Soccer Dawgs gnaw way past Terry, North Pike

Franklin County High School’s varsity soccer programs each claimed a pair of victories last week with the Lady Dawgs downing 6A foe Terry, 2-0, and edging North Pike, 1-0, while the boys’ squad outlasted Terry, 3-2, and slipped past North Pike, 2-1.

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LADY SOCCER DAWGS

FC 2, TERRY 0

Franklin scored a single goal in each of the two halves of their contest at home against Terry High School on Thursday, Dec. 2.

FC’s win helped salve the wounds from a 2-1 loss to the same program in early November during the Loyd Star Tournament.

Kayleigh Bolt scored the Lady Dawgs’ first-half goal on a 30-yard free kick less than halfway through the initial frame.

Then, Kayleigh Foy — with an assist from Morgan Laird — found the net in the contest’s 54th minute to help seal the victory.

Offensively, Franklin County had 28 total shots against Terry with 13 shots on goal as Bolt led the way with six shots and three SOG.

Laird and Karlee Wallace had four shots each and both had two shots on goal for the Lady Dawgs.

Foy and Ashlynn O’Quinn both finished with three shots and two SOG as teammate Brooklynn Cupit recorded three shots and one SOG.

Lilly Hutto and Gre’yone Queen also had two shots apiece with Hutto claiming one SOG. Edniya Gordon had a single shot.

Defensively, Ali Bolt paced the FC effort with a team-high 11 stops with Kayleigh Bolt and Wallace recording seven each.

Amberly Wallace, Kaitlyn Fussell, Cupit and Hutto finished the game with six take-aways each.

Goalkeeper Katherine Romero had seven saves in the shut-out victory.

FC 1, NORTH PIKE 0

The Tuesday, Nov. 30 match-up between the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Jaguars went down to the wire with FC taking the 1-0, last-few-seconds victory.

FC Soccer Head Coach Jeff Long called the road win a “total team effort” by getting the ball into the net with time running out in what had been a scoreless contest.

Cupit was fouled and Kayleigh Bolt blasted the subsequent free kick toward the center of the goal.

“That’s where several Lady Dawgs’ attackers created a difficult catch for the North Pike goalkeeper,” Long said. “After a battle for the loose ball, Laird, Karlee Wallace, O’Quinn and Cupit were among the group fighting for the ball, which ended up in the goal for the game winner.”

Long characterized Kayleigh Bolt’s free kick as a perfect volley toward the net and proved to be the difference in the affair.

Laird was credited with the goal while Kayleigh Bolt earned the assist.

In all, FC had 27 offensive shots with 10 shots on goal.

Kayleigh Bolt led the way with six shots and three SOG and Laird attempted five shots with two SOG.

O’Quinn, Cupit, Foy, Hutto and Karlee Wallace all had one shot on goal in the outing.

Defensively, Ali Bolt paced the effort with 11 of her team’s 79 stops in the contest while Fussell and Karlee Wallace had nine take-aways each and Kayleigh Bolt finished with eight.

Amberly Wallace and Cupit finished with seven stops apiece.

Romero and Amberly Wallace split time in the keepers’ role with the former collecting eight saves and the shut-out win while the latter had a single save.

The wins boosted the FC girls’ soccer program to 6-4 on the season.

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SOCCER DAWGS

FC 3, TERRY 2

The Soccer Dawgs pounded out three goals at home in the first 40 minutes of regulation Thursday, Dec. 2 and ultimately held Terry to a pair of goals in the second half to claim a 3-2 win.

FC’s scoring came on shots by Zachary Kent, Nathan Griffin and Keyundre Felton before the midgame break.

The Bulldogs had 24 shots against Terry with 10 shots on goal as Griffin led the way with six total shots and three SOG while teammate Jamari Tolliver recorded five shots and two SOG.

Kent along with Kolby Cox accounted for three shots each with one SOG apiece. Felton and Mason Emfinger had two shots with one SOG each.

Xavien Felton had a single shot and SOG against Terry.

On defense, FC bagged a total of 70 stops with Kent collecting 10 of those while Kennon Johnson finished with nine and Terrance Fields wound up with eight.

Colton Shaw and Drew Mullins ended their night with seven stops each.

Goalkeeper Dakota Chisholm earned the win with eight saves to his credit while surrendering two second-half goals to Terry.

FC 2, NORTH PIKE 1

Griffin scored two goals with the assistance of Tolliver to power Franklin County past North Pike on the road Tuesday, Nov. 30.

In the first half, Griffin hit from 15 yards out after taking a feed from Tolliver for the early score.

Tolliver fed Griffin again late in the game with the latter finding the net from 25 yards out to break open what had been a 1-all tie between the two teams.

Against North Pike, FC had 24 shots and nine shots on goal — with Griffin accounting for eight and four, respectively.
Tolliver accounted for six shots and two shots on goal while Cox, Emfinger, and Fields each had one SOG.

Defensively, Franklin County’s Kent and Johnson had a team-high 11 stops each while the team, as a whole, had 83.

Shaw, Mullins and Fields each had nine take-aways with Emfinger chipping in seven and Xavien Felton and Griffin contributing five apiece.

Chisholm and Keyundre Felton worked in front of the net with the former recording four saves while the latter was credited with three saves in the first half.

Franklin County’s Soccer Dawgs presently sport a 5-2-3 record on the season.

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UPCOMING GAMES

The Franklin County High School soccer programs were slated to return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at Brookhaven. Results of those contests were not available at press time and will appear in next week’s newspaper.

On Thursday, Dec. 9, the Soccer Dawgs are slated to play host to Wesson with junior varsity boys action starting at 5 p.m., followed by varsity girls at 6 p.m., and varsity boys at 7:15 p.m.

FC will host Bogue Chitto on Monday, Dec. 13 with the JV boys starting things at 4 and the varsity teams taking the field at 5 and 6:15 p.m.

On Tuesday, Dec. 14, the Soccer Dawgs will welcome Loyd Star with JV girls kicking off at 4:30 p.m., and varsity squads playing at 5:30 and 7:15 p.m.

West Lincoln comes calling on FC on Thursday, Dec. 16 — the last game before the Christmas break — with all JV and varsity teams playing. Action is set to begin at 4 p.m., at the Dawg House.

Following the holiday break, Franklin County’s soccer programs return to play on Tuesday, Jan. 4 at Wesson.