With a 6-foot-7 goalie who's 'like Gronk,' Houston wins seventh TSSAA state soccer title

MURFREESBORO — Soon, he'll be leaping to catch passes at Ole Miss football practice as a preferred walk-on at tight end. But on Friday afternoon, Jack Greer's vertical battles were against soccer players trying to sneak headers past him.

"I had at least six inches on every one of them," said the 6-foot-7 Greer. "One of them tried to jump with me and I just had to stare him down. Because there was just no way he was getting up there."

The senior goalkeeper made eight saves as Houston (15-2-4) claimed the Class AAA boys soccer state title with a 2-1 win over Bearden.

Houston coach David Wolff said Greer has come a long way since he first joined the soccer program. 

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"There’s two Jack Greers. There’s the one I had in ninth and 10th grade and then there’s the monster that I got this year," Wolff said. "And he was a difference maker. Every ball in the air. He wants to play tight end. The dude’s like Gronk. He’s got that much swagger, that much in the air, his hands are great and physically he just dominates people."

Greer grew up playing soccer but didn't get much varsity playing time until this year. He said playing football helped him become more physical and reach his potential in soccer. 

"For somebody who had never played a varsity game to somebody who’s probably going to be an all-state goalkeeper, that’s an amazing feat," Wolff said. 

Bearden's Cameron Cook scored just over six minutes into the first half, but the Mustangs blanked the Bulldogs the rest of the way. 

Aaron O'Malley tied the game with a score midway through the first half and Everett Fumas scored the go-ahead goal off of a rebound about two minutes before halftime.

"I saw the ball floating over my head and I knew I wasn’t going to quit on it," O'Malley said. "I saw Zach P (Zach Paige) look at the ball and he looked at me, we locked eyes and we played it through and I just hit it as hard as I could. I’m super thankful."

Houston now has seven boys soccer state titles, more than any public school in Tennessee. The win is the Mustangs' second boys title under Wolff, who also has also led Houston girls soccer to six state championships.

"I think that this is up there," Wolff said. "I can’t diminish any other year because they’re all special, because of the pandemic and everything we did as a result of it, this is like a culminating event. We fought the fight and we won. And that’s what I feel like. That whole thing, we defeated it."