By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

The Morgan County High School varsity soccer teams had their first region games last Friday night against Elbert County and came out with wins. The boys stayed on top of Elbert 3-1, and the girls managed a spectacular 10-0 shutout to begin region play.
Yes, we’re still talking about soccer here.
Morgan County’s ten goals in a single game reads more like a baseball score than soccer, where the totals usually aren’t that high, but Morgan County’s girls’ soccer team managed that exact score three times last season as well.
Susanna Peppers and Holly Peppers, the leading scorers against Elbert had four goals apiece against the Blue Devils, while Regina Scheib and Anslyn Stamps each managed to earn a goal as well.
 “MCHS passed great and communicated really well on the field,” said girls’ soccer coach Jessica Ward. “The team is extremely excited to start off the region schedule with a good win.”
The boys’ victory over Elbert County came in the face of several challenges surrounding the match.
“The drive up in and of itself is an exhausting one, and once we arrived, we were met with a much improved squad over what we had typically run into in the past from the Blue Devils,” began boys’ coach Brandon York. “We had a number of opportunities, but we settled for poor angled shots, and relied too frequently on one on one chances.  We enjoyed a 2-0 lead at half, but realized that we would need to ratchet up things at the half. 
“We re-entered the match with renewed intensity and put in a third goal.  Elbert added a late goal, to trim the deficit to 3-1.  One of our men of the match was our keeper Jack LeClair--who has seen a bit of action here and there, typically in a supporting role, but tonight was our only available keeper.”
Similarly, Coach York was glad to begin the region schedule with a good point from which the team could kick off.
“Escaping with a win and no injuries in a region match is always a positive, and that evening was no exception.”
The Morgan County Middle School’s soccer program split this week, with the girls’ team going 2-0 in games against Putnam and Henderson while the boys’ team went 0-2.
Tristan Sewell was the lone scorer for Morgan County in a 2-1 loss against Putnam Middle School last Wednesday. Saturday, the boy’s team suffered a 1-0 loss in Jackson County against Henderson Middle School.
The girls’ 5-0 win over Putnam was accompanied by a 4-2 victory over Henderson Middle later in the week. 
The MCMS teams will be playing today at home against Greene County beginning at 4:30, and the varsity teams will play at home tomorrow as well at 5:30 against Hart County. Following these games, these teams will have a week off before resuming play on March 19, when the varsity team will play East Jackson at home.

Printed in the March 7, 2013 edition