Eagles break through for state title
Oak Mountain broke open a scoreless first half with three second-half goals to beat Auburn 3-0 and claim the Class 7A boys soccer championship in Huntsville on May 9.
The win made it a clean sweep for the school in 7A, coming after the Oak Mountain girls beat Auburn 2-1 in a shootout earlier that day.
It looked as if the boys’ game might be headed to overtime as well. But the Eagles (23-4-1) broke through with goals by Kennedy Davis, Trigg Langner and Clay McDonald after the break to stun Auburn.
Langner was named the most valuable player.
Goalkeeper Ryan Dearman got the shutout with great help from his defenders, as he was credited with no saves.
It is the fifth state championship for the boys program, but the first under second-year coach Dan DeMasters. The Eagles were runners-up last year to Vestavia Hills for the Class 6A title.
The boys also have state championship trophies from 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2011. The Eagles were runners-up not only in 2014 but also the two previous seasons.
“I’m very excited and happy for our team and the hard work, effort focus and passion they put into the preparation for each and every game,” DeMasters said. “We had numerous goals at the beginning of the season, and though we didn’t complete them all, we accomplished the most prized of them all and that was the first-ever 7A state championship”
It also was sweet to reclaim the blue trophy after settling for the red one three years running.
“I think it is always going to be a goal of ours to win a state championship,” DeMasters said, “but I do think that getting second place the past three years has put a bit of a bitter taste in the players’ mouths. Our boys program — including before I even got here v has been in the state championship game the past five years now.
“It’s quite an amazing accomplishment to make it to the championship game for that many years.”
After a scoreless first half, DeMasters didn’t want to let his charges lose focus on the prize.
“Halftime was a pretty spirited speech,” the coach said. “I told our team that we knew both teams were tired from the heat, but I gave them confidence. I reminded them how much we ran to prepare for this moment, I told them that we were the better-fit team and I inspired them to go score the first goal. I told them that if we play with more passion and desire and in addition we score the first goal, we would be state champions.
“In that type of game, the Xs and Os weren’t so much a priority. We pride ourselves on being prepared, and we knew about all the formation and tactics the night before the game. It was the effort, desire and willingness to sacrifice to score the first goal that would help us obtain the result we wanted. Once we scored our first, the rest just followed, but I really thought we had it after we scored our second goal from Trigg Langner. The third goal by Clay McDonald just put the icing on the cake. With five minutes left in the game, I made sure we all started to soak it in because it’s the feeling that all teams want at the end of the season.”
DeMasters praised the entire OMHS organization for the title.
“I really give credit to everyone involved with the program. Administration, parents, fans, managers, assistant coaches, the players … everyone in this organization did what they needed to do to help prepare the players on the field to have success. A car couldn’t run if everything, even the smaller nuts and bolts, didn’t operate correctly. As for the players, we had great underclassmen who stepped up in major roles this year such as Chad Jeter and Kennedy Davis, our back line of four amazing junior defenders [led by Hunter Holstad, Christian Thomason, Chandler Thomason] and all the way up to our three senior captains, Clay McDonald, Hunter Ratliff and Trigg Langner. Each of these players led and stepped up big time in big moments and this is what lifted us to greatness this year.”
Certainly, DeMasters would love a repeat in 2016, but he believes he’s building on something special at Oak Mountain for the long term.
“It is certainly not easy to win a state championship,” DeMasters said. “You can have all the ideas, practice plans and philosophies in the world and not have a winning team. In fact, Oak Mountain has got second three years prior to this, so that is the proof. Every year and every team is different, and you need to have all the pieces clicking or the team won’t be successful.
“My coach when I was younger told me something that I will never forget, and I tell this to all the teams I have coached. You need three things to win a championship; you need skill, you need heart and you need to be darn lucky. I believe that we make our own luck.”