OAKWOOD — Just before kickoff, Bryant Anaya and his Johnson teammates steeled themselves for the battle ahead.
"We knew Buford was going to come to play; and they did what they had to do -- but we weren't going to give in," Anaya said.
Already known for their skill, the Knights proved they can win the dogfights too on Tuesday, as Johnson held off Buford 2-1 in the Class AAAA semifinals in Oakwood.
The outcome propelled the Knights (20-0-1) to their second state title game appearance in three years -- where they will take on defending Class AAAA champ St. Pius at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Macon.
After displaying the grit necessary to earn that right, Johnson feels it has the right mix to claim the program's first state crown after halting the Wolves' incredible momentum in reaching their first ever state semifinal.
"Hopefully that prepared us; we know we've got to go down there and work 10 times harder -- 100 times harder," Anaya said. "But this means everything. We worked together to get back here, and we're excited to have this opportunity."
Fabian Abarca provided the necessary offensive firepower for Johnson on Tuesday, scoring once in each half to help book a return trip to the Class AAAA finale. Yet it was the Knights' defense that made the biggest difference down the stretch, holding off a determined Wolves team that scored with just over 19 minutes remaining and then worked tirelessly to find the equalizer.
"It was two good teams that wanted it just going for it," Johnson coach Brian Shirley said. "We had to stay calm and continue to execute and we did that tonight.
"These guys -- we set a goal at the beginning of the season to get back to the championship game, and they weren't going to let anything get in their way."
The two teams set the tone for a physical encounter early, each throwing itself into challenges and battling for every loose ball.
The Knights were more often on the attack, however, as the Wolves (11-6-2) dropped deep looking to deny space to Johnson's tricky midfielders and forwards.
It was a style that yielded few clean looks at goal for the Knights, but instead of frustration they responded with determination -- and Abarca put the exclamation point on that work.
Running on to a perfectly-weighted pass from Marco Vazquez, Abarca got just enough touch on the ball to evade a defender before burying a 10-yard shot into the roof of the net for a 1-0 lead with 16:47 left in the first half.
The score -- and play -- remained taut through the remainder of the half, however, as Johnson continued to press for a bigger advantage and Buford worked to deny it.
The Knights so nearly doubled their lead with just a minute left before the interval, as David Flores reacted first to a looping ball and ripped an 18-yard volley -- only to see it cannon off the Buford crossbar.
The frame of the goal again proved cruel to Johnson in the second half, as Abarca took his turn to blast a shot off the frame after beating a defender to a pass and creating space in the Wolves' penalty area.
There was no frame to rescue the Wolves from Abarca's free kick prowess, however. And midway through the second half, the senior left Buford goalkeeper Will Davis no chance when he dispatched a 28-yard rocket into the Wolves net for a 2-0 lead.
The strike touched off wild celebrations amongst the blue-clad faithful, who could see Macon within their team's grasp. But Buford did not yield the spot easily, and the visitors fought back just seconds later to set up a nerve-fraying finale.
Uriel Galarza provided the spark for the Wolves' reacting to a loose ball in the Johnson penalty area after a long throw-in from Joe Guiney was directed back across the goalmouth. Galarza's close-range blast made it 2-1 with 19:13 remaining.
The strike only added gasoline to the burning embers of the physical battle, as the two teams continued to tussle. And Buford took advantage of every free kick to lob balls into the Johnson penalty area, but Rigo Campa, Edgar Torres and goalkeeper Cooper Bowen held firm to keep Johnson on course for Macon.
"Rigo Campa was outstanding tonight cleaning up every loose ball in the middle of the park" Shirley said. "We had some confusion on the throw-in there and the game got a little wide-open after that, but we didn't let it get away from us."
Now Johnson can focus on one last contest, a fact that became clear just seconds after the celebrations of Tuesday ended.
"Our guys know they can enjoy this tonight, but we have to get back to work tomorrow," Shirley said. "We've got one more to go."
