OH, YEAH! | Kilgore outlasts Jacksonville in soccer playoff thriller; headed to regionals Friday

The 2024 Kilgore High School Bulldogs soccer team, moments after defeating Jacksonville in the UIL Class 4A Region II quarterfinals, earning a spot in the regional tournament Friday at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler. Kilgore beat Jacksonville, the number one team in the state, 1-0 on Tuesday night at Henderson ISD Lions Stadium, and will face Wilmer-Hutchins on Friday at 11 a.m. at Rose Stadium. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – ETBLITZ.COM)

HENDERSON – The number one boys soccer team in the state of Texas is now out of the UIL Class 4A playoffs, courtesy of the Kilgore Bulldogs.

Kilgore, playing Jacksonville at Henderson ISD Lions Stadium, scored in the first half, then had to withstand one shot after another, after another, after another in the second half, in order to hold off the Indians, 1-0 on a goal by Adan Reyes, and advance to the UIL 4A Region II Tournament at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium on Friday.

The Bulldogs, led by coaches Hector Peralez and Mason McCormack, will face Wilbur-Hutchins at 11 a.m. in the regional semifinals. If they’re able to get by WH, Kilgore will advance to the regional finals.

A win there means a return trip to the UIL State Soccer Tournament at Georgetown’s Birkelbach Stadium next week.

Jacksonville (with a finished record of 22-5-1 this season) shouldn’t have been an easy opponent, and boy, they weren’t.

The game was physical from the get-go, with an official warning players from both teams after an early-game collision.

Intensity was high for the first half, with both teams missing a handful of shots on goal, but also a lot of wild shots, especially by Jacksonville, a team that had outscored playoff opponents 6-0 in two previous playoff games.

Finally, with 10:58 left in the half, Reyes got the ball past Indians keeper Davy Smith, 1-0 Kilgore.

A flurry in front of Kilgore’s goal just a minute later saw KHS goalkeeper Chris Martinez lay out, hit the ground and slap a ball away.

In the second half, Martinez had six saves between the 28-minute and 21-minute mark, about a save a minute, although it seemed at times like Jacksonville was playing with more than one ball.

A near miss by Jacksonville’s Karol Cardenas off a corner kick with 2:45 left saw some Indians players fall to the ground in frustration, and Kilgore fans audibly breathe a sign of relief – Kilgore was the visiting team for the game, and the visiting stands at Henderson’s stadium are much, much smaller. Kilgore didn’t pack the stands, but came close.

Diego Rojas, with 48 seconds remaining and the ball near midfield, booted the ball right down the Indians’ sideline. As luck would have it, the ball went out far downfield, probably 80 yards away from the Kilgore goal. By the time Jacksonville got the ball back into play, they only had 40 seconds left.

They drove the length of the field and Kilgore had to outlast one last rally. Finally, with eight seconds left, the ball was kicked far enough downfield that the Indians couldn’t get off a realistic shot, and time was up on the Indians’ 2024 season.

Kilgore has a 23-2-2 record, and it’s the first trip to regionals in a couple of seasons, since the 2022 season, after the ‘Dogs were upended by Palestine  in the playoffs in a meeting between two highly-ranked teams a year ago.

At the regional semifinal round on Friday, Kilgore will meet Wilmer Hutchins (19-5), who defeated Nevada Community in their third-round playoff game to earn the spot in regionals against the Bulldogs.

Also still in it for this region: Palestine, Chapel Hill, Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy and Panther Creek. Palestine was to face Chapel Hill on Tuesday night and Oak Cliff was to meet Panther Creek.

Kilgore, this season, has a win over Oak Cliff – 3-2, back on Jan. 12, in tournament play.

And of course, the Bulldogs are never a stranger to Chapel Hill or Palestine. Kilgore and Palestine soccer programs have had some knock-down, drag-out wars in the last decade – they’ve been two of the “it” programs in 4A for quite a while.

In 2022, Kilgore had eliminated Palestine, but lost to Celina in the regional tournament. The previous year (2021), KHS lost to Pittsburg, and the year before that (2020), everyone’s season was ended early by COVID-19.

The Bulldogs’ last trip to the state tournament, where they have been semi-regularly since 2010, was the season they won it all, the 2017 state championship. Kilgore, then coached by Austin Walker, finished the season with a 23-5-2 record and state champions.

That brings up an interesting topic.176-36-14, under previous coach Tom Wait, now retired, and Peralez, himself a former Bulldog, in his first season as head coach after serving as Wait’s assistant.

The current class of Kilgore seniors is 98-14-6, meaning they could record win No. 100 as a class if they win both games at this weekend’s regional tournament and send themselves to Georgetown for a chance at a second state title.