HUNTSVILLE | The first time Oneida and Scott High met on the soccer pitch, the game ended in a 6-0 victory for the Indians.
Friday's rematch at Highlander Stadium resulted in the exact same spread, a 7-1 win for Oneida, but felt much different.
The first time around, Oneida led only 1-0 at halftime on a controversial penalty kick before beginning to click on all cylinders in the second half.
This time around, the Indians scored early and led 3-0 at halftime, then put four more goals on the board in less than 20 minutes of second half action before the game was called with still 20 minutes on the clock.
According to the referee, the official reason for the game being called was lightning, which would have prompted a 30-minute delay before the game could've resumed. The referee said afterwards that both coaches agreed to the game being called early.
However, radar revealed no lightning strikes in the vicinity of Huntsville.
Scott High coach Eric Henry may have offered a clue about the early ending after the game.
“It was getting chippy,” he said. “I'm not for these guys that hang out, and half of them will be going to prom together tomorrow night, getting into anything. I was done before the refs were done.”
The last five minutes of the match before the premature ending left both coaches irate with no-calls on the field, as physical play began to take control of the game on either side.
By that point, the game was well in hand. Henry had turned to his reserve players after Oneida went up 5-0 early in the second half. After two more Nick Gilbert goals — he finished with four — made it 7-0, the Highlanders' second team found the board on a goal by Logan Dyer that was assisted by Leivance Weatherford.
After Oneida took a 3-0 halftime lead, the Highlanders had a couple of near misses early in the second half before the Indians tacked on several insurance goals.
Mason Keeton finished with a pair of goals for Oneida. Luke Barna also scored.
“I appreciate the crowd tonight,” Henry said. “A lot of people turned out to support both teams. That's good.”
“Oneida's got a good team. They're coached well,” he added. “They'll do well going forward.”
“I'm extremely proud of the boys,” Oneida coach Derek Keeton said. “I loved the fact that we were connected from defense to mids to the forwards. We were going inside-out, and the boys executed good.
“I felt like our defense controlled the game,” Keeton added. “That was the difference. Offensively, we have worked a lot on through balls and balls in space, and tonight it was good to see them make those plays.”
Keeton applauded the environment.
“It was great,” he said. “Coach Henry did a good job of creating a great environment. I'm glad we got to come down and play.”
Both teams have one game remaining before district tournament action starts. The Indians will travel to Halls on Tuesday. The Highlanders will host Union County on Wednesday.
Oneida will be the No. 1 seed in District 3-A and will host a district semifinal game. Scott High will be the No. 3 seed in District 5-AA and will travel to Clinton for the district semifinals. However, Henry pointed out that every game in District 5 this season has been decided by one goal, and said he fully expects his team to be playing for a district championship against either Kingston or Anderson County.
