By Mark Carpenter-
It had been seven years coming but the Peebles Indians boys soccer program can once again proclaim themselves as “sectional champions”. Under the direction of second-year head coach Logan Gordley, the Indians hosted fellow Southern Hills Athletic Conference member Eastern Brown on Wednesday, Oct. 16 in a Southeast District Division III sectional championship game. Gordley and his squad were up to the task, avenging a 3-2 regular season defeat to the Warriors, taking home a near flawlessly-played 4-0 tournament win that will send them on to the district tournament in Waverly on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Besides chalking up the important win, it was another historic night for the Indians as senior standout Weston Browning, perhaps the most talented multi-sport athlete in southern Ohio, etched his name in the record books. Browning scored two goals in the win over Eastern Brown and the second of those was his 34th of the season, giving him the new single season scoring record, breaking the mark held by another pretty fair soccer player in Jonathan Pryor.
“It just feels pretty awesome to win the sectional championship,” said Coach Gordley. “Our game plan was to shut down Boone and Vargas, those were the two who hurt us in the regular season game. After that, we just wanted to force the issue with them on offense and our defensive line really stepped up tonight.”
“Weston just had an incredible game with two goals and we just couldn’t ask any more out of him. He’s definitely making a name for himself in soccer.”
As Wednesday’s game began, the two teams just seemed to be feeling each other out, with most of the early action taking place between the 20’s, but about midway through the first half, the action moved to the Peebles offensive end as the first line of Browning, Hunter White, Mason Sims, and Seung Hyun began to test the Eastern keeper with constant pressure. That pressure resulted in the game’s first score, a goal by Hyun that gave Peebles the 1-0 advantage.
The ultra-quick Browning had a couple of scoring opportunities in close, one shot bouncing off the post and the other stopped by a sprawling save from the Warrior’s goalie. In a trip to their offensive end, the Warriors had three consecutive corner kicks but all of them were turned away by Peebles keeper Kyle Lightner and the Indians defense.
With about four minutes left in the half, the Peebles lead grew to two when Browning had a free kick from about 30 yards out and perfectly placed the kick off the top post and then got the fortunate bounce right back into the goal and the Indians took a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
Moving into the second half, the Indians added to their lead when Cory Reed found out that persistence pays off, especially when one is in front of the goal within striking distance. Surrounded by Eastern defenders, Reed managed to get off two shots that were blocked but on his third try he found the back of the net to give his team a 3-0 margin.
Less than two minutes later, Browning capped off the scoring with his historic 34th goal of the 2019 season, and the 80th of his career. That gave the Indians the 4-0 lead which they preserved the rest of the way to capture that first sectional title in seven seasons. It was also another standout performance in goal by Peebles senior Kyle Lightner, who continually thwarted and attempts by Eastern Brown to take the clean sheet off the board.
“Kyle is just quietly athletic and this is just his second year of playing soccer,” said Gordley. “The difference in him from last year is amazing.”
Now, the Indians look ahead to a match up in Waverly on Saturday in the Division III district semis where they will face an uphill battle against number two seeded South Webster. The Jeeps advanced to the district semis with a 5-0 win over Rock Hill in their sectional title contest. Game time on Saturday for the Indians is 3 p.m.
