After Todd County Central and Franklin-Simpson split a pair of hard-fought regular-season matches, it stood to reason that separating the teams in Thursday’s 13th-District championship at Logan County High School would take something special.
Unfortunately for the Rebels, Franklin-Simpson’s Preston Davis provided the magic moment with a rocket free kick for the match’s only goal.
With a sloppy field and two defenses allowing less than a goal and a half a game, scoring chances were hard to come by throughout the match. The Wildcats had the best of the opening exchanges, forcing a pair of saves from goalkeeper Ric Garcia-Spears and firing a shot just wide inside the first ten minutes.
Charlie Campbell’s shot was saved from close range for the Rebels’ best chance of the half, but Franklin-Simpson answered with the decisive moment. Davis’ 30-yard free kick went off Garcia-Spears’ fingertips and banged in off the bottom of the crossbar for a 1-0 score with just over ten minutes left until the break.
Chasing their first district title since 2012 and hoping to avenge a 2-1 double-overtime loss to the Wildcats in last season’s final, the Rebels pushed hard for an equalizer over the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Todd’s Ivan Lopez got behind the defense off a long ball, and his shot was deflected to Campbell in the box, but his attempt on goal sailed over the bar. Three straight Rebel corner kicks had the Franklin-Simpson on the ropes, but the Wildcat defense maintained the shutout.
With minutes ticking off the clock, the teams traded scoring opportunities when Peyton Martin hit the crossbar for Franklin and Tanner Henderson fired wide for the Rebels. With less than five minutes to play, Todd’s Chris Salazar saw his free kick pushed over the bar by Wildcat goalkeeper Kaden Goodwin, followed by a diving save on Chi Herrera’s effort in the final moments.
Garcia-Sears made nine saves to keep Todd Central within striking distance, and Goodwin made three stops to earn Franklin-Simpson’s seventh shutout.
Both teams advance to next week’s 4th Region tournament. After falling in last season’s district final, the Rebels bounced back to knock off Russell County, while the Wildcats were 2-0 winners over Glasgow in the opening round.
