Kosciusko boys’ and girls’ soccer teams entered the Thanksgiving break with road victories over Morton and losses to Richland.
The Whippets defeated Morton 3-1, but lost to Richland 5-0. For the Lady Whippets, it was a 7-0 victory over Morton followed by a 4-1 loss to Richland.
Morton boys grabbed a quick lead on a goal by Cesar Camarillo, but Kosciusko responded with goals by Robert Pickle with a header off a cross from Will Carter, Christian Garcia on a shot that deflected off a defender, and Dan Lindsay. Jorge Orduna assisted on Garcia's goal.
“It was an overall good game,” said Coach Greg Cooper. “We pressed hard. We surrounded them any time they got the ball. The midfield worked really, really hard.”
He gave credit to defenders Thomas Sims, Braylon Truss, Jeremy Gibson and Karson Rutherford and to Pickle, the defensive midfielder.
“If they get away from our attacking midfielders, he is there to slow them down, change the direction and go the other way,” said the coach.
Cooper was hoping the strong play would continue when the Whippets played Richland three nights later, but that didn't happen. The Rangers scored an early goal and led 3-0 at the half on their way to the victory.
“We made a lot of mistakes that we can't make. If we clean that up, it's a much closer ball game,” he said. “It was almost like the beginning of the year.”
Girls
Raven Pernell had four goals and an assist in the victory over Morton. The other goals were by Lanna Lee, with an assist from Savannah Fulgham, Reid Hutchinson, and Kaleigh Lewis off a shot by Pernell. Savannah Fulgham assisted on Lee's goal, one of Pernell's goals came off a shot by Presley Fulgham, and Austin Jones assisted on Pernell's final goal.
Morton played a defensive game, with eight or nine in the penalty area at times.
“We had to change our game a little bit because it was so compacted. We had to figure out how to break that down,” Cooper said.
Against Richland it was 1-1 at the half. Mary Patton Henderson headed in a corner kick from Gracie Williams' for the Lady Whippets' goal. Williams, the team's corner kick specialist, placed the ball perfectly for Patton.
Richland took the lead on a penalty kick by Brenna Sanford five minutes into the second half and added two late goals.
“We have to work on bouncing back from letting goals in,” Cooper said.
During the break, he plans to work on formations.
The Whippets and Lady Whippets will return to action with home games against Neshoba Central Monday, followed by road games with Starkville the following day. Region 4-4A competition begins with home games against Louisville Dec. 2.
