FC boys soccer shuts out Coffee County for district victory
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The Franklin County High School boys soccer team beat the Coffee County Raiders 4-0 at home Tuesday for the team’s seventh win of the season.
Franklin County created a sizable lead midway through the first half and maintained it for the rest of the day as the defense recorded its fourth shutout of the year.
Franklin County head soccer coach Kent Bean said it wasn’t the most efficient game for his players, but they played well overall.
“When we had our stretches scoring goals, we were moving the ball really well, but we got away from that a little bit more than we really wanted to tonight,” he said. “We were still able to keep control of the game, but we’d ideally like to move the ball a little bit quicker and capitalize off of keeping the majority of the possession there, especially on the attack.”
Franklin County’s first goal of the day came about 20 minutes into the first half as Kevin Hernandez received a pass from Rylan Banks and fired a shot into the back of the net.
Hernandez scored again with 14 minutes left in the period as a shot from Loui Arellano bounced off of the opposing keeper and to his feet with Hernandez then tapping the ball in to make it a 2-0 game.
Franklin County went right back on the attack less than a minute later as Arellano sent a pass across the goal box to Hernandez who scored his third goal of the half and his 13th goal of the season to put the score at 3-0.
Franklin County led 3-0 at halftime.
Franklin County continued to pressure the opposing goal throughout the second half, but the Raiders were able to hold them off for most of the period.
However, Franklin County’s offense would add one more goal with about four minutes remaining as Banks received a pass up the middle from Hernandez, weaved through several defenders and hit the back of the net with a shot for his sixth goal of the season.
The Raiders weren’t able to score in the time remaining as Franklin County secured the win by four.
With the win, Franklin County improved to 7-3 on the season and 4-1 in district play.
FCHS senior defender Matt Waggoner said that the win was exciting, but he and the rest of the team need to remain focused on what’s still to come.
“We need to win against Warren County,” he said, referring to the next game for Franklin County. “We just need to keep up the hard work, and hopefully, we’ll continue to go further.”
The boys soccer team will next play Friday at Warren County High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

