by Rusty Ellis
The Smith County Owls accomplished one of their main goals for their season on Thursday when they defeated Watertown 5-0 in the District 7A Championship.
After taking a 2-0 lead into halftime, the Owls stretched the lead out with two goals in the first three minutes of the second half that allowed them to play more relaxed, according to head coach Kit Jenkins.
“It’s a great feeling, we’ve been in this game several times and we’ve been on the wrong side of it a couple times,” Jenkins said. “It’s great to see this group realize that goal…we decided at halftime we wanted to put the pressure on them and make them defend us. Watertown’s always good, but we were able to play a little easier up 4-0 early in the second half.”
Smith County got one more goal in the 61st minute, pushing the lead to its final margin at 5-0, as the Owls clinched the district title and are in a good spot heading into the region tournament next week.
As far as what he hopes carries over into their next time taking the field, Jenkins says he just wants to see this same level of effort in the region tournament.
“Just the work ethic, just get out there and work,” Jenkins said. “We know we’ve got the talent (to go far), but you can’t just have talent. You also have to be willing to put in the work with that skill. They’ve done that so far, and for us to get further than that, I just want them to continue leaving everything they’ve got on the field.”
