And Still Champions: Millington survives the purple wave of Ripley and Haywood to win districts
By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Undefeated in league play and compiling nine wins, the Millington Trojans under first-year Head Coach Jerrett Everson was enjoying a special season entering the District 15-3A Tournament Semifinal game May 9.
But one slip up against the Ripley Tigers on the new Mooney Boswell Field, the magic run will be over before it begins.
Everson employed his Trojans to be focused and have a business approach against the Tigers to avoid elimination. After 80 minutes, it was clear the Millington players accepted Everson’s challenge prevailing 6-0.
“We did take care of business,” Everson said. “That is one of the best games we’ve played. We played Ripley at the beginning of the season. Our first game compared to now, we’re leaps and bounds better.
“The problem was we were sending 12 shots over the goal,” he continued. “We’ve just got to bring that down and make it an easier shot. My guys are skilled, so they want to do extravagant goals when they score. But I try to tell them, whether you pass it into the goal or do a banger, it only counts as one goal. Just make it easy.”
Millington led 3-0 at halftime but the tally could have been much higher with Trojans firing shots over the goal and off the crossbar on multiple occasions.
Trojan junior Chase Michael netted the first two goals for Millington. The score was 3-0 late in the first half when Rodrell Yarbrough crossed a shot over the goal line.
In the second half Michael secured his hat trick with a move to allude two Tiger defenders. Then he gently aimed a shot past the Ripley goalie to make the score 4-0.
Yarbrough netted the fifth Millington goal moments later, creating space and fooling the keeper for a wide open shot.
Throughout the game Millington junior McCoy Pugh was doing all the dirty work on the outside creating space for Michael and Yarbrough.
Pugh’s passing kept the offense flowing for nearly 70 minutes. He was rewarded with a scoring opportunity late and he took advantage of it scoring the Trojans’ final goal.
Millington players like Porter White, Yordi Ortiz Salas, Azmir Salou, Daniel Garcia, Emir Jimenez and Noel Rostro just missed scoring chances against Ripley.
With victory secured, the focus moved to the district championship game and trying to get home field advantage for Regionals. Last year Millington earned the home Region game but lost in the semifinals. The Trojans had to go on the road in 2022 for Sectionals and came back to Flag City defeated.
“One of the things I love about this team, I don’t have to convince them,” Everson said. “My captains and the juniors remember that. They don’t let anyone forget. They see people slacking, they’ll say, ‘OK we’re going to lose like we did the last time. Pick it up.’
“They’ll bring that up without hesitation,” he added. “I don’t have to worry about that because Chase and Noel will bring it up, ‘If they catch us off guard, they’ll beat us like they did last year.’ None of them want a repeat of last year.”
Before Millington gets to Regionals and a possible Sub-State appearance, the first obstacle is the district championship against Haywood.
“Everything we’ve worked on all season we have to make sure of all the losses we’ve taken, we have to remember what we did wrong,” Everson concluded. “So when it comes down to the big games, the games we want to win, everybody is on the same page and we’re clicking on cylinders.”
The Tomcats held a 1-0 lead over the Trojans in the title game late in the second half. District 15-3A Tournament MVP Chase Michael came up clutch for Millington tying the game in regulation.
Michael tallied the winning goal in overtime to earn the Trojans the championship.
