Lights go out on Crimsons

QUINCY — Turn out the lights. The season’s over.

The lights did go down Wednesday evening at wet, windy Flynn Field. Prematurely — two minutes and 40 seconds before Jacksonville High’s 2007 soccer campaign officially ended.

By then, of course, the Crimsons already trailed Quincy Notre Dame by the 2-0 score that would be the final. JHS fans who made the 80-mile drive were already damp and shivering, and just as their strained optimism faded to resignation, they had to sit in the dark for 10 minutes as the stadium lights reawoke.

The final 2:40 went off without incident. Then Jacksonville shuffled off the wet field with its final 15-6-3 overall record. A 2007 regional title? It wasn’t meant to be.

“The kids played well,” said Crimsons head coach Steve West. “They did what we wanted them to do, which was to leave it on the field and play the best that they could possibly play. We had opportunities that unfortunately didn’t go, and theirs (QND’s) did.”

QND’s victory set up an all-Quincy regional final for Friday at Flynn Field. The Quincy Blue Devils eliminated Chatham Glenwood, 2-1, after four overtimes.

All the Crimsons can do now is wish luck to the team that beat them.

“We’d like to see QND win this thing,” said West.

The Raiders struck for single goals early in each half. In the contest’s sixth minute, sophomore Jake Darnell kicked in QND’s first score after Crimsons keeper Ryan Douglass deflected, but failed to hold onto, a shot by all-stater Grey Ganenbacher.

“I just couldn’t get a hold of it,” said Jacksonville’s sophomore keeper. “The ball was really slick tonight.”

In the 49th minute, the Crimsons’ ragged defense lost a crucial 50/50 chance on a high bounce. That led to a four-man breakaway by the Raiders, with Genenbacher leading the charge. The all-stater dribbled around Douglass and kicked in the easy goal.

“That is just a breakaway situation,” said West. “We probably should have won the high ball that came in, but we didn’t. We misplayed it in the middle.”

Crimson defenders Ryan McDade, Nathan Luber, Alex Suter and Payton Gillis all were playing, or attempting to play, through aches and injuries that have nagged them all season.

Playing at times in waves of wind and pouring rain, neither team had it easy Wednesday, but the slippery conditions probably made already-aching limbs even more tentative.

QND, with its solid defense, got the breakaway and the insurance goal.

“Again there, we had kids who are banged up trying to win a ball against kids who are extremely fast, and it’s tough, especially on a field that’s as wet as this one was tonight,” said West.

The Raiders edged Jacksonville in shots on goal, 7-4, but the Crimsons still controlled the ball enough to post a 6-2 lead in corner kicks.

“I thought we had more corners than they had,” said West. “That’s usually an indication of who is attacking, who is getting the ball into the attacking-third of the field more often and putting pressure in the goal area.”

Douglass finished with four saves for JHS, in his first of what could be three full seasons as the Crimsons’ keeper.

“I’m looking towards next year now,” Douglass said. “We played hard, but QND played a good game. There’s nothing more that we can do. We played good.”