Jacks make history; state tourney next

QUINCY — A first for anything is sometimes the best of everything.

On Saturday the Quincy Jacks soccer program, long one of the better ones in the Columbia Basin and in Class 2A were face-to-face with history as they played host to Toppenish in the Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) District Tournament final.

After their 3-1, hard-fought victory, history was not only made but they are now faced with hopefully making more.

Quincy won its first ever District Tournament Championship and now are four wins from their first ever state title.

“The next (title) is the good one,” Quincy coach Thomas Turner said regarding his team’s impending state journey. “This is just a stepping stone, hopefully it’s a good stepping stone.”

Quincy (17-1) played a control, finesse game and had to thwart numerous attempts by Toppenish to turn the match into a boxing one rather than a soccer one as they came out firing with shots and fouls.

“I expected that and we knew they would come out strong since they did that the first time we played them,” Turner said. “They give it all they got right out of the beginning but when they had to make a run that’s where they got frustrated and started fouling.”

Toppenish got a few shots at goal early while Quincy slowly worked to capture the tempo and eventually got on the board first on J.C. Romero’s strike in the game’s eighth minute.

Luis Sorto followed that up nine minutes later and the Jacks were up 2-0.

In the second half Toppenish came out firing once again and kept the ball on the Jacks’ side of the field for the next 10 minutes capped off by a Moises Pinon shot off of a floating cross into the box as he slid onto the ball and punched it past Quincy keeper Cody Beaumont.

But then Quincy reasserted itself and were able to outmaneuver some Toppenish tactical moves.

“If you noticed they had all their bruisers in and trying to knock us around physically,” Turner said. “As soon as they scored they put their starters back in. They were trying to get us worn down and draw fouls and we weren’t going to give in. Once they scored we settled down and played well those last 15 minutes of the game.”

Quincy had one goal called back on a disputed offsides call in the 69 minute.

But Romero would score on the game’s final play when he struck a shot from a few feet outside the 18-yard box and the title clinching tally.

Next the Jacks host Cheney (15-3) the two-time defending Class 2A runners-up on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Jaycee Stadium in the state tournament first round.

Cheney eliminated Quincy in the 2008 semifinals.

This is Quincy’s sixth ever trip to state.

“It’s hard to say much about Cheney since no one’s been over to scout them” Turner said. “Both teams will come be coming in blind. When we play the game we play it well. Today we kept our cool especially with a lot of cheap shots against us but that’s the south, they’re physical in the south.”