Thanks to goals by F.D. de Santiago, John Jackson and Davis Castro, the Warren County Middle School soccer team continued its dominance on the road Monday night, defeating the Tullahoma Wildcats 4-0, making their record 4-0-1.
F.D. de Santiago finished with two goals, continuing his dominant season. Jackson and Castro have also been steady contributors, adding a goal apiece in the win.
Talking about Tullahoma stopping Santiago, WCMS coach Matt Jackson said, “My hope was for him to get a shot off before the extra defenders got to him, or make a pass to an open player.”
The game was evenly matched at the start as Tullahoma had a plan to shut down Santiago, but that didn’t last long. Santiago beat a Wildcat defender and scored his first of two goals, making the score 1-0.
“I realized they were really trying to shut down F.D. so I moved him to attacking midfield, and allowed him to either shoot from a distance or pass through to a forward. Because he was in the mid-field, the defenders couldn’t get the extra pressure on him and their midfielders had to pick up their work rate,” Jackson added.
Santiago added his second goal of the game from 25 yards out to make it a 2-0 Pioneer lead at the half. After a close contest in the first half the Pioneers came out firing, as John Jackson scored from 20 yards out, to make it a commanding 3-0 Pioneer lead.
The host Wildcats didn’t have an answer in the second half. Castro put the finishing touches on the game with a goal and the Pioneers prevailed, 4-0.
The Pioneers enjoyed another shutout thanks to some great saves by Pioneer goalie Josiah Jackson. The Pioneers will be back in action April 4 when they travel to Sparta to take on the White County Warriors.