Mid-season Soccer Match at Udall Park a doozie!

As I had mentioned in my previous blog post, I faced quite a dilemma when the defending state champion 1A-3A Lakeside Blue Ridge Yellow Jackets rolled into town to take on the Desert Christian Screaming Eagles this afternoon in a mid-season soccer match at Udall Park. The contest was the second match of the day for the two schools -- Blue Ridge had already shutdown Benson, 2-0, and Desert Christian had walloped St. Johns, 10-0, earlier in the day, as the annual Old Pueblo Soccer Tournament got underway -- under clear skies and a blazing temperature, reaching 100 degrees, I might add.

My dilemma, of course, was the fact that I'm a friend of both coaches -- Bryon Crain, the head coach of the Yellow Jackets and Mike Steele, an assistant coach with the Screaming Eagles. Blue Ridge went into the game, unbeaten at 10-0 and Desert Christian with their easy win over St. Johns had improved to 9-2 on the season. Wow! What a battle it turned out to be. It seemed more like a state final matchup, rather than a mid-season, no trophies awarded, come-on-down and have some fun tournament. Blue Ridge took the early advantage with two first half goals -- one by Salvador Ramirez and the other by the Yellow Jackets' top scorer Trey Cavanaugh.

It seemed like Blue Ridge was well on its way to victory number 11 on the season, but early in the second half Desert Christian's Mackie Thompson scored on a chip shot from 10 yards out and two minutes later Scott Waller launched a screamer from 40 yards out to even the score at 2-2. But it was all Ramirez down the stretch as he booted two goals in the waning minutes of the game (one was disallowed due to a foul called by the referee at the other end of the field) and the Yellow Jackets escaped with a hard-fought 3-2 victory.

If there's two 1A-3A teams out there better than the two I witnessed today, I'd sure like to see them play. I'm betting Blue Ridge and Desert Christian will meet again, say in Phoenix around Nov. 7 in a state final matchup. Both teams are filled with outstanding athletes that go all out -- leaving it all on the field.

Waller is a feisty little devil and plays aggressively, while his Desert Christian teammate, Caleb Steele, my friend's son, is a handful as well. As for Blue Ridge, they seem unstoppable at times led by Cavanaugh, Ramirez, Korey Wilcox, Luke Traeger and Jake Washburn -- just to name a few.

They move up and down the field with ease and you get the feeling they could score at any moment. Coach Mike Steele, my buddy, stated after the game, "They're not only big...they're fast." As for my friend, Bryon, he's certainly a happy camper after watching his Yellow Jackets move to 11-0 on the year. The bus ride back to the White Mountains should be fun.

Good luck to both teams. One thing is for sure, whoever has to play these two teams down the road, better lace up their shoes, take a collective deep breath, and prepare for battle.