Soccer Dawgs stand at 7-0 after knocking off Loyd Star, Wesson

Franklin County’s varsity boys soccer team picked up two more district wins last week — edging Loyd Star, 2-1, on Thursday, Jan. 12 and shutting out Wesson, 4-0, on Monday, Jan. 10.

While the victories lifted the Soccer Dawgs to 14-0-2 on the regular season, they also elevated the squad to a 7-0 mark in Mississippi High School Activities Association Class I District 7 play with only three games remaining in this year’s campaign.

FC 2, LOYD STAR 1

Loyd Star’s Cooper Creel launched a rocket less than a minute into last Thursday’s contest at the Dawg House and put the visiting Hornets up by a 1-0 margin that would hold through intermission and into the early part of the second half.

“Our play to start the game was uninspiring,” FC Head Soccer Coach Jeff Long said in regards to the game noting the loss of starters Zachary Kent and Landon Furlow earlier in the current season.

“We turned to the bench for a much-needed spark with freshman Parker Cupit and sophomores Timmy Hutto and Max Turner coming in and providing the lift we needed.”

Hutto tied the contest following a timely cross by junior forward Jamari Tolliver and, in the process, was able to edge through the Loyd Star defense to find the net.

With time running out, Tolliver collected his second assist of the night on a free kick that junior defender Mason Emfinger was able to punch in for Franklin County’s game winning goal.

As a whole, the Soccer Dawgs had 18 shots and seven shots on goal against the Hornets with Tolliver setting the pace as he collected four shots and two SOG.

Jaquez Anderson and Xavien Felton accounted for three shots and one shot on goal apiece while Terrence Fields finished with two shots and one SOG and Emfinger and Hutto combined for a shot and SOG each.

Additionally on offense, Kolby Cox had three shots and Preston Cupit recorded one shot.

Franklin County’s defense made 69 stops in the contest with Emfinger, Chris Carraway and Preston Cupit credited with eight each. Cox and Fields had seven take-aways each.

Others on the defensive tally sheet with stops included: Xavien Felton, Parker Jordan, Keyundre Felton and Drew Mullins, five apiece; Tolliver, four; Anderson, three; and Turner and Hutto, two each.

Dakota Chisholm went the distance as goalkeeper and recorded five saves.

“I’m proud of the guys who came off the bench and took advantage of their opportunity,” Long said. “This was truly a team win.”

FC 4, WESSON 0

The Soccer Dawgs led from start to finish last Tuesday against the visiting Cobras with FC scoring twice in the first half and twice more after intermission.

Tolliver and Anderson had two goals each in the outing as Xavien Felton and Keyundre Felton added two and one assists, respectively.

“It was good to see the guys finish opportunities,” Long said. “We struggled a little bit with possession early in the game, but settled down and things started to open up more for the attack. Tolliver and Anderson played with a lot of energy up top and it paid off.

“Also, Keyundre Felton was a big time boost for us as he had a tough assignment on a talented and quick player that had scored twice on us when we last played Wesson. He did a great job of slowing his opponent down and limiting opportunities.”

FC had 36 shots against the Cobras with 17 shots on goal as Tolliver paced the initiative with seven shots and four SOG and Anderson finished with six shots and three SOG.

Xavien Felton and Terrence Fields both had five shots and two shots on goal while Cox added four shots and two SOG.

Emfinger and Hutto wound up with two shots and one SOG each as Keyundre Felton and Caden Tyson both added a shot and SOG.

Additionally, Mason Orr, Parker Cupit and Turner had a single shot each.

Defensively, Franklin had an impressive 89 stops against Wesson with Carraway setting the pace with 10 while Cox and Preston Cupit collected nine apiece.

Other take-aways were made by Keyundre Felton, eight; Fields, eight; Emfinger, seven; Mullins, seven; Jordan, six; Xavien Felton, six; Tolliver, four; Anderson, three; Kyle Walker, two; Parker Cupit, two; Peyton Touchstone, two; Alex Scott, one; Tyson, one; Carson Laird, one; Orr, one; Turner, one; and Hutto, one.

Chisholm earned another shut-out with four saves for FC.