Third time pays for Knights
By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
Feb. 5, 2003
The third time was the charm for West Lauderdale on Monday night as the Knights beat Clarkdale 3-1 in the South State Championship game in Collinsville.
The Bulldogs had beaten West twice this season before the Knights were able to come through with three goals to win the third game between the two schools.
With the win, West Lauderdale will play for the State Championship again. The Knights will play in the championship game on Saturday.
West Lauderdale jumped out on the Bulldogs in the first two minutes of the game. Anthony Thomas took advantage of a Clarkdale mistake to get behind the Bulldog defense. Thomas scored on the one-on-one opportunity to make the score 1-0.
Clarkdale, playing without Justin Culpepper, came back to put pressure on the West Lauderdale defense. Jake Gray had a shot off a free kick go high and wide and the Bulldogs were unable to get a goal.
Clarkdale also had a great chance with about seven minutes left to play in the half. Jonathan Pickett sent a long throw into the box and Jake Gray's header was tipped just over the goal by West Lauderdale keeper Scott Truesdale.
The Knights scored in the first five minutes of the second half to stretch the lead to 2-0. Clay Logan's shot was knocked down in the box and the deflection went to C.J. Fountain. Fountain took a shot from the wing and beat the keeper for the goal.
West Lauderdale looked to take control of the game and had another opportunity minutes later. Christopher Rodgers sent a corner kick into the box and Michael Pogue headed the ball down into a crowd of people. The Knights were unable to get a foot on the ball and Clarkdale did a good job of clearing the ball.
The Bulldogs came back to life with 29 minutes left to play in the game. Gray led a run into the West Lauderdale zone and got the ball over to David Prewitt who dribbled into some space. He ripped a shot from outside the box and beat the keeper to cut the lead down to 2-1.
Clarkdale kept the pressure on and just missed another goal when Ted Thompson sent a free kick into the box. Truesdale brought down the ball by going up over Gray to prevent a goal.
West Lauderdale got some breathing room later in the half as Rodgers scored on a penalty kick with 19 minutes to play to make the score 3-1.
Clarkdale came back down the field and Thompson sent another free kick into the box, but Truesdale came through to punch the ball away. The two teams kept the ball in the middle of the field for the rest of the game with few runs on goal and the Knights took the 3-1 win.
With the win, West Lauderdale improves to 19-4-1. The Bulldogs end their very good season at 16-2.
We just came up a little short tonight. I wish West Lauderdale the best of luck. It's going to take a good team to beat them."
