GAME RECAP: Halls 2-0 Austin-East
In the Onrise Care High School Game of the Week, the Red Devils get a crucial shutout at home against the Roadrunners thanks to two first-half goals.
Two first-half goals were enough for the Halls Red Devils (7-1) to seal a victory against the Austin-East Roadrunners (1-3) in the first game of District 4-AA play for both teams.
In their district championship-winning campaign last year, Austin-East beat Halls on three separate occasions. This year, both teams are poised to battle for the district crown once again.
Early in the match, the visiting side showed explosive energy.
Senior forward Isingoma Gokpa drove down the pitch for a shot in the first minute that Halls senior goalkeeper Justin King put away with ease. Junior midfielders Enrique Torres-Gamez and Rukundo Ishimwe—both veterans of the Roadrunners’ 2021 state championship team—facilitated much of the attack, showing their speed and power.
At this stage, Austin-East favored long ball. Typically, only a couple of attackers left their side of the pitch, making successful runs against the Halls defensive line difficult.
The Red Devils tried to convert a free kick in the eighth minute, but the shot sailed just above the crossbar. The Roadrunners seemed to have given up a penalty kick, but the foul was spotted just beyond the edge of the box at the left corner.
Halls got its first goal of the night in the 15th minute after Austin-East’s defensive line allowed an own goal. The Roadrunners’ defense continued battling though, with two major deflections in quick succession soon after the restart.
For the most part, the visiting defense was sturdy, forcing Halls to mostly work through its midfield. The home team held most of the control in Roadrunner territory, thanks primarily to the efforts of junior forwards Ben Richie and Chase Burnett. The duo pushed along the sidelines repeatedly but only found a few clear opportunities.
The second goal came from a near-perfect mirror of the Red Devils’ first free kick. In the 25th minute, junior midfielder Grey Fiveash set the ball at the right corner of the penalty box, then kicked the ball over the four-man wall in front of him. Near the penalty spot, senior forward Jacob Eubanks headed the cross into the back of the net.
That goal marked Eubanks’ 14th of the season—12 of which were tallied in a six-game stretch from March 24-31. That performance helped him earn United Soccer Coaches/MaxPreps High School State Player of the Week honors last week.
After halftime, the Roadrunners returned to the field with a more coordinated approach. Attacks downfield featured more supporting players and lasted longer. Gokpa and Ishimwe maintained the pressure. They took more shots early on, though Halls soon regained some defensive control.
In the final 20 minutes, both sides showed their wear, losing balls and missing shots on goal. The Roadrunners’ strong defense weakened slightly, allowing the hosts to make more meaningful shots late in the match.
Both teams battled to the very final whistle, as the Red Devils took shots with as few as 15 seconds remaining. Ultimately, the hosts were worthy winners.
Austin-East next hosts the Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences on April 10, then continues district play by hosting South-Doyle on April 14. Halls travels to Central on April 8 and Campbell County on April 10.
The High School Game of the Week is brought to you by Onrise Care:
Onrise Care takes a team-based approach to delivering high-quality, compassionate mental health and athlete player care. Learn more at onrisecare.com or call 865-288-8970 to learn about their tele-psychiatry and other services."
Halls Head Coach Eldon English
On his team’s performance:
“They were unselfish for the most part. Sometimes they get into the habit of wanting a goal, and they forget what gets us those—and that’s passing. That’s the way our style is. Without them continuously trying to give each other opportunities, I don’t think we win that game. Our defense stepped up very well. They kept the speed in front of them, made sure that they couldn’t get any easy runs, stepped into lane really well. Without them doing that, they would have had some really good one-on-one opportunities, and they just never really got that chance.”
On the second-half scoring drought:
“Second half, they pushed more people in the back and kept one up top, then tried to win the ball from us up there. They did a really good job at blocking our shooting lanes and making sure we didn’t get anything easy off of them.”
On key takeaways from this game:
“We’ll take this as a learning opportunity as what happens when we don’t become selfish. Getting this win meant a lot to them, and that helped keep them in that mindset of ‘we’re going to win, it’s not a me game, it’s a team game.’ Remember how we played in this game, then we can take the district.”
Austin-East Head Coach Jonathan Netherland
On his team’s performance:
“The biggest disappointment to me, and this is kind of a pet peeve of mine, is when you make a mistake, you kind of hang your head instead of getting right back in it. There’s no timeouts in soccer, and there’s no pity parties either. So I need a quicker turnaround when you make a mistake.”
On second-half adjustments:
“We didn’t change much. We kind of changed schematically in the first half to stop the bleeding. Then it was, ‘Hey guys, stay together, we’ve been in this situation before.’ Then it was just trying to let them know it’s a man versus man game. It can be tactics all day, but when it’s one-on-one, when you’ve got those opportunities to compete, you’ve got to go to every ball.”
On moving into district play:
“I am proud of the younger people that I played. We held them to two goals. I’m disappointed that we lost because they [my players] feel bad. But, as a coach, I see progress. I’m excited. I’m licking my chops. We have lessons to learn over the weekend.”