THOUGH East Jackson lost handily in the state tournament, the fact that the Eagles played in the game served as a benchmark.
East Jackson (9-9-1) fell 5-0 Thursday to no. 5 Calhoun (14-3-1) to bow out of the state tournament, but the program now has state tournament experience to build upon.
“Putting the result into context, all in all it’s good experience for our boys,” East Jackson coach Chris Cooley said. “Two years we could not have contemplated playing against a team of Calhoun's caliber. The fact that the loss is a disappointment just goes to show how far we have come.”
East Jackson, making its first appearance in the state tournament, wasn’t able to overcome a Calhoun team that Cooley called “very organized” with excellent ball skills that attacks in numbers.
“Their field is very large — 70 yards by 125 — and they are clearly accustomed to using the width, switching the ball very effectively and often attacking on both flanks at once,” Cooley said.
The coach pointed to some of his own team’s problems.
“Our defense backed off too much and we failed to exploit the space we were given in the middle of the field to set up a counter-attack,” he said.
The weather didn’t help out any. The teams played through a light rain for most of the night before a downpour for about 20 minutes in the second half.
Although Cooley’s team made huge strides this year to get to state, the coach called the loss “anti-climatic.”
“If we had showed more possession in the center and controlled the game more, it would have been a completely different game and we could have taken them on,” he said. “We had a couple of excellent chances, one on a break-away in the first few minutes and the other on a goal-mouth scramble during the second half, that we did not convert.”
That said, the future sets up well for the East Jackson program that has steadily increased its win total since going 1-21 in 2008 and 2009 in its first two years of existence.
“If we can keep up the rate of improvement, next year will be an exciting one,” Cooley said. “We have shown our ability to hold our own against some good teams, and we now have our eye on preparing to play the best.”
