Before Thursday’s night’s season finale began for the Greyhounds on the soccer field, the agenda was clear.
That next season begins now for a team that only loses one senior.
“What we told them at the beginning of the game was that we start next season (now),” Greyhounds head coach Clark Sweatt said. “We’ll have a long break after this, but everyone but one returns.”
Jones County played with that determination against Bleckley County on Thursday, catching the Royals off-guard with three goals in the opening 20 minutes before things got equalized at halftime in a 3-3 tie.
Bleckley County notched ahead to lead 4-3 in the second half on a penalty kick before Will Utley drilled a penalty- kick goal of his own, forcing overtime where the Royals prevailed in penalty kicks.
Both Utley and Jacob Watts had a lot to do with Jones County’s scoring output on Thursday as both combined for four assists and three goals. Utley had two goals for the Greyhounds with Watts having the contest’s first goal. JCHS also got a goal from Caleb Waters with Watts having three assists overall.
Watts and Utley are part of a roster that returns next season. They are also part of a team that withstood adversity all season long for Jones County, which wraps up the season with a majority of the roster from the beginning of the year.
“The goal now is to build upon the close games and the good things during the season,” Sweatt said. “The results will come over time.”
