Published: May 10, 2008 10:02 pm            

Accolades for Raiders will linger

Seconds after Lakeside-Dekalb goalkeeper Alec Kann stopped the penalty kick that clinched a 3-1 shootout victory against Southeast in Friday night’s Class 4A state championship game at Raider Stadium, Jamison Griffin turned to the home side, raised his hands above his heads and encouraged the crowd to offer his players a final round of applause.

Southeast’s coach clearly didn’t want his Raiders to leave the playing field as teammates for the last time without an acknowledgement of what they accomplished this season, even if it finished just shy of a state title.

And it wasn’t hard to understand why. Griffin went into Friday’s game knowing his players had already given Southeast fans some of their most enjoyable moments in the athletic arena in quite a while.

“To have 4,000 people (in attendance at Friday’s game), e-mails and phone calls from everybody saying they’re praying for me, it was probably the calmest I’ve ever been before a game,” Griffin said. “Which is pretty interesting.”

The list of accolades for Southeast soccer was a long one this season:

• The Raiders won 10 straight games to open the season, a stretch that included winning a title at Fannin County’s Mountain Madness tournament, with the title match a 3-0 victory against Murray County.

• That was the first of two wins for the Raiders against Murray — they also topped the Indians 3-1 in a later regular season matchup. And they were perfect against other local schools, too, beating Northwest Whitfield 2-1 and Dalton 4-4 (5-4 on penalty kicks) for one of their biggest victories in program history.

• The Dalton win was significant not only because it had taken so long to secure — the Raiders had never beaten a Catamounts squad coached by Matt Cheaves, who was in his 14th season leading Dalton — but because it locked up the Region 7-4A title, ending a seven-year run on top for Dalton, Southeast’s biggest soccer rival.

• They showed an ability to win the close ones, going 7-1 in games decided by one goal, and were 2-0 in shootouts before Friday’s loss.

• They won 18 games — their only losses before Friday were 1-0 and 3-1 defeats against Druid Hills — a four-game improvement over 2007, and scored 83 goals, 34 better than last season and the best total since 2004, when they finished with 60.

• The Raiders became Southeast’s first athletic team to advance to a state championship game and knocked down a second-round wall for the soccer program. Although they had advanced to the state tourney in six previous seasons under Griffin, those appearances all ended in the first or second round. A 2-1 win over Dacula locked up the team’s spot in the quarterfinals.

• Three players (Pedro Almazan, Jorge Gutierrez and Victor Rodriguez) signed college scholarships, with a possibility that others may sign this year.

For the Raiders, there was little doubt that this was a breakthrough year that changed the long-term expectations of the program — which, by the way, accomplished all of the above despite basically playing up a classification, since they’ll be dropping down to Class 3A for the next two seasons.

“I can’t be more proud of all the players on this team,” said Almazan, a senior defender. “We met all the goals we set for ourselves. The last goal we set for ourselves was to be state champions, but to me we accomplished it. That trophy says second place, but to me it’s a first place.”

The Raiders earned the recognition and respect of other programs along the way, too. They beat four teams ranked in the top 10 of the eurosportscoreboard.com Class 4A coaches poll and played an attacking style of soccer that demanded other squads have top-notch defense from whistle to whistle.

Southeast also prepared well throughout the playoffs, taking Griffin’s scouting reports and applying them to their preparation and the next opponent on the schedule. Friday offered a prime example as the Raiders kept their visitors out of the net on set plays — the Vikings claimed just one corner kick, but had several long throw-ins that ended up in the box due to the range of Martin Gonzalez — which had typically been an offensive staple for Lakeside’s tall lineup this year.

“Certainly, they deserved to be here,” said Lakeside coach Rick Barbe, who won his first state title in his fifth season leading the Vikings. “When I talked to (Griffin) the first time, he gave me a spiel about, ‘We’re so honored to have you here.’ And I was like, ‘Don’t sandbag me. You’ve done everything to get here.’

“They knocked out some really quality people along the way, that I think they counted as upsets. This is a tough region and I think it’s really becoming a better area for soccer. We’ve been up to Dalton the past two years in earlier rounds, so we knew the quality of soccer here.”

Southeast’s fast-paced, quick-passing style didn’t always yield goals — despite adjustments that allowed them to increase the pressure on Lakeside (20-1-1) in the second half of the championship match, the Vikings’ back line always seemed to be in the way of the best opportunities — but their overall effort often earned praise from opponents.

“They’re a great team,” said Kann, moments after he stopped three Southeast penalty kicks in the shootout. “They played with a lot of heart and great sportsmanship. We take our hats off to them.”

At least some of this year’s Southeast seniors think future opponents will be saying similar things about the Raiders in years to come — and regardless of what happens after they’re gone, this year’s seniors know they left quite a legacy.

“When we set up goals in the fieldhouse at the start of the season, a state championship wasn’t up there,” said Rodriguez, a senior wing who helped orchestrate many of the Raiders’ best scoring opportunities on Friday. “It was beat Dalton, get past the second round. I don’t think they’re going to set (only) those goals anymore.

“The goal is going to be win the championship from the first day of practice. I’m pretty sure we raised the standard this season and they’re going to keep raising it.”

        

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