Demopolis soccer on its way to best season in program history

Published 6:49 pm Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Demopolis High School soccer head coach Keith Jackson looks on as members of his team practice Tuesday afternoon in preparation for Friday’s game against Cottage Hill.

Demopolis High School soccer head coach Keith Jackson looks on as members of his team practice Tuesday afternoon in preparation for Friday’s game against Cottage Hill.

The Demopolis High School soccer team is having one of the best seasons in the history of the program this year.

The team is currently 6-5-1 overall and 4-0 in their region with no region games left remaining. This is the first time the Tigers have placed first in their region, and it will also be the first time they host a playoff game after the season.

Head coach Keith Jackson said his team is young, with only two seniors, but they are playing well despite their youth.

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“We have played above expectations to this point,” Jackson said. “This group has a lot of talent and ability; we just have to bring that out. We have games where we will show up and look phenomenal, then the next game we’ll look like we’ve never played soccer before.”

Jackson said the game that really showed him the team was growing up was on March 2 against 6A opponent Robertsdale High School.

“We fell down by two to them early, and in previous years, if we fell behind, we would end up losing by five or six,” he said, “but we battled back and forced a tie. We grew up in that match. It built a lot of confidence for the team.”

He added that they have played a tough schedule so far with some tough tournaments against good teams, and it has helped the team improve.

“Without the tournaments we’ve played in, we would be 5-0-1 right now,” Jackson said, “but those tournaments were against good competition and gave us a lot of valuable experience.”

The Tigers were supposed to be in a five-team region, but Chilton County and Pleasant Grove were not able to get the numbers together to field a team, so they are only in a region with Central High School and Paul Bryant High School.

If Demopolis is able to come out of the season with a winning record, it will be their fifth consecutive season of doing so.

The Tigers’ next game is scheduled for Friday against Cottage Hill Christian at home, but Jackson said they might be able to get enough referees for the game.