By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Back when Trevor Schneider attended Brighton High School, there was no Brighton/Munford soccer rivalry. It wasn’t like Munford High School didn’t exist. The simple reason for no rivalry in the late 2000s was because the two schools combined for one soccer team. Dylan Burnett was a part of the first Brighton Cardinal Soccer team. Last Friday night, Burnett brought his Munford Cougars into the Brighton Stadium to take on Schneider’s Cardinals. Brighton was looking to avenge a 2-0 Munford victory from earlier in the season. With an explosive first half, the Cardinals prevailed 3-1. “That’s the potential they’ve had the whole season,” Schneider said. “We’ve tried to work toward it. We finally got them playing the way I want them to play.” Burnett acknowledge his squad didn’t play with the effort they had in the first Brighton/Munford contest. Friday night the pace of the game was going back and forth until Brighton’s Brandon McLaughlin chipped in a goal at the 29:28 mark. The next goal came quicker when Cardinal Noah Combs blasted a shot from 30 yards out into the next to make the score 2-0 at the 26:48 mark. It was a penalty kick that put Brighton ahead 3-0 before halftime. Justin Krachen was knocked down inside the goalie box with less than 9 minutes remaining in the half. Krachen connected with his attempt giving Brighton a three-goal advantage. The only goal of the second half came courtesy of Munford’s Caleb Brown with less than 2 minutes left in the game. Now both Tipton County squads won games by two goals. Schneider said he saw a positive difference in his team in the second match up. “We were letting them play at their pace the first game,” he recalled. “We came out here tonight dictating things. We made our passes and made them move to keep the ball down on their side.” The two teams are likely to play again in the District 13-3A Soccer Tournament in May.
“We’ve got to stay playing at the level we’re playing now,” Schneider concluded. “We need to increase our teamwork and make sure we’re looking up.”
