Blue Ridge just two wins away from state soccer title...

The Blue Ridge High School boys soccer team is just two wins away from another 1A-3A state championship. The defending state champs blanked Benson, 3-0, in a quarterfinal matchup yesterday afternoon at the Quail Run Soccer Complex in Mesa. The Yellow Jackets put away the Bobcats early, receiving two first-half goals from Jake Washburn and another from Salvator Ramirez. The win sent Blue Ridge into the semifinals and a matchup next Friday with Tucson St. Gregory. The match will get underway at 7 p.m. at Campo Verde High School in Gilbert. The winner will advance to Saturday's state final at 2:30 p.m.

Getting to the final will be no easy task for Blue Ridge as they go up against the Hawks' prolific scorer, Frankie Mgoblu. Mgoblu scored four goals yesterday in St. Gregory's 5-2 quarterfinal win over Phoenix Country Day. Also waiting in the wings, is Tucson Desert Christian. The Screaming Eagles shutout Holbrook, 4-0, behind the play of Scott Waller and Caleb Steele, as they advanced to the semis and a showdown with Snowflake, a surprise winner over Chino Valley, yesterday.

As for Blue Ridge, the Yellow Jackets shutdown Benson with their outstanding passing attack and hard-nosed defensive pressure. Blue Ridge did receive a scare in the second half when Ramirez, one of the top scorers for the Yellow Jackets, received a yellow card due to a little, pushing and shoving with a Bobcat's defender. The Bobcat's defender received a red card. If the referee's call had gone against the Yellow Jackets then Ramirez would be on the outside looking in in Friday's semi final.

Instead, the Blue Ridge Yellow Jackets will be in full force as they move on to face St. Gregory. It is looking more and more like a state final matchup of Blue Ridge and Desert Christian. The two teams faced each other in early September at Tucson Udall Park and the Yellow Jackets came away with a 3-2 win.

The matchup will set up Dilemma No. 2 for yours truly. Since the Blue Ridge head coach, Bryon Crain, is a family friend, and the assistant coach for the Screaming Eagles, Mike Steele, is also a good friend and is a teammate of mine on my senior baseball team, the Tucson Old Timers. But first things first. The Yellow Jackets will need to get by St. Gregory and Desert Christian will need to come out on the winning side in their matchup with Snowflake. The final four will be digging in next weekend. There's a lot of soccer ahead for the four finalist.