Collin Lewis (23) and the Bearden Bulldogs eliminated the host Farragut Admirals 2-0 in a TSSAA Class AAA sectional soccer match in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Photo by Danny Parker)
Collin Lewis set a goal for the 2019 season months ago.
So did his senior teammates on the Bearden boys’ soccer team.
They used to get together and talk about ending their high school careers with a Class AAA state championship in Murfreesboro.
Lewis and the nine other seniors accomplished their goal May 24 by beating Station Camp in the championship match.
Talk about a storybook finish.
The Farragut Admirals beat Collin Lewis and the Bearden Bulldogs 3-2 in a TSSAA District 2-AAA boys soccer match in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Friday, April 26, 2019. (Photo by Danny Parker)
“It was about perfect,” said Lewis, the 5Star Preps player of the year. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Lewis, a center midfielder who signed with Lee University, was a freshman on Bearden’s 2016 state championship team, but he didn’t get on the field at state. His older brother, Will, was a junior on the 2016 team.
It was after the 2016 season when Collin Lewis – who stood about 5-foot-3 as a freshman – grew almost 7 inches and began to blossom into a star player for the Bulldogs.
He credits his brother and others on the 2017 team for helping him. Will was a team captain in 2017 when Bearden lost to rival Farragut, 1-0, in the District 4-AAA elimination semifinals. (Bearden and Farragut are no longer in the same district).
“I had chemistry with (Will) and some of his friends, and that class was really good in helping me learn,” Collin Lewis said. “That year was the biggest year like a learning curve for me where I get to learn from players who were really good, all-state players, and I got to take in what they knew, and then the next two years I was able to help fill in their spots.”
As a junior, Lewis helped the Bulldogs (18-6) advance to the state semifinals before losing to Station Camp, 1-0.
Bearden returned the bulk of the 2018 team for this season, so making state again was almost a given.
Easier said than done.
“I think any year that you have that expectation and you have the championship-or-bust mentality, obviously there’s a ton of pressure,” Lewis said. “But I think it came down to just at the end of the day this senior group was so bought in, it wasn’t just us saying it. It was us saying it and also following up with our play and our leadership and the way we handled ourselves professionally throughout the whole season.”
Bearden’s only losses were to Westminster (Ala.), Farragut, and Science Hill of Johnson City. Westminster was one of the top teams in the nation in 2018.
The Bulldogs lost at home to Farragut, 3-2, on April 26, and had no plans for a rematch with the Admirals in the state sectionals.
However, Bearden was upset in the Region 2-AAA final at Science Hill, 1-0, and had to make a return to Farragut with a state berth at stake.
The Bulldogs pulled out a 2-0 victory.
“I think going up to Science Hill we just didn’t have the right mentality,” Lewis said. “I didn’t have the right mentality, I know that. That was really disappointing for the whole team and for me because I knew that was a game we should have won. It didn’t fall the way we wanted it to. Coming off the bus I was frustrated, but we all had the same mentality of, ‘I’s OK. We’re playing Farragut. Us or Farragut’s going to state, and we know who’s going to come out on top.’ ”
Lewis was one of four Bulldogs scoring goals in the 4-0 victory over Murfreesboro Oakland in the state quarterfinals.
He was front and center of a controversial play in the semifinal against Brentwood (18-1-1).
Lewis had a penalty kick waved off by the referee in the second half, missed the second PK attempt, but got another chance late in the second overtime on a long free kick. He buried the kick and the Bulldogs won, 1-0.
“That game was just draining mentally and physically,” Lewis said. “The whole PK scandal thing, I still don’t really understand what happened, but I just had to accept it and move on because it wasn’t going to change. Obviously I was crushed, but still I was like, ‘I’ve got 10 minutes left to save this season, so I’ve got to do something special.’ Luckily we worked the ball up the field and I got the chance.”
Bearden then got a rematch against Station Camp for the state championship.
Compared to Bearden’s route to the final, Station Camp’s was a breeze with victories over Karns (5-0) and Cookeville (4-0) at state.
After regulation ended with a 1-1 tie, Bearden prevailed with a 4-3 win in a PK shootout.
“We were completely just exhausted, so at that point it wasn’t who was more talented,” Lewis said. “It wasn’t who had more legs. It was just who had more heart, and I think you could see the training we’d put in since November when we did weights and the extra running and stuff, that really transferred because in the second half of that game we were able to stay strong and keep them on their heels the whole way.”
Lewis finished the season with 29 goals and 24 assists.
He’s spending the summer preparing for his freshman season Lee University with daily workouts and scrimmages with other college players and coaches.
He will always cherish memories of the 2019 season.
“It’s something me and my friends are always going to have,” Lewis said. “We’ll always remember the work we put in, and it wasn’t based on a team that was so much better than anyone else. It was based on the work that we’d put in and the chemistry we had and all the stuff we’d built over the previous couple of years was finally paying off.”