What a week!!!!!

This week of soccer was very successful at all levels for QHS and what a what a week it was. The week started off with the inter city rivalry against QND. Our varsity team came out a bit flat but once we got going, it was evident we were the better team. Ethan Venvertloh got us on the board in the first half with a rocket from about 25 yards out that I don't think the QND keeper ever saw until it was too late. Zach Forbes added a goal in the second half on a header to make for the final score of 2-0. Our defense was again stellar and Logan Miller got his 5th shutout of the season. As always, the game was played with a lot of intensity, and we are just bigger, stronger, and faster in more areas and that was the difference. It was our 7th straight victory over QND at the varsity level. The JV also won 2-0 as freshman Bronson Melvin scored both goals.

While the QND game is always a big game, it ALWAYS is the 2nd most important game of the week in the grand scheme of things as we always have a conference game that week as well. Winning against your cross town rival is always great, but winning the conference is something you really set your sights on and on Saturday night we opened the conference season at Moline.

You never know what to expect from kids on their first road trip, especially one that is long. Our JV showed exactly that, as they scored very early in the game, but from that point on didn't play very well and lost 2-1. It was the first loss in 2 years for the JV program and one that I know our young men will learn from.

We really thought that our varsity kids would see what happened with the JV and not let it happen to them. WISHFUL THINKING is all I can say. Less than 3 minutes into the game, Moline scored on a defensive mistake and already we were in a hole and for the first time, trailing in a game. It was time to see what this team is made of. Do we panic and start doing things we don't practice or do we stay the course and plug away? Coach Rick Sanchez of Moline feels this is one of his better teams and they are very talented in several areas.

Well, we stayed with our game plan and didn't get rattled and were able to get the equalizer on a corner kick header by Zach Forbes and then took the lead ten minutes later when Blake Williams re-directed a shot after a corner was cleared. The second half was very interesting to say the least. The game got a little physical, and we found ourselves in a heck of a predicament when one of our players got a red card and so did one of theirs. However, with the playing field being a little smaller than we are normally use to, it created more space for us to do our thing and we capitalized by getting goals from Mitchell Schrage and Ethan Venvertloh to seal the 4-1 win and start the conference off on a good note.

The bad news is, we have to play without a player next week at Springfield SHG and that will be tough. It's a shame that a linesman makes that poor of a decision to eject two players who were pushing each other in the middle of about 10 kids preparing for a restart. Yellow cards yes, but reds was a little over the top we thought. In any case, we have all the confidence in the world that we will be able to step up and rise to the challenge ahead of us over in Springfield.

I was very proud of our young men when we lost one of our players. They were on the field talking about what they were going to do and how they would adjust our system. Since we were winning 2-1 at the time, they opted to stay strong on defense and we removed a forward from our system. We are now 7-0-1 and have given 6 of our 8 opponents their first blemish on their record.

Next weeks games are both on the road. I already mentioned SHG, but on Saturday, we go to Jefferson City Helias who was the class 2 state runner-up last year. Should be another good week.

Our Sophomore/Freshman team remained undefeated and won the Chatham tournament. They are now 7-0-1 after beating Waterloo Gibault 3-1, Chatham Glenwood 3-0, and Springfield High 3-2 in PK's. They will also travel to Jeff City next weekend to play Helias and Jefferson City High.

Overall, our program is now 18-1-2 on the season. Not too shabby.