Back-to-back: Clinton pulls out 2-1 slug-fest with Brandon to clinch 2023 MHSAA 6A Soccer Championship

Hayden Thomas scored two goals to lead the Arrows to a repeat championship

Author:
Tyler Cleveland, SBLive Sports
Publish date:
Feb 4, 2023 10:41 PM EST

RIDGELAND — Clinton got two goals from star senior Hayden Thomas and held on for a 2-1 victory to clinch the 2023 MHSAA Class 6A Soccer Championship Saturday at the Ridgeland’s Lee Boozer Athletic Complex.

The championship was the second in as many years for the Arrows (21-0-1), who put the finishing touches on an undefeated season with he win.

“We knew Brandon was going to be a good team,” Thomas said. “We knew we both wanted it, but we wanted it more tonight.”

Thomas and the Arrows were aggressive from the start. The Clinton attack kept Brandon’s defense busy in the first half, relentlessly applying pressure with a dozen shots on the goal in the first 25 minutes.

But the Brandon defense held, and the two teams went into the half in a scoreless tie.

Just two minutes into the second half, the Arrows were applying pressure again when Brandon was called for a handball inside its own box, giving Thomas a shot at a penalty kick. The senior buried it into the right corner to give Clinton the 1-0 lead.

The way the Arrows were playing on defense, it felt like a huge moment.

“We felt like we should have been up at halftime,” Clinton coach Tyler Wade said. “Maybe we were pressing a little bit too much and not producing good chances… but we’ve been good at finishing on defense. We didn’t allow more than one goal in a game all year, so we had the confidence to go out and finish the game.”

And finish the Arrows did, but not before Thomas added his second goal of the game. In the 66th minute, Thomas got past a defender at the top of the box and drilled a shot to the left side of the goal. The Brandon keeper got a hand on it, but it wasn’t enough to keep it from swishing into the back of the net.

The 2-0 lead didn’t last long — Brandon’s Nygel Jobe put Brandon on the board just two minutes later with a shot past the out-stretched arms of Clinton keeper Jesus Estrada to cut the Clinton lead to 2-1.

Estrada, who relieved starting keeper Caleb Pemberton at the half as he had throughout the playoffs, made up for the goal later in the game. As Brandon was furiously trying to score in the final moments of the game, Estrada dove onto a loose ball like a hand grenade and saved what looked like a sure goal for the Bulldogs.

“We’ve been rotating those guys (in the goal) throughout the playoffs,” Wade said. “They have both been so good down the stretch, and they both deserve to play. Plus, playing two keepers its like, once your 40 minutes are up, you’ve done your job, so it’s a little easier on both of them.”

The loss was the third of the season for Brandon (17-3-1). The Bulldogs had dominated in their three-game march through 6A South, beating St. Martin 6-0, Biloxi 2-1 and Gulfport 2-0 to reach Saturday’s championship game.

“Brandon is a great team,” Wade said. “They deserved to be here and it was a great game.”