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By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It’s not always easy being the top seed.
Kickapoo overcame an early deficit Thursday night en route to a 2-1 victory over Central in the Class 4, District 9 championship.
Playing in front of a boisterous home crowd at Harrison Stadium, the Bulldogs came into the match determined to play the spoiler role.
Just ten minutes into the match, Gerardo Botello collected a deflection in front of the Kickapoo net and punched home the game’s first score.
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While the early deficit certainly cranked up the pressure for Kickapoo, it wasn’t an unfamiliar place for head coach Phil Hodge. The Chiefs ran the gauntlet this season, with games against perennial contenders Rockhurst, CBC and Lee’s Summit West.
“We’ve seen the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 team in the state,” Hodge said. “Our guys are battle-tested and have been in these pressure moments before.”
Battle-tested proved to be a fitting description, as the Chiefs wasted little time answering Central’s early goal.
In the 17th minute, Kickapoo’s Derrick Myers won a scrum in front of the Bulldog goal box. The junior reserve midfielder gathered a Jaxon Riddle deflection and drove home the equalizer.
“Coach just told me to go out there and work as hard as I can for as long as I could,” Myers said. “I got the moment of a lifetime that came right to me. I took a touch and blasted it lower-left corner.“
Hodge praised Myers’ ability to come off the bench and perform on a big stage.
“Derrick Myers, off the bench for us, gets limited minutes … came in, had an opportunity and made the most of it,” Hodge said. “That’s what this time of year is about — finding somebody to make a play.”
Kickapoo’s first-half fireworks weren’t quite finished.
In the 30th minute, Ian Hansen collected a post deflection and blasted it into the net for what turned out to be a game-winning goal for the Chiefs.
“He was deep on the end line,” Hodge said. “Most of the time, when we’re there, we like to just play a simple ball across and let somebody run onto it. Ian just made a play, and as a senior captain, that’s what we ask of those guys.”
The second half started out much like the first, with Central seizing a scoring opportunity in the early minutes.
This time, Kickapoo goalkeeper Jacob Holman was there to make the save.
Both teams traded opportunities, with the Chiefs continuing to control the possession game and pressure Central’s back line.
Rather than shift to a defensive mode and utilize maximum protection, Hodge continued to press forward.
“Honestly, I didn’t think 2-1 was going to hold up. I thought we needed the one more, so we weren’t just going to sit in and play defensive. We wanted to get one more.”
Were it not for the exceptional second-half play from Central goalkeeper Jack Ellerbee, Kickapoo could have had its one more … and then some.
Despite the difficult loss, Central head coach Christine Welch couldn’t help but smile when describing the senior’s performance.
“Jack is … he’s an odd duck,” Welch said. “He does what he wants, when he wants to do it, and he was fired up. He was just on fire today to be everywhere; every single place that the ball was going to be. He was screaming at halftime, so we knew coming out of halftime, that he was going to be all over it.”
For Central (17-6), the season also marks the end of an exceptional, four-year run from a strong senior class.
“You fight so hard, and you want so many things for them, and they want it too … some things just don’t go your way,” Welch said. “Just 13 great kids that, for four years, have been through this. They’ve won a district, they wanted it back and they pushed their teammates to want it equally as bad.”
Next up for Kickapoo (19-7) is a Nov. 1 sectional matchup against District 10 champion Ozark. The winner of that game squares off against the Rock Bridge and Lees Summit West winner in the quarterfinals.
