Boys varsity soccer left wing Hunter Yelton (left), a senior, practices with his teammates in preparation for the boys varsity region game against Eastside High School on the field in the Billy Henderson Stadium on March 3. The game will be held in Covington, Georgia at EHS on Friday. “This (game) decides our placement into the playoffs — if we lose a certain amount of games we will not be awarded into the playoffs — but this also will determine whether we go to the Region Championship or not. So, it’s a big game, we need to win it, and it holds a lot to it,” Yelton said. Photo by Audrey Enghauser
In their second region game of the season, the Clarke Central High School boys varsity soccer team will face off against Eastside High School in Covington, Georgia on Friday.
The Gladiators won 4-0 in their first region game against Loganville High School on Feb. 26. As for their next opponent, CCHS boys varsity soccer head coach Chris Aiken sees the EHS game as a larger challenge due to the team’s organization and its players’ experience.
“The challenge for (us) will be preparing our guys to finally play a team that comes out from the opening kickoff as the aggressor and not the team sitting back, and we’ll need to adjust our game plan accordingly.”
— Chris Aiken,
CCHS boys varsity soccer head coach
“I’m expecting (EHS) to have a lot of really high level club players — they’re in an area that’s very affluent, right next to Atlanta, so they’ll have a lot of kids that play year-round travel soccer,” Aiken said. “The challenge for (us) will be preparing our guys to finally play a team that comes out from the opening kickoff as the aggressor and not the team sitting back, and we’ll need to adjust our game plan accordingly.”
According to varsity boys soccer left wing Hunter Yelton, a senior, recent practices have focused on plays that the team has yet to carry out this season.
“Things that we’re practicing have been our finishing, we’ve only scored off the set pieces — throw- ins, corner kicks, free kicks — we haven’t scored through the natural play of the game, so we’re working on building up score and finishing through there,” Yelton said.
During the game, Aiken wants the team to focus on establishing a strategic defense starting early on.
“We want to not get down (in goals) early, so leading into the game we’ll work a lot on defense,” Aiken said. “We’re not really built offensively to come from behind, so we want to make sure (this) week that we emphasize not giving up any goals early in the game versus Eastside, and then finding ways to keep it close throughout the game.”
While this game’s outcome is significant as it will help determine playoff placement, Yelton remains confident in the team’s ability to take on EHS.
“We’ve got a lot of pressure on us, but I feel like we’ve gotten more confident, we’ve seen how we can play, we’ve seen how we can perform against talented teams like North Oconee, Oconee, Jefferson and Loganville,” Yelton said. “I think everyone will realize the stakes, relax and settle down and play.”
