by MARK CAUL
Hays keeper Ian Allison makes a diving save and then dodges leaping Lobo Fernando Mercado in the Rebels’ 3-0 win over Lehman. The game included a melee in which officials handed out multiple yellow cards and two red cards. (Photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
If you think the Hays-Lehman high school rivalry isn’t intense, then you probably weren’t among the several hundred spectators at Shelton Stadium Friday evening.
Despite the fact the Lobos and Rebels played on a chilly night, things got quite heated on the field.
In a high octane contest in which play had to be stopped because of a major altercation between the two teams, the Rebels used a relentless defense to blank Lehman 3-0 and move into second place in the District 51-4A standings.
It was the second Hays win over Lehman this district season after the Rebs had only beaten the Lobos once in league play the previous three years combined.
After Hays forward Joe Garcia opened the scoring two minutes into the contest to give the Rebels an early 1-0 lead, the game took a wild turn with 16 minutes and 55 seconds left in the first half.
That’s when Hays junior forward Parker Thornton made an aggressive charge on a Lehman player. Once Thornton stood up, Lehman’s Oscar Martinez came from behind the play and charged after him, throwing several punches. The fireworks began as both teams charged each other and went at it for several minutes as punches continued to fly from players from both squads.
“I was just trying to make a play on the ball and Oscar just came out of nowhere and started swinging,” Thornton said. “I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody; we just wanted to send them a message that they weren’t going to push us around anymore.”
Once order was restored, Martinez and Hays’ Jake Morrison were both issued red cards and ejected from the game as a result of the melee. Multiple yellow cards were issued to players from both teams, which didn’t result in ejections.
“I thought Parker was just trying to make an aggressive soccer play and Oscar (Martinez) took offense to it,” Hays head coach Jason Burnett said. “I was really disappointed that Jake got red carded. The official said he came into the pile with his hands up. I thought he was just being a leader and trying to stop the fight before it got started.”
Lehman head coach Jay Sansom credited the Rebels on their two-game sweep of his Lobos in district play and felt Thornton’s play and the fight afterward set the tempo for the rest of the game.
“That play definitely gave them some momentum because they had such a great fan base tonight,” said Sansom. “They are a very good team and they came out and played an aggressive game. We just couldn’t match their intensity.”
Thornton added a second goal for the Rebels with less than a minute remaining in the first half as he raced through a slew of Lobo defenders and launched a shot that found the left side of the net for a 2-0 halftime advantage for Hays.
Without Martinez, arguably their best player, the Lobos (who fell to 3-7 in 51-4A play) struggled to mount much of an offensive threat and with the loss were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
“It will definitely be different not being out there coaching soccer during spring break,” Sansom said. “But we dug ourselves a big hole with the losses to San Marcos and Seguin early on. Our district is so tough that you have to win as many games as you possibly can. The key for us now is to try and win our remaining games on the schedule and finish as high as we possibly can.”
The Rebels (7-3 in 51-4A), will move on and try to strengthen their grasp on a playoff spot with games against district unbeaten Dripping Springs, as well as San Marcos, Seguin and Canyon High – all of which are fighting for one of the district’s four postseason berths.
“We still have a lot left to play for over these last four district games,” Burnett said. “We played the best game out of everybody in our district against Dripping Springs (a 1-0 loss) so I believe we have a really good shot at beating them. This team is focused and we are playing our best soccer right now.”
