The Armuchee High School (AHS) boys soccer team have had great success so far, winning ten out of the twelve games, but for them to be doing so well this year, they have done multiple things before the season even started to find their success. They have had early practices, focusing on the conditioning aspect of the game. Emilio Hernandez, a junior at AHS, said, ¨Going to conditioning has helped a lot and not only me. It helped my teammates to learn how to transition from offense to defense.¨ Coach Park said, “These are the little things that lead to great teams. We might not always be better than them, but while they are getting tired, we will still have some fuel left in the tank.¨ This shows a lot of character from the team showing how they do not give up even when it gets hard. That is a big thing in soccer. To be able to keep going. Even if they are down two goals, they keep going and try to turn the tables. Maybe that is why the Armuchee team won state in the past and why it looks like they have a decent chance to win it again if they keep this positive season up.
Senior Carter Kibble was on the team last year that won the state championship. Setting goals that he would like to reach before the end of his career. He said, “I would like to get my knee fixed and win another state championship.” He expressed major excitement for the upcoming season. He has been playing for 4 years now. Carter Kibble also said “I want to win one more state championship before I graduate and leave the school. It would be really cool.” Winning state is not just a trophy for these boys. It is a way of passage. It is not only about the trophy but about the legacy that they leave behind for other generations to see and look up to.
The players have done a lot for this team with seniors Dimitri, Latin, and Mikey being seniors and many others like Bryant and Liam being Juniors. They have put in lots of hard work and when you watch their games you can tell they really love this game of soccer. Dimitri said, “Our passion for the game and high intensity during our practices and in the games made us do [well] in the beginning of the season.” With these things, they believe they can win another state championship this year as well. They lost some seniors, but despite that, they are still sure they are a top team with a high chance to win. Emilio said, “we could maybe win the state again, but it will be a little harder to do it a second time for sure.” This mindset has reached multiple people on the team. Dimitri said, “We have a great team this year, and I think we can go as far as last year.” Competition is going to pop up and these guys will respond to it the right way. Emilio said ”I lock all the wingers down (Model, Trion, Darlington, Calhoun, and Ridgeland) I let nobody through without the backline.” Emilio knows that these guys pour their hearts into the game because of this they have many great things coming to them in the future. He has seen how they show how you can do anything that you put your mind to. Even if that means winning two state championships in a row.