Clear Creek Middle School soccer retained its crown as kings of the Mountain League.
The Bobcats claimed the league championship March 26 with a 2-1 victory over Union County. It marked Clear Creek’s second championship in a row, and the win came after the title contenders tied during the regular season.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Fabrizio Tapia, who coaches the Bobcats along with Thomas Glanton.
“This is a very gritty and tough team,” Glanton added. “I think we were mentally and physically tougher than most of the teams we played. Our group was pretty special this year.”
Glanton and Tapia praised the Bobcats, who outscored opponents 34-3 on the season. Including the playoffs, CCMS posted a 7-0-1 record.
Goalkeeper Henry Bautista’s first line of defense included Edwin Juan Pablo, Fredily Ramirez, Juan Ramirez, David Lopez and Kashane Perigo. The midfield was predominantly patrolled by Gabriel Reynoso, Liandro Ramirez, Jonathon Bartolon and Elvis Ortiz. Striker Juan Alonzo was the leading scorer with 18 goals.
“Everybody got to play. We carried 23 players and there are really good players among the 12 nonstarters,” Tapia said.
CCMS entered the playoffs as the top seed and duplicated their regular-season performance versus Pickens in the semifinals. The Bobcats earned their title shot with a 4-0 win, while Union defeated Dawson in the other semifinal, 2-0.
CCMS typically played with one striker, but would often move Lopez from his defensive role to join Alonzo up top. The Cats’ two-pronged attack paid dividends. When Lopez shifted to striker, Perigo moved to the back row. CCMS took the field in a variety of formations including a 5-3-2, 4-4-2, 5-4-1 and 4-5-1. They would also play with three strikers when pushing for goals.
The adaptive strategy proved fruitful in the championship match. The Cats deployed a defensive-centric gameplan with the goal to build a wall in the midfield and tire out the Panthers. Once this was achieved, CCMS ramped up their attack and shots on goal.
“We shifted some of our offensive kids back and wore down Union,” Glanton said. “It seemed like that second half when we moved some defenders up, our shots on goal probably went up three times as much. Union was by far the toughest team we faced.”
CCMS constantly marked Union’s top striker, a tactic that worked in the first meeting and also in the championship.
“We wanted to be close to him and not let him turn. We did that really well,” Tapia said.
The Cats shifted from a 5-4-1 to 4-4-2 after thwarting the Panthers’ initial onslaught. The scoreless first half was followed by two immediate goals to begin the second. CCMS quickly took the lead on a goal by Alonzo.
Just minutes later, Union evened the score. A free kick from the corner was met by the Panthers’ tall striker, and his header found the back of the net.
With six minutes on the clock, a Panther foul in the box set up a penalty, and Perigo stepped to the spot to score the winning goal.
“Union was probably the best team we’ve played over the past two years,” Glanton said. “I think we were the better team skill wise, but they definitely had some athleticism and playmakers. They came out offensive from the get-go, and we contained them and wore them down.”
The Bobcats’ path to the title was paved with five wins in the regular season where they outscored opponents, 27-1 CCMS defeated Dawson County (4-0), Fannin County (8-1), Lumpkin County (1-0), Pickens (4-0) and White County (10-0). Their only nonvictory was a 1-1 tie versus Union.
Tapia explained the method to the Bobcats’ success.
“We’re very strong about controlling the game,” he said. “For us we want to have a defense and we built the team from the defense up. Our defense was very strong, and then we created a midfield that was more defensive than an attacking midfield, keeping in the same philosophy. Once we got that, we started exploring how to attack. Once we can control the game, we start thinking about how we will strike.”
After losing multiple experienced eighth graders from the year’s prior title run, Tapia and Glanton used early matches to fine tune the lineup when it came to tactics and players’ positions. This served as a model for each match as they continually altered their formation and tactics to exploit opponents.
“Coach Tapia is really big on making adjustments on the fly and really dissecting the other team to figure out where they are strong and weak,” Glanton noted.
“We moved the players regarding their abilities,” Tapia added. “Depending on who we had to play, we could come up with an idea within the first 10 minutes of how things were, who the toughest players were on the other team and play a little chess game. Our game is control, passing the ball and taking shots from the outside to test the goalkeeper. It’s a mix of speed, force and talent.”
The title is the Bobcats’ fourth in five seasons. In addition to last year, CCMS won league championships in ’21 and ’22. Over this span, the Bobcats have posted a 34-5-4 record.