THREE-STAR GENERALS: Bulldogs win it all for a third time

Published 11:22 pm Tuesday, May 7, 2024

MACON – The shield logo for the Georgia Military College Prep School boys soccer team needs some tweaking after Tuesday night.

It’s soccer tradition to add a star to a team’s crest after it wins a championship, and the 17-2 Bulldogs earned their third with a 4-1 defeat of the Atkinson County Rebels in the GHSA Class A Division 2 state championship. The game was played at Mercer University’s Five Star Stadium, site of all three of GMC’s title wins. The first two happened in 2019 and in 2021. The team’s lone championship loss was at McEachern High School, so GMC Prep would rather the GHSA keep Mercer as the host for the Class A Division 2 finals moving forward.

“When we won the first one, you never knew if something like that was going to happen again,” GMC coach Bobby Jaworski said. “To be here for the third time in Mercer Five Star Stadium and be able to get the third one – I don’t really have words to describe it. It’s so cool.”

The Bulldogs got three goals from three different players in the final 15 minutes of the first half. Atkinson cut into the margin early in the second, but the GMC defense stood tall and kept the Rebels at a single goal to secure that three-star promotion.

Tuesday’s victory was not only sweet, it was redemption for the ‘Dogs after they lost last year’s championship to Christian Heritage School, 2-1.

“We lost a lot of good players, and the way these guys worked in the offseason showed their commitment level to not having last year happen again,” Jaworski said. “Even though there may have been some disagreements and nerves that were hit during the season, they put all that stuff behind them and continued to press forward. Everyone was focused on the same mission, and that’s what really makes it special.”

Revenge was had when the GMC boys went to the CHS Lions’ home field and won 4-2 in the semis last week, but one more win was needed to fully accomplish the mission. Atkinson County (14-4-2) was the opponent, an unknown from south Georgia the Bulldogs had not faced since the 2019 semifinals.

As often is the case in a big game, the two sides spent the early going feeling one another out.

“It was really kind of part of the gameplan to sit a little deeper and receive the waves of pressure,” said Jaworski. “Landon Oltremari and Zac Koehler played so great that first half being able to stifle their attack, win the ball off of them, and play it out.”

There were shot attempts in those opening minutes, but the first best chance came at the 17:00 mark in the first half. The Rebels moved the ball well into the attacking third of the field and had a look at the left post, but GMC freshman keeper Hayden Wells dove on the shot to preserve the scoreless tie. It was a sign of things to come from the young goalie.

That 0-0 knot was broken only two and half minutes later when the Bulldogs had a corner kick from the right side. Left-footed senior Brian Sherwood looped a ball over several heads before it found the dome of tall Tommy Carty. He headed it in for the game’s first goal at 14:30, giving the well-represented GMC faithful something to really cheer about.

“I was cutting in and the ball was going over the top,” the sophomore Carty said. “I just tried to jump as high as I could and thankfully I got to it.”

Like in the semifinal versus Christian Heritage, that first goal was the start of something special for the ‘Dogs. They scored again with 9:38 left in the half when senior midfielder Owen McCabe passed up his own good look and instead passed from right to left inside the box to waiting sophomore Bennie Huff IV, who put it away and upped the lead to 2-0. McCabe is the team leader in assists for a reason.

“I had to put the team first,” he said on why he passed it. “There was no way I was going to take a selfish shot when B had the open chance. I had to give it to him.”

The championship win wasn’t just redemption for the Bulldog team as a whole, it was for McCabe as well. He was forced to sit out last year’s one-goal loss in the finals with a hurt knee.

“I was literally crushed last year,” he said while still wearing his knee brace from the 2023 injury. “I couldn’t do anything about it. I still didn’t even have my best game tonight, but the guys around me played out of their minds. I’m so proud of this team and I couldn’t imagine a better way to go out.”

The Bulldogs put a little more work in before the halftime horn sounded. It was into the final minute when the ball got booted deep into Atkinson’s end. Sherwood at forward didn’t have time to get back onside, and he knew it. He’s had his fair share of offsides calls this season, but this time he hung back and let the Rebel defender play it. Sherwood then stole the ball away before sending a missile into the net. That team-leading 25th goal came with a bit of déja vu.

“It’s the same spot I missed a shot freshman year,” Sherwood said. “I buried it this time, and it felt so good.”

That made it 3-0 GMC, and ring sizes had to be going through the minds of the GMC players.

Atkinson’s lone goal came after the Bulldogs were whistled for a handball inside the box early in the second half. Alan Castillo took the penalty kick for the Rebels. He went right while the keeper Wells dove the other way, but that was the only ball the freshman would let through.

“The fact that we still get him for three more years is wild,” Jaworski said. “He played out of his mind and he was great.”

Wells’ performance was just one part of a team-wide effort to bring the boys soccer state championship trophy back to Milledgeville.

Atkinson tried to make it a two-score game around the midpoint of the second half as a Rebel corner kick passed through a forest of bodies in front of the frame. An AtCo player was waiting on the back side and was able to shoot toward the goal line, but the ball was stopped by a GMC defender before ultimately being cleared by freshman Madhav Patel.

Carty went on to put the exclamation point on the night. Working hard in the middle of the field, he found space for a shot and took aim toward the right post at 15:20 to play. His ball went in, giving him a share of the team lead in goals with Sherwood at 25. Carty went on a tear this postseason with 10 goals through the Bulldogs’ four playoff games. Now that he knows what winning a state championship feels like, he’d like to keep that feeling going over the next couple of years.

“I want to win two more before I’m done,” he said.

The Bulldogs will lose several key pieces from this year’s team, but the GMC Prep boys soccer machine has been rolling along steadily these last six years. With players like Carty, Huff, and Wells coming back, a return to the title round wouldn’t be a shock.