Tiger soccer clubs bow out of playoffs after strong seasons

The Demopolis Tigers’ hard-fought season came to an end with a 5-0 loss to Calera in the first round of the state playoffs Friday night.

With over 20 shots on goal, Demopolis goalie Kyrie Johnson was definitely still a star of the game by using every tactic and technique to prevent the Calera Eagles from scoring. But even this, along with a tough defense, wasn’t enough to keep the Eagles off the board. Calera scored two goals during the first half and three more in the second for the victory.

Though this loss brought the season to an end, Head Coach Clint Humphrey is sure that this is just a stepping stone to an even better future.

“We’ve already started scheduling, so we’ll play a lot more games next season. We have a great junior, freshman and sophomore class, but the juniors especially,” Humphrey stated. “I think the kids have had maybe six coaches in five years or something crazy like that, so it’s good that they know that they’ll be able to build and that I’ll be around for a while.”

The Demopolis Lady Tigers’ season also came to a loss Friday night with a loss to the Calera Eagles.

Down only 2-0 at halftime, the Tigers’ started the second half off motivated after a goal from Julia Singleton. But a second goal from Aniya Johnson was not enough to combat the five more scores that the Eagles’ added on, bringing the Lady Tigers’ to a 7-2 defeat.

Much like Humphrey, head coach of the Lady Tigers Gabrielle Mcvay also has high expectations for the next season.

“We’ve only been back as a program for three years, so we’ve had a lot of growth and a lot of strength going on, and hopefully next year we can take it to an even higher level.”

One other thing that the two coaches have in common is that their senior players will definitely not go unmissed.

“The seniors have been fabulous leaders,” Mcvay said. “They’ve really been great examples for all the girls. It hurts, but we hate to see them go.”

By the same token, Humphrey noted that the senior Tigers are no different. “We’ve had a crazy year,” he explained. “But they brought the energy every day and absolutely were the force behind the team, so it’s going to be tough to replace them.

Both teams end their season with 7-3 records, high expectations and their heads held high.