For the present, it just has to settle for being a classic high school soccer contest.
The future Area 6-AAA foes put on a fantastic show in LaFayette Wednesday night with the Tigers holding off the Ramblers for a 1-0 win.
The victory gave Ringgold a sweep of the season series. The Tigers defeated the Ramblers, 2-1, in a Feb. 19 match in Ringgold.
Wednesday’s lone tally came in the 54th minute as Grant Carpenter found Colton Thacker on the right side. Thacker then unleashed a rocket from 15 yards out to beat a diving Carson Arnold into the far corner.
LaFayette head coach Andy Arnold praised Ringgold head coach Peter Thornton for the goal.
"He moved two guys over to the left hand side at the beginning of the second half to get a matchup," Arnold explained. "I caught it and switched our defenders, but when I was trying to make a substitution and figuring out what moves to make next, he got Thacker back to the other side and that kid’s got a great right foot. It was a great shot and a great coaching move."
A switch to a 4-3-3 formation gave LaFayette (4-4) several good scoring chances in the second half.
The Ramblers missed three times on a flurry of shots in the opening 40 seconds of the second half and Ringgold would thwart the Ramblers four times in the final 20 minutes.
Tiger keeper Brent Pierce made a nice save on a Michael Hardin shot in the 60th minute and Hardin barely missed deflecting home a Danny Garcia pass in the 74th minute.
Garcia’s 20-yard blast two minutes later just missed the top corner and the Ringgold defense was able to block Hardin’s final effort in the waning seconds to preserve the win.
"Both teams are just good, solid high school teams," Arnold added. "That’s twice we’ve played them and lost by just a goal each time. It’s fun to coach in games like that. Ringgold played outstanding and so did we and I’m proud of our effort."
The Tigers outshot LaFayette, 12-9. Carson Arnold had nine saves for the Ramblers while Pierce stopped five shots for the Tigers.
*LaFayette 1, LFO 1*
On Monday, the Ramblers got three saves from Arnold in a penalty kick shootout and beat the Warriors in Fort Oglethorpe.
Matt Freeborn scored LaFayette’s goal in the 11th minute while John Ainley scored for LFO in the 72nd minute.
Hardin and Garcia connected on penalty kicks for LaFayette in the shootout.
*LaFayette girls 5, Ridgeland 0*
Wednesday’s open match saw the Lady Ramblers control the action from the outset and roll to a shutout win over their Walker County rivals.
An own goal by Ridgeland in the 13th minute put the Lady Ramblers up 1-0 and Krista Smith headed in a Shelby Harmon pass in the 32nd minute to stake LaFayette (4-4) to a two-goal halftime lead.
The second half saw Lauren Stoker score on a nice, lofted shot in the 61st minute.
Keshia Ward assisted on a Jessica Fryar goal three minutes later and Harmon capped the night in the 75th minute by scoring on a Jessica Forrester assist.
LaFayette outshot Ridgeland, 24-8. Shelby Ridley, subbing in goal for regular starter Taylor Benefield, made a dozen saves for the Lady Panthers (3-4).
LaFayette head coach Joyce Brown said the win was a much better effort than a penalty kick shootout win over Trion the night before.
"We really controlled things out there and we passed the ball very well," she said. "I wasn’t real happy with how we played last night, but tonight was 500 percent better."
Both LaFayette squads will host Gordon Central in non-area matches on Friday while the Lady Panthers will head to Jekyll Island this weekend for a tournament.
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