‘Dogs to play in fifth straight semis Friday

Published 11:01 am Wednesday, May 1, 2024

GMC Prep’s march to the boys soccer state finals in Macon had to go through an overmatched Macon County team Tuesday.

The depleted Bulldogs of Montezuma (10-6) proved to be just a minor bump in the road as the GMC Bulldogs (15-2) won 10-2 on their home field.

Macon had seven players forced to sit out due to having received red cards when a fight reportedly broke out in their previous round match against Montgomery County. A red card comes with an ejection, and players who receive one must sit out the next game as well. The visiting Bulldogs came to town Tuesday with only one player on their bench. Even at full strength, it was going to be a tough assignment against a GMC squad that is averaging six goals per game.

The host Bulldogs were well on their way to that per-game average in a flash Tuesday. They netted four goals in the first two and a half minutes, senior Brian Sherwood and sophomore Tommy Carty scoring two goals apiece. The Macon defenders were giving their keeper a hard time for not stopping shots, but he wasn’t getting much help from them either as GMC moved the ball through the attacking third of the field with ease.

“We started off just flying,” Bulldogs coach Bobby Jaworski said. “They were great opportunities and great finishes. I think we had four shots and four goals.”

Macon got on the board at the 36:33 mark and settled down defensively. Helping matters was a flurry of offsides calls against GMC, who went 24 minutes without scoring.

“I think we took too long to release the ball,” Jaworski said of the offsides whistles.

Those calls didn’t do any real damage Tuesday, but if they keep rearing their head some quality scoring chances could be squandered as stakes continue to get higher. The ‘Dogs did clean things up as the game wore on.

Junior Brody Brock broke the drought when he put back a Sherwood shot at 13:38 to increase the Bulldogs’ lead to 5-1. Sherwood and Carty both got their hat tricks before the halftime horn sounded, and freshman James Portwood scored when he put on the brakes and a Macon defender overran him inside the box, making it 8-1 at half.

The second half was shortened to 20 minutes due to GHSA mercy rules. Portwood sent a missile with a rightward tail to it for his second goal of the game while Carty went on to notch his second four-goal performance of the season.

“It was a good game and I’m glad we got that over with,” added Jaworski. “Now it’s when things start to get pretty tough.

The next stop on the Bulldogs’ hopeful road to the May 7 championship at Mercer takes them to a familiar foe, Christian Heritage School. That was the state finals matchup in Class A Division 2 a year ago, one that saw GMC fall 2-1 when the Lions scored the go-ahead goal with 7:08 to play in regulation. This 9-4 Christian Heritage team has little returning starting talent from last year’s title-winning squad that featured eight seniors. The Lions bared their teeth though and pulled out a tough win in the quarterfinals Tuesday against Echols County. The match went into overtime at a scoreless tie, and both teams scored one goal in the second extra period, sending the game to penalty kicks. Christian Heritage got four PKs. Echols finished with three after their tying attempt clanged off the left goalpost.

This marks GMC’s fifth straight trip to at least the semifinal round, and third consecutive time the Bulldogs will face a Dalton school in the playoffs. The powerhouse soccer town has produced soccer state championships at six different high schools since 2018. GMC’s season two years ago ended with a Final Four loss to Dalton Academy followed by last year’s championship shortfall versus Christian Heritage.

A coin flip is sending GMC up I-75 to face Christian Heritage in Dalton Friday at 6:30 p.m. Winner goes on to the championship against either Atlanta Classical Academy or Atkinson County.