KINGSPORT — The Region 1-AAA soccer rematch between Dobyns-Bennett and Science Hill won’t happen this season. Jefferson County did its part to ensure a stunning District 2 sweep in the region semifinals.
One year after winning its second-ever district tournament championship, Jefferson County earned the first region tournament win in program history Tuesday night, defeating Dobyns-Bennett 1-0 at Indian Highland Park.
The Patriots (9-8-2) had won district tournament championships in 1998 and 2024 but had never made it past the region semifinal round, though the JCHS girls have advanced to the sectional round three times previously. Their historic win Tuesday night kept Dobyns-Bennett out of the sectional round for the first time since 2021.
“There’s a whiteboard in the locker room and we have our goals on it,†Patriots coach Jason McCoy said. “A couple of them are just have fun, no red cards, be fierce, those sort of things. But we had specific goals like have a winning season, district regular season championship, district tournament championship, and we did those last year. The big one was to get a regional win. So we got it done.â€
On a free kick from midfield, Jefferson County headed the ball into the 18-yard box, where Anthony Estrada was able to set up Jason Grajales for the game’s lone goal in the 45th minute.
“Jason is so fast picking up scraps,†McCoy said. “When he sees an opportunity, he’s going to run in and get it. He did, cleaned it up and took care of it.â€
The lead held up, with Gavin Farmer having the final chance at the equalizer in the 80th minute. But the shot went into the right side of the outer net.
Dobyns-Bennett, which ended the year 15-3-2 overall after winning a third straight District 1-AAA championship, held a 14-9 advantage in shots taken. But Jefferson County out-shot the Indians 8-5 on goal.
Senior goalkeeper Ethan Cline made six saves in his final game for the Tribe, the seventh save coming courtesy of defender Cooper McLain.
“We just could not buy a goal tonight,†D-B coach Tony Weaver said. “We had the opportunities and just didn’t finish. We didn’t make the back post run at times. Had we done that, it would’ve been tap in goals.â€
Farmer accounted for two of D-B’s shots on goal, while Lucas Park tallied six attempts.
Ethan Bunch made four saves in the clean sheet for the Patriots, with Joshua Diaz saving D-B’s other shot.
Jefferson County nearly took the lead in the opening minutes, but an offside call negated the apparent goal.
D-B had chances of its own, including a free kick in the 18th and a straightaway shot from inside the 18-yard box in the 25th. Both sailed high, as did one final attempt from inside the box just before the half.
Seniors Joaquin Garibaldi, Ben Guillen-Hamer, Cooper Mears, Joel Calo, Gavin Curtin, Gary Jarquin, Cline, Park and Farmer saw their high school soccer careers end with the result.
“I hate it for the boys, hate it for the seniors,†Weaver said. “They played very hard. The effort was there. That’s all a coach can ever ask is to put forth an effort.â€
UP NEXT
Jefferson County travels to Sevier County for Thursday’s Region 1-AAA final before the sectional round Saturday.
