Dawgs claim two district soccer wins

The varsity Franklin County Soccer Dawgs kicked off Class I District 7 play last week with a pair of very different victories – a 7-0 blowout of Bogue Chitto on Thursday, Dec. 8 and a 100-minute nailbiter against Wesson that was ultimately decided by penalty kicks.

The pair of wins lifted FC to a 9-0 mark on the regular soccer season thus far and 2-0 in district play.

FC 7, BOGUE CHITTO 0

Landon Furlow paced Franklin County with three goals and an assist and Jamari Tolliver was able to score twice with an assist in the Soccer Dawgs’ 7-0 win over Bogue Chitto.

Kolby Cox had a goal and an assist while Xavien Felton also scored once in the decisive victory with single assists coming from Jaquez Anderson, Preston Cupit and Terrence Fields.

Offensively, as a whole, Franklin County erupted for 31 shots and 18 shots on goal with Furlow leading the effort with nine shots and six shots on goal. Tolliver finished his night with six shots and four shots on goal while Cox had five shots and three SOG.

Anderson and Felton both had four shots each and two shots on goal while Fields added three shots and one SOG for the Soccer Dawgs.

Six of FC’s goals came before intermission with one more after the mid-game break.

On defense, FC had 78 stops as a team with Mason Emfinger and Cupit ending their efforts with 10 apiece against Bogue Chitto. Fields and Chris Carraway had nine take-aways each while Furlow, Cox and Parker Jordan collected eight each.

Felton, Anderson and Tolliver recorded five stops each and Kyle Walker added one.

Keyundre Felton, as FC’s goalkeeper, had a single save and recorded the shut-out victory in a game that was limited to 50 minutes under the mercy rule.

FC 4, WESSON 3

(PENALTY KICKS)

Franklin County’s district opener on the road at Wesson had to be decided by penalty kicks even though the Soccer Dawgs outshot the Cobras 28-3 and dominated possession of the ball throughout the contest played at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

Wesson scored in the first half around the 35th minute mark and FC’s Tolliver, thanks to a timely and on-target pass from Cox, was able to knot things in the contest at 1-all at the 78th minute.

In overtime, Wesson converted on its second shot of the game, but the Dawgs continued to battle and nearly scored several times.

With less than a minute remaining in overtime, Xavien Felton’s shot created a loose ball in front of the goal and Furlow raced in for the game-tying score.

With the contest knotted at 2-all, the fate of the two teams would come down to penalty kicks with the Cobras connecting on their first two while Franklin County’s first two kicks were blocked. Emfinger, Tolliver and Fields connected on FC’s final three attempts while Wesson missed one and Soccer Dawgs’ goalkeeper Dakota Chisholm blocked another.

The stalemate continued with the teams going to a sixth kicker and sudden death penalty kicks. Sophomore Tim Hutto stepped up and connected to the right window, and Chisholm’s save on the Wesson attempt, gave the Dawgs the victory.

“The guys really dug deep and continued to battle time and time again, especially when it looked like we were going to lose,” FC Head Soccer Coach Jeff Long said. “Wesson took advantage of some chances and really dug in on defense. They had an athlete in goal who made it difficult to score on. We struggled with the pace of the (artificial) turf, which made it frustrating on the guys, but they didn’t give up and continued to fight until the very end … several times.”

Offensively, Tolliver had two goals for FC while Furlow, Emfinger, Fields and Tim Hutto recorded one each. Cox had Franklin County’s lone assist in the contest.

As a team, Franklin County finished with 35 shots and 17 shots on goal with Furlow setting the pace thanks to eight shots and four SOG. Tolliver had six shots and three shots on goal while Anderson, Fields and Xavien Felton had four shots and two SOG apiece.

Cox also had four shots and one shot on goal with Keyundre Felton adding two shots and one SOG while Emfinger and Hutto both had a single shot and SOG to their credit.

Jordan also accounted for a shot for the Soccer Dawgs.

FC had 84 defensive stops as a squad with Emfinger setting the team-leading tempo with 11 take-aways and Carraway adding nine.

Furlow, Cupit and Fields had eight stops each with Xavien Felton chipping in seven and Drew Mullins, Tolliver and Cox finishing with six each. Jordan and Keyundre Felton each recorded five stops for FC while Anderson contributed three.

Chisholm, as the Soccer Dawgs’ keeper, went the distance in the net and surrendered only two goals to Wesson while giving up three penalty goals on six attempts.

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UPCOMING GAMES

Franklin County’s boys will face off against district opponent Loyd Star on the road Thursday, Dec. 15.

The Soccer Dawgs will retake the field on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at Purvis.