Howard wins 2-1 for trip to soccer state tournament

Howard’s boys’ soccer season of multiple firsts picked up another one Thursday, and it’s the biggest achievement yet.

The Hustlin’ Tigers already had won a region title for the first time and now are headed to their first state tournament as a result of defeating Sequoyah 2-1 in a Class AA state sectional at Howard.

Howard takes a season school- record 14 victories into the state tournament, which will be held next week in Murfreesboro, to go with three losses and three ties.

Sergio Marcos- Esquizel, one of the team’s four seniors, scored the winning goal on a penalty kick with two minutes to play. Howard coach Curtis Warner said that’s the player the team wanted in that situation, even calling him out by name.

“It was dead silent,” Warner said of the anticipation period leading up to the kick. “People started fleeing from the stands down onto the field. I was so nervous I couldn’t look.”

The Tigers trailed at halftime. They tied it around midway of the second half when Sneyzer Gonzalez’s corner kick set up a goal by Christian Garcia.

“I said, ‘Why are your heads down in your chests? We’ve got 40 minutes left. If you want it, go get it,’” Warner said of his halftime speech. “I just kept encouraging. I was nothing but positive all night. I’m proud of what my boys have done. They gave everything they had.”