Northwest Whitfield's Fabian Navarro (14) controls the ball as teammate Huriel Guzman looks for a pass. Baylor's Anthony Weekly (4) attempts to defend in a match between the opposing state champions played at the Red Raiders' pitch Tuesday evening. The Bruins from Georgia edged Baylor, 3-2.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Reigning Tennessee Division II-AA state champions Baylor High School hosted the defending Georgia 4A state champions, Northwest Whitfield High School, in a mouth-watering matchup on Tuesday.
Baylor jumped out to an early lead when sophomore forward Kevin Ho accidentally found the back of the net. His untouched cross caught NW Whitfield’s keeper off guard and gave Baylor a 1-0 lead.
Not long after the opening goal, the Red Raiders doubled their lead off of a corner kick. Senior, Andrew Hill buried his opportunity off a well-delivered cross.
The Bruins clawed their way back into the game late in the first half with the help of sophomore playmaker Anthony Ramirez. Ramirez touched a ball through for fellow sophomore, Fabian Navarro, who scampered away from defenders before chipping the Baylor keeper to cut the lead in half,
Minutes later, NW Whitfield tied the match. Ramirez was instrumental again as he beat Baylor’s outside back for pace and provided the assist to sophomore midfielder Sergio Soria.
The second half was a tug-of-war with momentum shifts every couple of minutes. Everyone knew this match would have a winner.
Navarro would get on the scoresheet again when he showcased his ball control and creativity to dribble past a couple of Red Raiders before slotting his left-footed shot into the bottom right corner. After the goal he performed the famous corner flag KO celebration. His goal did indeed knockout Baylor and capped off an incredible comeback.
NW Whitfield head coach Ryan Scoggins was pleased with his young team’s result and hopes that they stay focused on winning another state title.
“I think Pat Riley summed it up well, he called it the ‘disease of more’. Everyone wants more, but they do less.” said Scoggins.
The Bruins will look to keep the momentum going as they play SW Whitfield in the region championship on Friday.
Baylor left the match feeling disappointed as this is the second straight game that the Red Raiders have jumped out to an early lead and then let the opponent back into it. Head coach Curtis Blair has a solution to the problem.
“Our mentality has got to be, once we get on someone, we’ve got to put them away,” said Blair. “We need to work on defensive organization, specifically, the midfielders need to get better pressure on the ball to prevent (the opponent’s) service.”
Baylor will look to bounce back on Thursday as they travel to Nashville to take on Father Ryan High School.