Down 2-0 in the second half on the road at Ripley, second-year Newton County soccer coach Will Thompson made a lineup change that turned the tide of the game almost instantly.
That’s when Thompson switched Graham Lewis and Lee Hill on the offensive end.
That move paid almost instant dividends as Hill scored the first of three second-half goals to lead Newton County to a 3-2 win over Ripley and secure a spot in Saturday’s Class 4A state championship game, the first in school history on boys’ soccer.
The Cougars improve to 23-1 on the season and will play the winner of Florence and St. Stanislaus on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Brandon High School.
Ripley went ahead 2-0 in the first half while Newton County missed a penalty kick and had another shot go off the post.
“We had a lot of chances in the first half,” Thompson said. “We had a penalty kick in the first five minutes and that shot went off the post. We had another shot and it went off the other post. We were getting plenty of shots, it was just a matter of time before they started to go in.”
Thompson said he and his assistant/wife Sara Thompson told the Cougars to keep doing what they were doing.
“We talked about it that we were getting plenty of shot that we needed to keep doing what we were doing,” Thompson said. “Before I could tell them, my wife was already telling them. I told them that we had scored four goals before in a half. We were going to score and there was no doubt about that. I told them that nobody said it was going to be easy.”
After 10 minutes in the second half, Thompson made the decision to swap Hill and Lewis.
“We had been in their end a lot in the second half and it all changed in our favor when I swapped Graham Lewis and Lee Hill,” Thompson said. “Lee slipped through and Gustavo Silva hit him and he knocked it in. That it wasn’t that long when Will Rushing hit Lee on a long shot and we got our second goal. At that point, it seemed like Ripley started to unravel a little bit.”
After the second goal from Hill, the junior standout got his third goal as Rushing hit him on another long shot.
“We have so many guys across the board that can score that the defense can’t mark just one player,” Thompson said. “Lee has 24 goals on the season and teams will try to mark him but that leaves somebody else open. But by adding the two Brazilian players, we have several guys who can score and has made us very tough to defense on offense.”
Newton County 3, New Albany 0
The Cougars went on the road on Saturday and came away with another shutout win as they took down the Bulldogs in second-round playoff action.
Newton County led 1-0 at the half and added two second half goals to take the win.
“I’ve been pleased with how we have been playing, especially on defense and our goalkeeper, Griffin Bailey, have looked good in the playoffs. So, we have been able to keep our opponents out of the nets.”
Graham Lewis had another big night for Newton County as he scored two goals while Davi Roldan added a goal. Lee Hill and Malachi Estes also had assists in the win.
“This team has a knack for finding a way to win soccer games,” Thompson said. “I have been impressed with them team’s grittiness and their ability to just keeping fighting until the final whistle.”
Newton County 7, Raymond 0
The Cougars opened up the Class 4A playoffs as they took a shutout win over the Rangers on Tuesday.
Newton County scored three goals in the first period and four in the second to take the win.
Graham Lewis had a big night with two goals and an assist while Lee Hill had a goal and two assists for the Cougars. Christian Velazquez, Will Rushing Davi Roldan and Tanner Dailey each had goals while Malachi Estes and Samuel Velazquez also had an assist.
