RABBITTOWN — It’s a simple goal for Leo Toledo and the East Hall boys soccer team: Macon or bust.
The No. 1-ranked Vikings moved a step closer to the Class AAA finals Tuesday with a dominating 10-1 thumping of Peach County in the second round at East Hall Stadium.
Toledo had six goals and added a pair of assists as the Vikings (19-1) jumped on Peach County from the opening kickoff.
“We feel very confident right now,” Toledo said. “But it’s not just me. The whole team is playing well. Anyone of us can score when we need something.”
East Hall next will take on Blessed Trinity, an 8-0 winner over East Jackson in another second round match, on Friday in the quarterfinals. The two teams will conduct a coin flip to decide who will get home field advantage.
It is also the second consecutive season the Vikings have advanced to the quarterfinals. Coach Chris Horton said they are treating every match the rest of the way like a state title match. Class AAA is loaded with every top ten team advancing to the second round.
“Everyone that will be left can win it all,” he said. “We will have to play every game like it’s a final. There won’t be any easy ones left.
“(Class) AAA is so tough. I don’t think any of the other classifications will have this many teams left that can actually win it all.”
Toledo, who was a freshman when East Hall advanced to its only Final Four in 2013, said nothing short of a title run will be satisfying.
“That’s what we want; the tile,” he said. “This team can definitely win it all. If we come out play our game, I don’t think anyone can beat us.”
Peach County won’t give any argument to that.
The Vikings came out pressuring the Trojans from the outset. They stole the opening possession and Toledo was denied in the second minute on a sliding kick save by Peach County keeper Daniel Oveido.
A minute later, however, Toledo would not be denied. The senior took a beautiful feed from Sergio Turcios to slide a shot past Oveido for a 1-0 lead with 36:49 left first half.
It was a costly goal for the Trojans, who lost Oveido on the play to an injury. He did not return.
The Vikings continued their assault with Toledo making it 2-0 four minutes later flicking a shot over backup keeper Terrell Scott on an assist from Carlos Castrejon.
After a series of counters, the Trojans had their best early chance of the match when Michael Aguilar just missed on a 35-yard direct kick as Vikings keeper Amir Solis kept the shutout with a nice punch save with 24 minutes left.
Toledo put the game out reach three minutes later. He scored a pair of goals in a 23 second span, the first on a low blast after chasing down a long pass from Castrejon, and then, after the Vikings stole the pass off the ensuing kickoff, Toledo beat Scott after a nice run for a 4-0 lead with 21:57 left in the first half.
Toledo did all of his damage with three Peach County defenders within 3-yards of him at all times.
“How people play Leo dictates the kind of offense we’ll run,” Horton said. “But he is so good sometimes he’ll break down the defense and that will open up things for the others.”
Turcios got into the scoring five minutes later gathering a loose ball and finding the net with 16:13 left for a 5-0 Vikings lead.
Peach County (11-8) finally snapped the Vikings hot start when Hayden Frier took a flick pass from Aguilar after a long goal kick to cut the lead to 5-1 with 10:04 left.
The Vikings answered back quickly when Castrejon blasted a 30-yard shot past Scott just 90 seconds later to push the lead to 6-1. Toledo made it 7-1 just over a minute after that off a long ball from Castrejon beating Scott on a low blast.
Alex Arrellano made it three goals in six minutes gathering a loose ball and beating Scott with 2:50 left for an 8-1 lead that would stand until halftime.
A beautiful goal for the Vikings in the fourth minute of the second half pushed their lead to 9-1. Oscar Gonzalez dribbled between and around three defenders, found Toledo in the box, who flicked it to Turcios, who lofted it past Scott with 15:23 left in the match.
“Those are things we practice but it’s nice to see them share the ball like that,” Horton said.
Toledo capped the scoring in the final seconds blasting a 15-yard rocket past Scott with 36 seconds left for a 10-1 East Hall lead and his sixth goal of the game.
NOTES: Toledo has been unstoppable with 10 goals and 4 assists in the first two rounds. ... It was the 11th straight win for the Vikings, who have outscored the opposition 82-7 in that span. ... Five different players recorded goals for the Vikings for the second consecutive match. ... The loss for the Trojans snapped a two-match road winning streak. ... Peach County came in having won 7 of its last 10 matches.
