JC soccer beats Dyersburg to reach state

With 15 minutes left to play, Jackson Christian was awarded a penalty kick after a Dyersburg defender saved the ball off the goal line with his hand.

Junior Marshall Davis has been in tough situations taking penalty kicks. He converted one to tie Madison up in the District 15 A-AA championship game.

So who would expect Davis to do anything differently in the Class A-AA sectionals on Saturday? Davis converted the penalty kick to send Jackson Christian to the 2-1 victory over Dyersburg at the Jackson Christian Soccer Stadium.

“I had to figure out where I wanted to place the ball,” Davis said. “You can’t look at the keeper, so you just look at the spot and hit it.

“It is an amazing feeling to be going to state. I am proud to be in the state tournament.”

Jackson Christian (17-3-3) advances to the Class A-AA state quarterfinals to be played on Tuesday at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex.

Davis also was key on the backline trying to shutdown the Dyersburg offense led by Bryce Gilmore and Coleman Self.

The Eagles’ defense held the Trojans to three shots on goal, but one shot in the 35th minute put Dyersburg up 1-0.

Jackson Christian struggled to clear the ball, and Jonathan Click got on the ball and scored.

PHOTO GALLERY: Soccer - Jackson Christian vs. Dyersburg

But this Eagle team went back on attack and didn’t let the deficit faze them.

“We have been in this situation before a couple of times this season,” Davis said. “Last year, we would have dropped our head and probably lost the game. We had to play tough and not drop our head and play through it.”

Three minutes later freshman Sam Day crossed the ball to sophomore Parker Finton, who scored his 14th goal on the season to break the school’s single-season scoring record.

“Sam Day had the beautiful ball to Parker Finton, and that changed the game,” Jackson Christian coach Jeff Lean said. “Panic sets in. You can say no panicking all you want, but the timing of that first goal was perfect.”

That goal right before half turned the momentum into Jackson Christian’s favor, and it showed in the second half.

The Eagles didn’t allow Dyersburg a shot on goal in the second half, while hitting six of their own. Dyersburg also went down to nine men with a red card in the 65th minute, which gave Davis the penalty kick, and a second yellow in the 78th minute.

Jackson Christian had to rely on some young players to begin with, but as Bodo Wohlfromm and Finton went out on injuries, the Eagles were even younger on the field.

“When you have a player like Christian Williams, the reigning region MVP, coming off the bench, you have depth,” Lean said. “We are very comfortable playing 15, 16, 17 guys.”

On top of the players that contributed to goals, sophomore Ethan Bartel, sophomore Grayson Cary and eighth-grader Will Bartel played well on the defensive end.

“This is what we have been all season, tough to score on,” Lean said. “We knew whether we had Lexington or Dyersburg in this game that it wasn’t going to be a cake walk. When we got to this point, we knew we would have to have a quality game to advance. It mattered if we came out and played our game.”

Michael Odom, 425-9754