In a three-way tie for the Class 5A Area 6 title — it was the Holtville boys soccer team that came out on top.
Despite back-to-back losses to Elmore County, including an overtime loss on Tuesday, the title depended solely on Holtville’s game against Brew Tech. Holtville had already taken a win over Brew Tech earlier in the area slate, and in the final area game jumped out to a 2-1 lead and held on to come out on top to bring the school its first area title in seven years.
“It means a lot to our guys to win the area that hadn't been done since 2018,” Holtville boys soccer coach Luke Fussell said. “It means a lot to our guys to host as well, because you get a better seed (in the playoffs).”
Fussell keyed on a shift in his team’s mindset leading to the area title. Earlier in the season if the Bulldogs held the lead, they flipped to the defensive instead of extending their lead. Now, with a home playoff game against Demopolis set for this Friday, Fussell wants to see his team go on a full-fledged attack for the entire game.
“I need to see us attack for 80 minutes,” Fussell said. “Our Achilles heel is when we go up, we get more of a defensive mindset, which allows the other team to have more shots on goal. And as you know, things go south when the other team has more shots on goal.”
Holtville knows it’ll be in for a test against Demopolis, obviously because it's the playoffs. Fussell knows it won’t just be a high-stakes matchup for his group and that Demopolis will also give its all in the game.
“I'm expecting a team that's athletic to play hard, and they have a couple players that are some difference makers and I'm expecting them to give us their best game,” Fussell said. “Obviously, it's the playoffs, but I believe that if our guys play to our potential, we should take care of business. But, you know how it is with playoffs; anybody on any given day. So I'm just hoping that we can get ready by Friday and just put everybody in a good opportunity to be successful.”
Fussell expects it to be a hard-fought game, and even in the face of adversity, he knows his team will fight to come out on top.
“I'm just so proud of them win, lose or draw, because not only do they play hard, but they play hard when things don't go their way,” Fussell said. “And as a coach in high school sports, you can't really ask for anything more than that, for a team to not just play hard, but to continue to play hard even when things don't go your way. That's life too, trying to respond to adversity. It's a challenge, but I just couldn't be more proud of this group of guys. They're really, really outstanding. They're not just outstanding athletes, they're outstanding student-athletes.”
