CALEDONIA — Caledonia High School sophomore defender Sam Young found himself in a big spot Monday night.
On a senior-laden team, Young and his backline mates were charged with slowing a fast Senatobia attack in the opening round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A North State playoffs.
Much like the teammates who have gone before him, Young was up to the challenge as Caledonia defeated Senatobia 4-1 to advance to the second round for a second-straight season.
“Our job was to keep them in front of us,” Young said. “We knew they were one of the fastest teams we had played all year, so we knew we had a really big challenge. We really have some good communication on the backline. That is the key. We are aggressive, and we know when we have to make the big play.”
Caledonia (16-6-2) rode consistent play on the backline to an undefeated run through Class 4A, Region 2 play. While the faces have changed, the end results have been the same.
“The kid from Senatobia (Adam McMasters) is really fast,” Caledonia coach Mark Box said. “Sam and Andy (Blakney) were there pretty much every step of the way. We have a good backline. For the second half, we played without Daniel Longmire (ankle injury midway through first half). We have played the season without Chandler Lester, who tore an anterior cruciate ligament. We knew we would be strong on the backline. However, it is not the backline we started with.
“I really can’t say enough about them. They have been solid all season, no matter who we put back there. The job Sam and Andy did in this match was exceptional.”
Senatobia (6-9-1) was credited with three shots on goal. On two occasions, McMasters appear poised to threaten the goal on breakaway attempts. Once, he was tracked down by Young and the other time by Robert Mims.
“This was our Senior Night, so we really wanted to come out and get the win,” said Mims, a senior midfielder. “You have to go out and win those. But it is the playoffs, so everybody is excited. We had some chances in the first half and we didn’t capitalize. In the second half, we played much better.”
Caledonia scored five minutes into the match. Mims fed Cole Gullette who scored to convert a 2-on-1 breakaway attempt. Senatobia answered three minutes later when McMasters scored on a cross shot from about 20 feet out.
The Warriors then held the better of the activity for a large stretch of the first half. However, Young, Blakney, Mims, and goalkeeper Eli Hemphill were up to the challenge. Caledonia defended on four corner kicks in a 15-minute stretch. The teams went into halftime tied 1-1.
“Our back play was really special,” Mims said. “I trust those guys completely back there. They are a big reason why we are where we are today. Defensively, we aren’t going to break.”
In the second half, Caledonia quickly attacked to put the game out of reach. Mims scored the eventual game-winning goal on a free kick 10 minutes into the second half. The first kick also was good but waived off because Caledonia was in the box too early.
The Confederates added to the lead 45 seconds later on a goal by senior striker James Longmire.
“We really weren’t attacking more,” Box said. “We are a possession team. We got away from that in the first half. In the second half, we just focused more on being a possession team. When we possess the ball the right way, it leads to more attacks. That is why we had more attacks. We just possessed the ball better and took much better advantage of our opportunities.”
Gullette felt a change in momentum with a two-goal lead.
“Scoring back-to-back like that was really huge,” said Gullette, a senior midfielder. “We were struggling there early but put it all together. It’s tough in that first playoff match to get going. We had a couple of chances in the first half but didn’t come through. Once we got the free kick, that really changed the match. They were let down, and we knew then we had to keep attacking.”
Junior forward McKeller Fishel closed the scoring in the 75th minute.
“It’s about momentum,” Box said. “We have been building this up for the last couple of weeks. We have had some injuries, but we just overlook those and keep battling. The second half was a really strong finish, and I am proud of these guys for that.”
Senatobia managed nine shots, including three in the final half (one on goal). Caledonia finished with 15 shots, including seven on goal.
“We came out here with a job to do, and I think we did a good job of getting it done,” Young said. “For the seniors, this is special. They want to go a long way in the playoffs. Defensively, we followed our assignments and kept the play in front of us.
“Having played Starkville and New Hope, we had faced some teams with speed, so we tried to use what we learned in those matches.”
Caledonia will play Saturday at Corinth (14-7-3) in the second round. Corinth opened the playoffs Monday with a 1-0 win at Florence.
“Hopefully, we have three more matches to play,” Mims said. “This team has a great attitude. We know what we can do when we play together like we did tonight.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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