The Bearden Bulldogs on Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Parker)
By DAVE LINK
MURFREESBORO – Ethan Ford isn’t sure he scored the goal Wednesday.
The Bearden sophomore was credited with the lone goal in the 18th minute as the Bulldogs (20-3-1) posted a 1-0 victory over Franklin (13-4) in the Class AAA state semifinals at Siegel Soccer Complex.
“I thought Jack Raulston scored it,” Ford said. “I thought he got a touch on it.”
Does Ford care?
“I don’t, as long as we scored,” he said. “That’s all that matters.”
Yep.
Bearden will defend its 2019 state championship on Friday at 2:30 ET when it plays Houston (15-2-4), which advanced to the final with a 2-1 victory over Oakland in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Playing for the state title will be a new experience for many of the Bulldogs.
Bearden returned only one starter, Cole Turner, from the 2019 state championship team.
Bearden coach Ryan Radcliffe said his team will be playing Friday for the 2020 seniors who lost their season to the pandemic and playing for many others.
“We’re not just doing it for ourselves,” Radcliffe said. “We’re doing it for those boys (from 2020) and the people who played here before us. A lot of these boys don’t know what this is like and what state championship is like and what it means. The other thing is it’s going to take a year, two years, weeks for them to really figure out and see this was an amazing experience. Hopefully tomorrow with our day off we can realize what we’ve done and accomplished in a crazy year.”
Ford’s game-winning goal Wednesday was unassisted.
“It was a cross in,” Ford said, “and it just bounced out and I was able to put it back in.”
It was just what Radcliffe wanted to see after the Bulldogs and Collierville played to a scoreless tie in Tuesday’s state semifinals.
Bearden won the match 5-3 on penalty kicks.
“We knew Franklin was a very dangerous team and a very good team,” Radcliffe said. “You could see that from their results. The last game against Collierville I didn’t think we came out strong and we didn’t take advantage of our chances. I told our boys very simply, ‘If you want to play 80 minutes instead of 120 minutes, let’s put the ball in early.’ … We did that and we got fortunate and we really came out with that aggression and I think the weather helped us some, it not being 90 degrees (due to the cloudy weather).”
Bearden’s defense held tight for the remainder of the game after Ford’s goal.
Senior goalkeeper Jonathan Diaz was only credited with three saves, although Franklin had nine shots to Bearden’s eight.
Diaz made a diving save in the 68th minute, blocking a shot by Bradley Whelen.
Diaz made another save in the 77th minute when Landon Robbins drove a long shot directly at the keeper, who made the clean catch.
“I want (the players) to believe and trust what they’re doing,” Radcliffe said. “I think you saw that in the second half with the defensive effort to close out a game and keep a team that’s been putting six, seven, eight goals on people, to hold them to zero.”
The Bulldogs will enjoy Thursday off from soccer.
It’s a time to recuperate their minds and bodies for Friday’s state championship match.
“This team obviously wants to keep playing and wants to keep battling for each other,” Radcliffe said. “I guess they want to stay together and hang out in hotel rooms for two more days with each other. That’s exciting to see. That kind of tells you as a coach that your team has made it and it’s not about the soccer. It’s about the relationships and the character of the boys and seeing a team believe in each other. That’s the emotional part for me.”
SEVIER COUNTY COASTS
The Smoky Bears finished runner-up in 2019. They’ve been on a mission this season to make amends for that season-ending loss in the title game two years ago.
Sevier County will get that chance on Friday.
It blasted Dyersburg, 7-0, in the Class AA state semifinals Wednesday to earn a return trip to the title match.
But the Smoky Bears (20-1-2) will have a different opponent. Greeneville, which had won the last three state championships (2017-19), was ousted 1-0 Wednesday by Page.
Sevier County and Page will play at 4 p.m. at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex stadium.
If they play like they did on Wednesday, they’ll definitely have a shot at bringing home Sevier County’s first boys’ soccer title in school history.
Brayan Moran scored two goals and Miguel Marquez scored two to lead the way for the Smoky Bears, who outshot Dyersburg 25-2.
Joseph Rodriguez, Brandon Moreira and Kent Koester also scored goals for Sevier County.