Whiteland’s Yahir Lugado, left, battles Franklin’s Zach Newton during Wednesday’s sectional semifinal.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS
Franklin won its regular-season boys soccer meeting with rival Whiteland, but Grizzly Cubs coach Tony Harris wasn’t thrilled with how the match went overall.
He was all smiles after Wednesday’s rematch.
The Grizzly Cubs asserted themselves early and never let up on the way to a convincing 4-0 triumph over the Warriors in a Class 3A sectional semifinal at Roncalli.
The Grizzly Cubs (13-1-3), now riding a 12-game unbeaten streak, will face No. 4 Columbus North in Saturday’s championship match. The Bull Dogs topped the host Royals in Wednesday’s nightcap, 2-1.
“We didn’t get off to a great start when we played them earlier in the season at their place,” Harris said. “We got out of there with a 3-1 win, but it didn’t feel right. So tonight, we felt like we were the better team, and if you get out to a quick start and do the things you want to do — we put them on their back feet, and we dominated the middle real well.”
Franklin began putting pressure on from the giddy-up, and did exactly what Whiteland (5-12) did not want to let them do, generating looks off a deep throw-in and a corner kick in the first two minutes. The Grizzly Cubs then converted off another set piece just 3:24 into the action — after one shot was deflected by a Whiteland defender and another knocked away by Warriors goalkeeper Jacob Witherington, Frankin junior Cole Hufford was in the right spot to get a foot on a rebound and tap it into the left side of the net.
“I do sit back post a lot,” Hufford said, “because we’ve got those tall guys — we’ve got J.D. (Sever) and Zach (Newton), who know their role there and they can always flick it. … I’ll stay there, I see it, and there’s a point where I can see this guy’s missing it, or the flick’s getting there, and I’m straight to it.”
Continuing to force the issue, Franklin doubled its lead midway through the 13th minute when junior Dylan Harris got his toe on a loose ball just outside the left goalpost. The slow-dribbling shot was cleared away by Whiteland senior back David Mathis, but the officials ruled that the ball had crossed the goal line first.
The Grizzly Cubs stretched their lead to 3-0 with 14:08 left in the half when Griffin Atkison took a lead pass from Matt Payne and finished off the breakaway with a low shot past Witherington from about 15 yards out.
Hufford notched his second tally of the evening on a left-to-right liner with 21:48 remaining in the match.
Adam Ott needed to make just one save before giving way to fellow goalkeeper Riley Shaff in the closing minutes; the two combined to secure Franklin’s sixth shutout of the season.
While disappointed with the end result, Whiteland coach Justin VanHorn believes his team was far better than its record indicated this fall; on Wednesday, it just allowed the Grizzly Cubs to do too much of what they wanted to do.
“We know that their set pieces are just incredible,” he said, “and we gave them 20 in the first half. … We just couldn’t overcome that. When you feed into what they do well, it usually doesn’t end well for you.”
The Grizzly Cubs will now try to lay claim to their first-ever sectional championship this weekend.
“It’s super exciting,” Hufford said. “This is an opportunity that we knew that, if it was coming, this was the year. We’ve known that for three, four years; I’ve played with all these guys since we were 12. So it’s pretty awesome to see the whole career kind of come together, all of us really pulling it in for this state tournament.”
We’ve got our hands full,” Harris added, “but you’ve got to get to the game to win it.”
