All-Area soccer teams include Cedartown, Rockmart players

It takes many different parts to make a team successful, but sometimes a single component can take a team to the next level.

Among those parts are some of Cedartown and Rockmart’s talented masters of the soccer ball, who are part of this year’s All-Area teams.

Those incldue Fernando Barrientos and Luis Torres of Cedartown for the boy’s list, and Nancy Cruz of Cedartown for the girl’s list.

Darlington’s Tanner Berry and Rome’s Alli Gaither both proved to be pivotal role models on their respective soccer teams as players of the year, leaving an impact wherever they stood on the field.

While one player dictated the center of the field and controlled a pace, another led the team with a certain nose for goals.

“In a lot of ways, Tanner was the heart of our team,” Darlington coach Chris Babb said about Berry. “He had leadership on and off the field with the younger players. He led through his performance on the field and his stability.”

The Tigers won the Region 7-AA title and made it to the Elite 8 of the state playoffs this year, and Berry seemed to have a hand in all of it. He tallied 21 goals and nine assists in his senior season despite playing in the center of the field the majority of the time.

Being a midfielder also means keeping the opposition’s possession and offensive strategy off balance, and Berry certainly helped in that. He and his teammates allowed more than one goal only once in region play and won seven games by more than three goals.

At no point did Berry come up bigger than Darlington’s first round state playoff match against Lovett. Knotted at 11 for almost the entire first half, Berry headed in a cross from Pearson in the 80th minute, getting the Tigers to the next round.

“He controlled the middle of the field, plain and simple,” Babb said. “He never came out, always played 80 minutes and when we needed him he could step up and score. There was many times where I wish we could’ve sent him up more.”

Rome girls’ coach Jessica Hewitt saw Gaither make plenty of moves in front of the goal this season. The junior tied Rome’s single season scoring record with 41 goals and nine assists while serving as captain of the team.

The Lady Wolves certainly relied on their offense for most of the season, scoring five or more goals in 10 of their 18 matches. Those scores typically involved Gaither, who used a high intensity in almost any

situation, according to Hewitt.

“She was certainly our goto player the entire season,” Hewitt said. “I don’t think she scored in every game, but she scored in almost every one. Having a striker who can score like that makes it easier for everyone else.”

The Rome Lady Wolves were not able to finish in the top four in their region and advance to the postsea- son, but that doesn’t dampen Gaither’s achievements. Hewitt still credits her for giving everything in each type of training during the year.

Gaither is already committed to Lipscomb University but is coming back for her senior season, along with seven of her teammates.

“Being a senior for this upcoming year, I just love setting the right example for younger players,” Gaither said. “I hope that they know they can come to me and look to me for help. And I hope they know that it is always important to work to improve your game.”

Find more online at Prepcentralonline.com for All-Area soccer coverage.