Reese Jones scores in 80th minute to lift Othello over Ephrata in District 5-6 soccer tournament 

EPHRATA — Othello senior Reese Jones told himself, today is not going to be my last game.

“To be done with sports forever, I'd have to take up knitting or read a book,” he said, “not going to happen, not today anyway.”

Juan Tapia sent a through ball through traffic with the pass of the season. Jones collected it in the box, put a couple of touches on it, spun and hit a big right-footer past Ephrata goaltender Andres Mendoza with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Huskies a 2-1 victory over the Tigers in the first round of Tuesday's 2A District 5-6 playoffs.

During the regular season, Ephrata (9-7) scored with 10 seconds left in regulation and beat Othello in overtime during the regular season. On Tuesday, the Huskies returned the favor. Othello (11-6) scored in the final minute of both halves, but none more important that Jones shot at the end.

“I thought Juan was going to hit it from the top of the box,” Jones said. “I kind of turned and he hit this little through ball. I didn't realize it, but I was wide open. I was surprised, but I made the shot and that feels great.”

Jones is a gamer. He had a take-down with 10 seconds left to win a 2A state wrestling championship this past winter. The brilliant pass could have been for naught if he hadn't been focused.

“No. 11 (Jones) stepped up to the moment, you have to give him a lot of credit for it,” said Ephrata coach Ivan Garay, whose team beat Othello for the first time in 12 years this season. “I felt like we outplayed them, but today the better team didn't win.

“They did what we did to them in the regular season and that's what makes soccer so interesting.”

Othello took 15 of its 19 shots in the first half and Mendoza, the Tiger keeper, kept his composure, making eight first-half saves.

Tiger striker Luis Rodriguez pushed a run in off the left wing into the box and put a bit left-footed angle shot across to the far post beyond the outstretched hands of a diving Jose Gomez, who made seven saves on the day, for the first score of the match.

The score in the 20th minute held to the end of the first half, but Luis Gomez gave the Huskies a burst of momentum when he went high to the far post in the 40th minute to tie the match right before the intermission.

“I noticed nobody was on the right side (on the corner kick), so slipped and waited and waited,” Gomez said. “I had to go and get. Their goalkeeper came out. He was blocking all the low shots, so I went high to get it past him.”

Part of the Huskies success came from the transition at the midfield where they kept the pressure on Ephrata strikers Jason Silva, Harley Klein and Rodriguez as they tried to make their runs.

“We were challenging every single ball and pressuring them every chance we could,” Othello sophomore Bernie Garza Jr. said. “I think that was the key, the amount of pressure we put on them at the midfield. We dominated the whole game. They had beaten us twice already, and this was just a good way to continue our season.”

The win ensures Othello will have three more matches. The Huskies will face No. 1 seed East Valley (12-4), a team they beat during the regular season, on Friday. The winner will play for a district championship and the loser will drop into a match for seeding purposes and eventually play crossover games with the Great Northern League.

“This game means a lot to everyone on our team,” Gomez said. “I just want to thank everybody for doing their part. Our possession was amazing, we out-shot them, and now we're moving on.”

For the Tigers, they're done. But it was a year of redemption Garay said. Ephrata soccer is back.

“It was a step in the right direction. We have built a program that hasn't been in the playoffs in 10 years,” he said. “If I would define the season, I would say we've regained our respect back in this league.”

Score by halves

Scoring summary

• E - Luis Rodriguez (Jason Silva), 20th minute
• O - Luis Gomez, 40th minute
• O - Reese Jones (Juan Tapia), 80th minute