection became critical later in the match. The sun dipped below the hills of Cedar Bluff when the teams trotted out for the second half, but the intensity only increased as the minutes ticked away. Catholic had regained the lead, 3-2, in the 39th minute, thanks to a goal by freshman Trevor Belanger that capped a full minute of aggressive battling in the Webb box.
On the Spartan side, every player did his part to threaten the Irish defenders with each play. Standouts included juniors Warren Hurst and Alex Middlecoff, along with seniors Luke Dolin, Axel Mnzava and Owen Youngblood. Senior forward JP Quigley, committed to playing for Elon University next year, occupied a central position to help lead the team on the pitch.
Tucker added to the Irish lead in the 60th minute, 4-2, assisted down the pitch by his brother, sophomore midfielder JT Tucker. The fans and players grew more heated and energized than they were to start the game, eager to deliver a swift, decisive conclusion.
“They were down a man, and they were up 4-2, and they deserved to finish that out,” Ziegler observed after the match. But if there’s one thing a rivalry game can produce, it’s upheaval, disarray and absolute mayhem, so naturally that wouldn’t hold.
In the 65th minute, Middlecoff tapped a ball just past McCarthy from a lightly hit free kick, 4-3. The Spartan’s third goal injected another degree of ferocity into the game, and every player fought harder than ever. By the time the visitors tied the match through Webb with 15 minutes left, the game had reached an utterly frenetic pitch.
Walking away from the field, an iconic John Ward moment kept circling my head: pandemonium reigns. This 4-4 tie was hardly the field storming that 1998 Tennessee-Florida game was, but those were the only words I could think of to describe the chaos on the pitch.
Few losses can cause the heartbreak that both teams felt leaving the pitch. Coach Heins was particularly upset to have missed the chance to improve in the district race.
“Both teams played a great game,” he said. “We had a lot of calls that didn’t go our way. At the end of the day, we lost that tie. It hurts to end a game the way we did. It’s a shame we couldn’t have played the game with our three-year starting goalkeeper.”
A tie is such a wonderfully beautiful spectacle to a neutral fan. As I look through the history books, I miss it from most sports. For a player, though, there’s nothing worse. It carries so much uncertainty. It’s one thing to lose and know the other team was better. But this is another level: to walk away from your rival having to admit they were just as good as you were.
Looking at the recent history of this rivalry, the result is poetic. In the last 10 meetings, these teams have been just as equally matched: 4-4-2.
Webb has two games remaining, with a visit to West (April 29) and a home game against McCallie (May 2). Catholic closes its seasons with three non-district matches against Hardin Valley Academy (April 27), Lenoir City (May 2) and Oak Ridge (May 4). The district tournament will follow, as both will hope to improve on their regular season results against Baylor and McCallie.
“It looks like we’ve got to go back to the drawing board on this and reevaluate everything we’re doing,” Webb coach Ziegler said. “They’re disappointed, we’re disappointed. It’s going to be a dogfight in this region.”
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