Eleven minutes into Friday’s game, things looked bleak for White Hall.
It didn’t last as the White Hall boys’ soccer team came from behind to rout rival Sheridan 7-2 at Bulldog Stadium.
White Hall coach Jacob Brown said he was surprised to see his team give up two early goals.
“We always come out, and we show great intensity in the first half,” Brown said. “But today, we just couldn’t get out of a little funk. We’ve been two days without a game, so just didn’t have any intensity… We just kept battling.”
Sheridan (3-11-1, 2-11-1 in 5A South) scored two goals in just over a minute to take an early 2-0 lead on the road but couldn’t hold it.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
White Hall (9-8-1, 9-6-1) rallied to take the lead before halftime, then scored four goals in the first eight minutes of the second half to pull away, including three from Payam Garner.
Garner said the Bulldogs may have come into the game a little overconfident, but their first goal helped them get back into the game.
“I feel like once we got that first goal with the penalty, I feel like that’s when the energy started,” Garner said. “Also, the fact that we have so much great chemistry. It’s kind of rough that it took us two goals to get there, but again, it was our sheer determination.”
White Hall dominated possession for the first 10 minutes as Sheridan was called offside four times, but the Yellowjackets finally got behind the defense as Jayden Beeson went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and gave Sheridan a 1-0 lead with 30:37 to play in the first half.
Just over a minute later, Sheridan doubled its lead when Koen Wise buried a corner kick from Jordan Vang.
That 2-0 edge lasted until White Hall won a penalty kick with 12:03 left in the half. Reece Thorton stepped up and slotted home to cut the deficit in half. A few minutes later, Maurice McNealy threaded a pass through the Sheridan defense to Denilson Hernandez, who scored to tie the game.
The Bulldogs then took a 3-2 lead with 1:55 left in the first half when freshman Irfan Rohan scored on a free kick from Thorton. That score held until halftime.
Brown said that was Rohan’s first varsity goal.
“He’s kind of been getting some JV minutes, but he definitely has been showing up and showing out,” Brown said. “That’s why we wanted to reward him with some playing time. Thank God he was able to just knock one in.”
White Hall put the game out of reach in the first eight minutes of the second half. Garner scored his third hat trick of the season entirely during this span with Hernandez scoring his second goal.
With this win, White Hall is 5-0-1 in its past six games.
Girls: Sheridan 3, White Hall 1
The Sheridan girls’ soccer team didn’t flinch after giving up the lead Friday, recovering to top White Hall on the road.
Sheridan (6-6-1, 5-6-1 in 5A South) took the lead quickly on a curling shot from Olivia Jablonski in the third minute of the game. White Hall withstood a sustained push by the Lady Jackets before equalizing on a rare foray into Sheridan territory. Landrie Kizer scored on a long-range shot from outside the box to tie the match at 1 with 26:57 remaining in the first half.
Lady Jackets coach Carson Ayers said his team started the game well.
“When you score a goal in soccer, it’s the hardest thing to do,” Ayers said. “To do that in the first three minutes of the game, it makes it a lot easier. Gave up one right after that, but we kept fighting and kept getting opportunities, and eventually, we capitalized on them.”
It took Sheridan just over five minutes to reclaim the lead. The Lady Jackets won a free kick two yards outside of the penalty area, then Jablonski fired the ball toward the net. It banged around between White Hall’s goalkeeper and Sheridan’s Reagan Kidd before finally leaking across the goal line just enough to be ruled a goal.
White Hall (4-11-2, 1-9-2) goalkeeper Brooklyn Powell made four saves in the final 13 minutes of the first half, but one of those bounced right to Sheridan’s Haven Rhoden, who made it 3-1 with 9:54 remaining in the half.
Ayers said he loved how his team responded after White Hall tied the game.
“You can easily drop your heads, but our girls didn’t,” Ayers said. “They just immediately fought right back, got another opportunity, created chances and scored them.”
The second half was shortened to 30 minutes with a running clock, an attempt to beat the forecasted evening storms. Neither team scored as Sheridan held on to win.