CCHS vs. Madison County High School varsity soccer preview

February 7, 2019

The Clarke Central High School varsity girls soccer team competes against Lumpkin County High School in a scrimmage on Feb. 1. The Gladiators lost to the Indians 0-3. “We played against Lumpkin County but it was a scrimmage and our first game of the season was Prince Avenue (Christian School),” varsity girls soccer striker Jennifer Guzman, a CCHS senior, said. “The scrimmage was just to get to know each other more and how we all play and it went pretty well.” Photo by Luna Reichert

The Clarke Central High School varsity soccer teams will face off against the Madison County High School varsity soccer teams on Feb. 8.

On Feb. 8, the Clarke Central High School girls and boys varsity soccer teams will play against Madison County High School. The girls will compete at 5:30 p.m. and the boys will compete at 7:30 p.m.

Last season, the boys varsity team beat MCHS with a score of 4-1 and the girls varsity team lost a narrow game of 3-4.

“I expect us to win comfortably (against MCHS this year), like 4-0 or 5-0, because I think we are a better team technically and physically. We have more speed, a better coach and a better training program,” boys varsity center back Jojo Croffie, a CCHS senior, said. “Last year, we beat Madison County 4-1 and I think we’re better this year.”

The boys and girls teams will enter the game Friday coming off of 6-1 and 2-0 wins respectively against Prince Avenue Christian School on Feb. 5.

“In our game (against Prince Avenue) we knew what to do because we corrected ourselves from the scrimmage (on Feb. 1 against Lumpkin County High School) and it got us a win 2-0,” varsity girls striker Jennifer Guzman, a CCHS senior, said. “I felt like I played well but I could have done better to help my team and get more goals behind the net.”

In the upcoming game, head boys varsity soccer coach Chris Aiken believes the experience of returning players will be a valuable asset to the team.

“I think this team has the potential to be really successful. We returned seven starters from last year’s team that went 19-2,” Aiken said. “So we have a lot of good returning leadership as well as a really good senior class that will bring a lot of leadership to practice and games that will really help us be successful.”

Elena Gilbertson Hall

Elena Gilbertson Hall is a senior at Clarke Central High School in Athens, Georgia where she is the Editor-in-Chief for the ODYSSEY Media Group. Gilbertson Hall has been on the staff of the ODYSSEY for four years and previously served as a news writer, covering important issues in the school and community while also exploring multimedia content and other forms of journalistic work. She was presented the Georgia Junior Champion Journalist Award by the Georgia Scholastic Press Association in 2019. She has also presented at multiple journalism conferences, including the Southern Interscholastic Press Association and GSPA.