FC boys soccer tops Giles County in district semis

Franklin County head soccer coach Kent Bean said that his players did a good job of competing in a physical game to keep their season alive.

“I’m really proud of the guys for hanging in there and outscoring them. We’ll talk about a few of those (goals) tomorrow and how to avoid giving up some of those defensively, but they finished it and earned a game Thursday in the finals and then another region game next week,” he said before referring to some minor lapses that his team will need to work to avoid. “We’ve got to cut down on a few errors and play a full 80 minutes. We can’t play 60 and take chances on the other 20. I think we took a couple plays off, and we’ve just got to play the whole time or else we’re going to get punished for it.”

Franklin County got on the board about two minutes into the contest as Edber Perez fired a shot into the net after receiving a pass in the goal box from Alex DeWolfe. It was the fifth goal of the season for Edber Perez.

The early lead doubled with 25:26 remaining in the first half as a pass from Loui Arellano made it past the opposing goalkeeper with Weber Bradford knocking the ball across the goal line on a sliding shot from close range to make it a 2-0 game. It was the third goal of the year for Bradford.

The Bobcats made up some ground with 8:25 left in the first half as a long, arcing shot found the net to cut the lead down to 2-1.

However, Franklin County answered back with another goal less than two minutes later as Arellano received a pass from DeWolfe, broke away from the opposing defense and found the net with a shot to grow the deficit back up to 3-1.

Franklin County led 3-1 at halftime.

The Bobcats scored again about 10 minutes into the second half to make it a one-goal game once more, but Franklin County then went right back on the attack with DeWolfe chipping a shot over the opposing goalkeeper to put the overall score at 4-2 with 28:08 remaining. It was the ninth goal of the season for DeWolfe.

Franklin County was awarded a penalty kick with 22:59 left on the clock after Edber Perez got tripped up in the goal box, and Brody McEwan hit the ensuing attempt off the bottom of the crossbar and across the goal line for his first goal of the campaign.

The final goal of the day for Franklin County came just 33 seconds later as Arellano got behind the defense after receiving a pass from DeWolfe and rolled a low shot into the net for his second goal of the contest and his 11^th of the season.

The Bobcats scored a goal with 6:49 to play to make it a 6-3 game late, but they weren’t able to score again in the time remaining as Franklin County won by three.

With the win, Franklin County improved to 9-5-3 on the season.

The boys soccer team will next play Thursday at home against Central Magnet High School in the District 8AA championship game. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.