Without blemish
HUNTSVILLE -- A dominant second half lifted the Homewood High School boys soccer team to the Class 6A state championship, as the Patriots defeated Fort Payne 3-0 in the state final on Saturday at John Hunt Park in Huntsville.
The Patriots scored all three goals in the final 34 minutes of the contest to cap off an unbeaten season, with Homewood finishing the season with an eye-popping 24-0-2 record.
“I told the kids you have to play without pressure every single game,” said 16th-year coach Sean McBride. “They grew stronger and stronger and stronger. It was just fitting the way the season went for these guys and especially for this group of seniors.”
Eric Hepp scored two of the goals for the Patriots, his first breaking the ice after a scoreless first half and the second to cement the victory.
“The third goal kind of settled us down,” McBride said of Hepp’s second goal. “We weren’t safe with the second goal, because we know Fort Payne’s such a quality program. …It’s a credit to the kids to come out and raise their game the whole second half.”
Hepp was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for his efforts.
“We just came out strong and played 40 full minutes the whole second half,” he said.
When asked about the undefeated season, Hepp showed his competitive nature, ruing on the two ties that kept the Patriots from a perfect slate.
He said, “We’d love to take those two draws back, but honestly we can’t ask for anything more than the state final.”
Jackson Wallace notched the other goal for Homewood on the day. Wallace and Hepp were part of a prolific offense that scored 106 goals on the season.
“We scored over 100 goals and you get them from all different players,” said McBride, who won his fifth state championship at Homewood and the first since 2014. “There’s no one player that you can say is any more special than the other. I think this group is the true definition of a team.”
Goalkeeper Ian Myers kept a clean sheet and was the driving force behind Homewood’s defense, which surrendered just nine goals all year.
The Patriots took down Northview, 4-0, on Friday in the semifinals. Connor Smith scored two goals and Wallace added a goal and an assist.
Brooks Brannon put Homewood on the scoreboard with a goal in the 27th minute, after the two sides had battled on even terms in the early going.
The Patriots broke through shortly after intermission, with Wallace scoring two minutes into the half, then feeding Smith for his first goal less than a minute later.
Smith put away his second goal in the last minute of the contest.
Myers kept a clean sheet with two saves. The Patriots fired 21 shots, compared to only one shot by the Cougars.
Homewood knocked off Pelham, 3-2, in overtime in the first round of the playoffs, shut out Northridge, 3-0, in the second round, and took down John Carroll, 6-1, in the quarterfinals.
- Robert Carter contributed to this report.