Morgan County midfielder Cooper Allen walked off the field on Wednesday with a smile on his face.
The senior provided some late-game theatrics for the No. 1-seed Bulldogs in a 2-1 victory over No. 4-seed Jackson (9-8-1, 4-3). The win advanced Morgan County (10-4-1, 7-1) to the Sweet 16 round of the GHSA Class 3A state playoffs.
Allen’s game-winning goal came with 2:14 left in the contest past Red Devils’ keeper Dutch Guerrero, who recorded more than a dozen saves in the game.
“Their keeper hadn’t stepped to me all night because his teammates told him to be patient,” Allen said of the moment. “I saw where he wasn’t stepping to me, and I had a couple of shots earlier in the night. Those weren’t connecting right, but this time, I just felt it. It felt right. I got my foot around it (the ball) and placed it on the right side. The goalie was on the right side, but it (the ball) beat him to the outside. It was a lucky shot, I think.”
Cooper’s lone goal was the only score of the second half. The Dogs had plenty of chances, but Jackson’s freshman goalie was solid. He kept the back-to-back Region 4-AAA champions from trying to score for most of the match.
The Red Devils got on the board first at the 34:51 mark of the opening half, although Morgan County would respond. Nearly 10 minutes later, junior Gianluca Corrias placed the ball in the back of the net with a header at the 25:09 mark.
“We started out flat,” Morgan County head coach Aaron Paul said. “We were frustrated with ourselves, frustrated with each other. We just started extremely flat the first 20 minutes of the game, and we gave up that goal very early.”
Paul expressed that his squad might have “underestimated” the Red Devils.
“That definitely showed in the first half,” he added. “We just ended up fighting our way back.”
Even if the Dogs might not have started the way they wanted, the end result turned out in their favor. They will advance to the Sweet 16 for a second straight year.
“I was not worried, but I was nervous,” Paul said. “We were asleep at the wheel in the first half. Then, in the second, we calmed down and played our game.”
The Dogs have had a flare for the dramatic this season. They are currently 3-2-1 this year in games decided by one score or less. The latest win over Jackson proves that they can pull it together, despite starting out a match slow.
“We like to make it complicated sometimes,” Paul said. “That’s been our mantra throughout the season. I told them (the players) at halftime that we want to give these people (the crowd) a game. We sure did that (in the second half).”
Morgan County has also faced a lot of adversity this season, especially with injuries and roster turnover in the offseason. So, a win in that fashion is a confidence booster.
“One thing about this team is that they’re resiliency,” Paul said. “We had to come back and win the region after losing Harlem the first time. Plus, dealing with injuries and turnover that we’ve had in our lineup. It’s just been frustrating.”
Allen echoed Paul’s sentiment.
“We’ve got four starters that were out with injuries for over a month,” Allen said. “That was a big hit on regular-season games, but hopefully we’re getting some of those guys back. … So, once we get our whole team back, and get a couple of kinks figured out, we will be right back on track. I’m excited for the rest of the season.”