Preparation, 'heart' carry Bearden Bulldogs to state soccer title

In early 2019, when the Bearden High School boys’ soccer team was beginning to focus on the upcoming season, they started a grueling conditioning regimen.

“In January when a lot of teams aren’t necessarily working out, we were,” said Collin Lewis, a senior team captain along with Finn Harrison. “Bearden conditioning is definitely the hardest around here. It keeps us well conditioned.”

That certainly helped, but when the Spring Fling state tournament matches rolled around in late May, they also needed a little mental focus due to all the close games they ended up having.

For that, they simply relied in part on a natural camaraderie that, in contrast with the physical part, came with little effort due to the fact they had played together for several years.

“They bought into being a family and being there for each other,” said coach Ryan Radcliffe. “It showed in those overtime games.”

As Bearden soccer followers now know, they won the 2019 state soccer championship in the Class AAA division on May 24 by following a script that could not have been written any better by a professional screenwriter.

As Radcliffe mentioned in a recent interview looking back on the memorable season for the Bulldogs, several games down the stretch were close, and they even had one small disappointment late in the season to help get them refocused.

That came in the finals of the Region 1-AAA tournament at Johnson City Science Hill. After narrowly beating Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett, another strong team, in the semifinals, they lost to the Hilltoppers, 1-0, on a Thursday night.

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Instead of playing at home against Karns, against whom they would have been favored, they had to play on a Saturday at Farragut. Not only had Farragut beaten Bearden during the regular season, but the Bulldog seniors also had gone through graduation on a Friday night.

However, the Bearden players moved on to another level in soccer as well, as the Bulldogs were able to beat Farragut, 2-0.

“They played at noon the next day after graduation,” recalled Radcliffe. “They didn’t get a bit of sleep.”

In the state tournament, the Bulldogs beat Murfreesboro Oakland in the quarterfinals, formerly undefeated Brentwood in the semifinals in double overtime and, in the finals, two-time defending champion Station Camp.

The Station Camp game came down to penalty kicks, with Bearden making four to Station Camp’s three.

“Our team was not the most talented, but at the end of the day, we had the most heart and were the most well prepared team in the state,” said player Lewis.

And that preparation had come with a hard lesson of losing against Science Hill.

“We were not ready for them and not prepared and that motivated us and prepared us to beat the other teams,” Lewis said. “Losing was not what we wanted to be known for. We wanted to be known for a state championship at the end.”

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Besides the captains, other senior starters on the team that finished 21-3 were Asiimwe Ironside, Everett Hauser, Caleb Wilkins, Tanner Whited, Trey Kelly, Jonathan Meystrik and Sam Patterson.

For Radcliffe, who also coaches the Lady Bulldogs soccer team, this is his second state championship in his five years as head coach, with the other coming in 2016. He also enjoyed one as a Bearden player in 2006.

He said he enjoys coaching soccer for a variety of reasons.

“Soccer is my passion and you can learn so many life lessons through it,” said Radcliffe, whose wife, Katlyn, is a former Western Kentucky soccer player. “I want to mold kids, and I’m blessed and lucky enough to get to do it with soccer. It’s all I know.”

He enjoys leaving positive imprints on state championship trophy plaques, too.

“It’s still kind of a surreal feeling,” he said.