The North Augusta boys’ soccer team had been waiting for this opportunity for nearly an entire year.
The Yellow Jackets were stung last year by James Island in last year’s Class AAAA Lower State final, so from that point they’ve had their sights set on getting back to that stage.
They rolled to another Region 5-AAAA championship and won their first two playoff matches, running their win streak to 15 in a row, to earn their shot at revenge Monday against the defending state champs.
Ben Holton’s goal late in the first half held up, and goalkeeper Tyler Hughes and the defense weathered a late James Island barrage to earn North Augusta its first Class AAAA Lower State championship. The Jackets will play Eastside on Friday at Irmo High School for the state title.
“Just maximum effort, maximum teamwork. I mean, they were there for each other,” said head coach Michael Vaughan. “You saw it got a little bit heated. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from both teams. Both teams wanted to win. They’re defending state champions. I did not expect them to go down lightly. We kept our heads about as well as we could have, especially considering the moment. I couldn’t be happier.”
The intensity nearly boiled over on multiple occasions late in the match as James Island’s desperation increased, and there were multiple stoppages as yellow cards were handed out as the officials tried to get the match back on track.
Much of the last 15 minutes were spent within striking distance of Hughes, and in the dying moments James Island brought its keeper up to have an extra attacker.
Each ball sent into the box was headed away or snagged by Hughes, though, as the Jackets (20-2-1) notched their 14th shutout of the season.
“Toward the end we changed formations a little bit to try to tighten some things up,” Vaughan explained. “They obviously had a key weapon with that long throw-in of theirs. That’s a dynamic that a lot of teams don’t bring. It’s difficult to practice or train against that because I don’t have anybody who can throw the ball like that. It was dedication. ... I’m proud of everybody. The senior leadership has been tremendous.”
The Jackets had the better scoring chances in the first half, starting with a Harrison Halloway header about 12 minutes in that grazed the crossbar.
It appeared that Holton had struck first with 14:16 remaining in the half, but his goal was waved off because the Jackets were offside.