UPDATED: Bulldogs going back to the finals

Published 8:29 pm Friday, May 3, 2024

DALTON – For the fourth time in the last five seasons, the GMC Prep boys soccer team has earned a state championship berth.

Not bad for a program whose first time making the state playoffs came just seven years ago.

The Bulldogs are finals bound thanks to a comeback that included a deluge of four goals scored in less than 11 minutes of game time at Christian Heritage Friday night. The final score was 4-2, ‘Dogs.

The host Lions, who defeated GMC 2-1 for the state title last season, got out to an early 1-0 lead due to what Bulldogs coach Bobby Jaworski called a lapse in judgment, which has been an achilles heel for the team this season.

There were some close calls as the opening half wore on, but it took until the halftime buzzer for the Bulldogs to match on an Owen McCabe breakaway goal that multiple eyewitnesses called “gorgeous.”

“I was literally yelling, counting down the seconds for him,” Jaworski said. “The ball was in the back of the net when the buzzer went off and it was mayhem after that.”

The team collected itself to head into the locker room for a break taken up by a stern address from the coaching staff.

“I think we got to ’em at halftime,” said Jaworski. “We talked about the fact that we had 40 minutes to finish this thing out. We needed to get kicked in the gut, find the answer, and be able to dig out of a hole.”

The Bulldogs did more than dig, they exploded.

Sophomore Tommy Carty found the net in the second half’s first four minutes to put the ‘Dogs up 2-1. Luis Salinas rocketed a shot at 31:28 to help the Lions match, but not for long. GMC’s second-leading scorer Carty put his team back up only a minute later, 3-2. Another 60 seconds passed, and with them came the insurance to give the Bulldogs a little cushion. This time it was freshman James Portwood who knocked the ball in following a corner kick.

Neither side made a mark in the remaining 29:30, so five of the semifinal’s six goals came in about an 11-minute stretch. Jaworski commended guys like Brody Brock and Bennie Huff IV who played well on the outside, and Portwood who was strong in the middle. The Bulldogs battled cramps in the final 40 minutes, but the team’s depth allowed it to not lose much when coaches had to pull from the bench.

Friday marked one of only about five times the 16-2 GMC Prep boys soccer team has been challenged this season. The Bulldogs have been on a mission ever since losing last year’s championship to that senior-heavy Christian Heritage team. It won’t be mission accomplished though until they win the program’s third state championship and first since 2021. That opportunity comes 7:30 p.m. tonight at Mercer University in Macon, site of the 2024 GHSA Class A Division 2 soccer state championships. The matchup will feature an unknown as the Bulldogs will see Atkinson County, who defeated Atlanta Classical Academy 4-2 in the other semi Friday.

The Rebels of south Georgia enter with a 14-3-2 record. All of their 2024 losses and ties have come against larger schools. They have knocked off a decent amount a higher-classified opponents as well. Atkinson and GMC share only one foe this season, Atlanta’s Fugees Academy. The ‘Dogs lost that matchup 2-1 late in the regular season, but were not at full strength. Atkinson won its own bout against the Fugees 2-1 in the state quarterfinals. With that being the only benchmark between the two championship contenders, fans ought to be in for a competitive nail-biter Tuesday night. “Competitive” and “nail-biter” are both words that could be used to describe the last time GMC Prep and Atkinson met on the soccer field five years ago. It was a state semifinal played in Milledgeville that could not be determined in regulation, overtime, or even a first round of penalty kicks. The Bulldogs ultimately pulled that one out en route to the team’s first state title. In order to get a third, the GMC boys must go through Atkinson County again.