North upends Eagles

Friday, September 19, 2008

On Thursday night, Madisonville-North Hopkins soccer players Rush Dugger and Miles Durham exhibited once again what outstanding communication can result from playing more than 12 years together as the duo combined to lead the Maroons 3-1 past Apollo at Donley Field.

Dugger recorded a hat trick, scoring all three goals, while Durham provided two assists while the North defense handled an overmatched Apollo squad.

“We’ve playing together for a long, long time,” Durham said of his partnership with Dugger. “It’s just kind of natural to find each other.”

It took less than two minutes for Dugger and Durham to record the game’s first goal when Apollo’s goalie Jonathan Tanner tried to the clear the ball and North won position on a header. The ball bounced to Dugger, who moved quickly past a defender and scored at the 38:11 mark.

Less than two minutes later, Apollo players held their breaths when Eagle left back Alex Hamilton went down after a collision in which players from both teams leapt into the air in a battle for the ball near the goal.

Hamilton lay prone on the ground as individuals administered to him and Apollo players huddled in a circle with arms crossed around shoulders and heads bowed in prayer.

“(Tanner) came out to clear the ball and one hand hit the ball and the other hand hit Alex in the cheek and caused him to bite the opposite side,” Apollo coach Josh Jackson said.

Nearly eight minutes after falling to the ground, Hamilton leaned forward. A few minutes passed and fans clapped as he walked off the field on his own power.

After the game Jackson said Hamilton suffered a gash in his cheek and went home, and will have the injury sown.

Play resumed and shortly thereafter Dugger and Trevor Gillespie hooked up on another Maroons goal.

Jackson said the injury to Hamilton, one of the team’s best defenders, had an adverse effect on the rest of the Eagle players.

“Certainly, any time you lose a guy like that you’re going to have a little bit of a lull,” he said. “It definitely did bring us down for the whole first half.”

Dugger and Durham connected for their second goal-assist combo of the night with 3:49 left in the game. Durham made a pass, which was a little long to Dugger, who corralled the ball, repositioned and swiftly fired one through the left side of the goal.

“I cut it back with my left foot, which is not my dominant foot, and I just put it away,” Dugger said. “I guess it was kind of lucky.”

The goal proved to by North’s final goal of the game, but ultimately was enough as the Maroon defense held Apollo to just one goal, which came late in the second half.

“I thought the chemistry was very good early on,” North coach John Tichenor said. “We kind of set the tone and dictated how the game was going to play out.”

Eagle player Courtland Burroughs, a senior striker, ended Maroon goalkeeper JD Lester’s shutout bid with 10:04 remaining in the game when he scored on a direct kick, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

Despite the goal, Tichenor said he was pleased with his defense’s effort, especially the play of Corey Ashby and Maartin Adams, who where effective in controlling the middle of the field.

In addition, Tichenor pointed to the play of John Arnold.

“Arnold is providing the leadership in the back,” he said. “They’re playing hard-nosed and doing what they need to do.

Offensively, Gillespie, a senior, has earned his coach’s respect with his development in attack from the right wing position.

“So many of our attacks are coming form the right side and Miles and Rush are recognizing that and sending (Trevor) balls,” Tichenor said.

Although Apollo allowed three goals in the first half, Jackson employed a different strategy in the game’s final 40 minutes, switching from a 4-4-2 to 3-3-4 set up.

“Putting an extra forward up top made us a bit more direct,” Jackson said, “and in the same time it caused them to kind of change their game because they use their full back as marking backs.”

Although Durham and Dugger stole the limelight with their goals and assists, Durham gave plenty of praise to his team’s defense.

“They made it easy on us,” he said. “They kind of get the short end of the stick. They don’t get enough credit. They make our job a lot easier and make us look better.”

North (6-1-1) recorded 18 shots to Apollo’s (5-3-1) nine and Lester had four saves on the evening.