Group Picture ID- The Fannin County High School Rebels boys soccer team was ready to make history Friday evening at the high school football stadium as they hosted a Sweet 16 match against the Fellowship Christian Paladins, the first Sweet 16 appearance in the history of boys soccer. Ready to take on the challengers are, from left, front, Nick Honeycutt, Conner Kyle, Finn Thoresen, Matthew Ponton, Dane Robbins, Turner Michael, Mario Garcia, Brodey Angel, Lucas Bain, Hudson Lynch, and Miller Denton; and, back, Coach Adam Turner, Liam Jones, Daniel Gomez, Gage Bryan, Oscar Alvarez-Garcia, Breven Hennessey, Kian Halpin, Conrad Head, Josh Martinez, Blake Summers, Braxton Cheatham, Manasseh Gomez, William Valla, Gavin Jensen, and Coach Lee Johnson.
The Fannin County Rebels boys soccer team made history last week, the first boys soccer squad from the school to advance to the Sweet 16 round of the State Soccer Championships.
The Rebels had earned the right to play host to the Fellowship Christian Paladins in Blue Ridge.
Fannin County took a 1-0 lead with 22:18 left in the first half off the foot of Miller Denton, but after that the match belonged to the visitors, Fellowship Christian charged back to win 5-1.
The Rebels season came to an end with an 11-7 overall record and an 8-4 mark in the region. The ended regular season play in third place in Region 7AA.
Head coach Lee Johnson was still proud of the team and the way they had played all year long. He described the Rebels as a “high caliber, high octane team with a lot of talent and a lot of desire to win.”
Coming off the best year ever, and looking at the number returned players expected for next year, Johnson anticipates the team will “continue to improve and go farther and farther each time.”
He believes they showed that potential in the match with Landmark Christian, the match securing their spot in the Sweet 16. Their opponents, “Could not handle the caliber of talent that we have,” Johnson said. “We’ve never had this much collective talent at one time.”