BULLDOGS AT REGIONALS TODAY | Kilgore faces W-H at 11 in Tyler; two wins sends ‘Dogs to state

Kilgore's Diego Rojas (left) controls the ball against Jacksonville, a game the Bulldogs won on Tuesday. Kilgore (23-2-2) faces Wilmer-Hutchins (19-3) in the UIL Class 4A Region II Tournament at 11 a.m. Friday at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler. The season is over for the losing team; the winners advance to Saturday's regional final to face either Palestine or Panther Creek. (Photo by DENNIS JACOBS - ETBLITZ.COM) — Kilgore’s Diego Rojas (left) controls the ball against Jacksonville, a game the Bulldogs won on Tuesday. Kilgore (23-2-2) faces Wilmer-Hutchins (19-3) in the UIL Class 4A Region II Tournament at 11 a.m. Friday at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler. The season is over for the losing team; the winners advance to Saturday’s regional final to face either Palestine or Panther Creek. (Photo by DENNIS JACOBS – ETBLITZ.COM)

Kilgore High School soccer will play on familiar ground today.

Coach Hector Peralez’s Bulldogs are back in the University Interscholastic League Class 4A Region II Tournament on Friday, at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.

Kilgore (23-2-2 on the season), winners of three playoff games in the 4A postseason, will face Wilmer-Hutchins at 11 a.m.

For tickets, go to https://www.tylerisd.hometownticketing.com/embed/all.

Or for anyone who can’t go but would like to watch a streaming online broadcast of the game, you can go to www.nfhsnetwork.com, although there will be a charge. Check the Kilgore Boys Soccer Booster Club page before you pay that fee – often, a broadcast with no charge will be posted there.

The other game at regionals on Friday pits Palestine (25-4 this season) against Panther Creek (17-8) at 1:30 p.m.

The losers are out of the playoffs. The winners will meet back at Rose Stadium on Saturday for the regional championship – and that champion will represent Region II at the state tournament at Birkelbach Stadium in Georgetown on April 10.

Four teams – the champions from each of the four regions – play in the 4A girls and boys semifinals that day to decide who’ll go to the state championship games. The 4A boys state championship game is Friday, April 12 at 2:30 p.m.

Kilgore’s last trip to the state tournament was 2017 – and they won it all.

The Bulldogs are used to winning. They’ve won an unbelievable 16 straight district championships.

In the playoffs so far, Kilgore shut out Lufkin Hudson, 3-0, at Kilgore’s own home stadium, R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium.

Then, they hosted Lindale, and won that, too, a lot closer, 3-2.

But in round three, the regional quarterfinals, Kilgore had its biggest win of the season to date, beating Jacksonville, 1-0, in Henderson, the top-ranked team in the state poll before the playoffs.

Wilmer-Hutchins comes into the regional tournament with a 19-3 overall record, and has beaten Williams Prep, Gainesville, and Nevada Community along the way, winning each of those by only one-goal margin (3-2, 1-0, and 3-2, respectively).

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