By By KEVIN TRAVIS
Sports Editor
CHOCOWINITY — Jeremy Ward seemingly wore a constant smile on his face. He certainly would have been smiling Wednesday evening after his Southside Seahawks knocked off the Northside Panthers, 1-0, in an emotional Four Rivers Conference soccer battle.
“This is awesome,” said Southside coach John Lohman, who honored Ward and his nine seniors at halftime. “This is what high school athletics is all about, celebrating your players, playing hard, playing clean and winning.
“This is the kind of win that establishes what your program is about. It sets a benchmark and sets a standard for years to follow.”
Senior Joshua Sheppard scored the loan goal Southside would need. Sheppard took a nice feed from Allen Hobbs, broke away from the Northside defense and ripped a shot past a diving Panther goalie, finding the back of the net with some five minutes to play in the first half.
“Allen gave me a good pass and I just put the ball in the net,” Sheppard said. “I thought we might need another one (goal), but it held up.”
Seahawk keeper Billy Harding, who turned back 12 Northside shots, made the lone goal stand up.
“I was really nervous,” Harding said with a smile. “I thought we needed to score another one, but it held up and our fullbacks did a great job.
“Getting a couple saves early really helped my confidence a lot.”
The win came on an emotional night when Ward’s No. 12 jersey was officially retired.
Ward was in a horrific car accident when he was around 10 years old and endured extreme reconstructive surgery. He overcame the odds and returned to school, and was a part of the Southside soccer program. However, Ward died earlier this year.
Lohman honored Ward, whose No. 12 jersey hung by a painting of the former Southside standout, during halftime of Wednesday’s match.
“Jeremy came back with an enthusiasm and an attitude that stands as a testament to what all of us should do every day,” a choked up Lohman said. “Jeremy lived every day like he wasn’t sure if tomorrow was going to come. Jeremy’s personality, when he walked into a room, the entire room would change from, ‘oh, gosh, I’m at school; I can’t stand being here’ to happiness and joy. That’s a reflection of the joy and happiness that Jeremy had.
“Jeremy’s faith also stands as a testament. His relationship with Jesus Christ just stands as an enormous witness, and anybody that knows him knew that that was real and was genuine.”
Southside’s seniors — Sheppard, Hobbs, Patrick Bonner, John Edwards, Hayden Huggins, Daniel Jennings, Alex McLawhorn, Aaron Stokes and John Williams, were especially pleased with the win, avenging a loss to the Panthers earlier in the year.
“It was a pretty good win,” Hobbs said. “I’ve always wanted to beat Northside. It was an important win and it was very special in memory of Jeremy. I’m just glad we pulled through.”
Nothside coach Billy Bunn, who has done a tremendous job with his young program, was gracious in defeat.
“We just need a little more consistency,” Bunn said. “We’ve had some situations where we didn’t come out and play the entire game. I thought our guys played hard tonight. Congratulations to Southside; they deserved to win.
“We just have to build on this and see how it works out in the playoffs. Our guys have worked hard all year.”
The Panthers (12-6), led by seniors Gabriel Cota, Luis Rivera, James Lewis, Cecilio Cota, Trip Dixon, Blake Paszt and Shawn Murphy, will head to the playoffs as likely a third or fourth seed.
“We’re very excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish,” Bunn said. “We just hope this builds some excitement for the program. I just can’t say enough about my seniors. They’ve stuck with us, stuck with each other and worked really, really hard. I’m really proud of them.”
Junior Taylor Woolard, a scoring machine for the Panthers, said the reason behind the team’s success is simple.
“We just practice every day and work hard,” Woolard said. “That’s about it.”
Woolard is hoping the Panthers can make a strong run in this year’s playoffs.
“We’ve had a good season and nobody can take that away,” Woolard said. “Hopefully, we can make a good run.”
Southside (11-6) is hoping to build off Wednesday’s win and end the regular season on a positive note. The Seahawks play host to the Manteo Redskins at 4:30 p.m. today.