OAKWOOD — Johnson opened its season in impressive fashion on Tuesday blanking Class 6A Habersham Central 6-0 at The Dungeon.
The Knights (1-0) got a pair of goals from Jorge Sandoval and one goal each from Ramon Aguilar, Alexis Ascencio, Jeffrey Castillo, and Daniel Trujillo in a balanced attack. They led 3-0 at halftime and blew the match open in the second half.
Castillo, Sandoval, and Trujillo each had an assist as well. Ãngel Sagrero and Jalil Chavez also added assists for Johnson.
Keepers Arturo Mata and Kristian Hernandez both saw action for the shut out.
The Knights next will travel to Gainesville, which beat East Hall on Tuesday in its opener, on Friday in their annual showdown.
Habersham Central (0-1) will travel to Oconee County on Friday.
GAINESVILLE 2,
EAST HALL 0
The Red Elephants scored both goals in the second half to break a scoreless tie in both teams' season-openers.
Gainesville (1-0) scored three minutes into the second half on a shot by Austin Contreras on an assist from Noe Vazquez. It stayed that way until just three minutes were left when Gainesville upped its lead on a goal by Gabriel Ixcoy Calel on an assist by Contreras.
The Gainesville defense, led by Marcos Morenos, Daniel Solis, Ozmar Marceleno and Christofer Ortiz, stymied the young Vikings (0-1) throughout. Josthin Arellano had 4 saves for Gainesville
East Hall, however, was forced to play with 10 men for the final 30 minutes of the game.
East Hall next will travel to Class 7A North Forsyth on Friday.
Gainesville next will play host to arch-rival Johnson on Friday at City Park.
CHESTATEE 3,
WEST HALL 2
Both teams opened their seasons in a back-and-forth affair at West Hall Stadium.
The War Eagles (1-0) rallied from a 1-0 halftime eficit with three gols in the second half.
Jesse Nunez scored early in the second half for Chestatee to tie the match at 1. Then Yahir Galvez scored minutes later to give Chestatee a 2-1 lead.
But West Hall (0-1) answered with a goal to tie the game at 2 midway through the second half.
Galvez, however, would get the game-winner for the War Eagles with just 90 seconds left in the match.
West Hall travels to Apalachee on Friday. Chestatee plays host to Cartersville on Friday as well.
FLOWERY BRANCH 5,
HEBRON CHRISTIAN 0
Goalkeepers JC Montoya (3 saves) and Cristian Guerra (2 saves) combined for the shutout in goal for the Falcons in their season-opener.
Cole Biasi and Max Garnett each had one goal and two assists along with Andree Jimenez, who had a goal and an assist as well. Marco Velasquez and Tyler Golasso each had one goal and Rafael Naranjo had one assist for Flowery Branch (1-0).
The Falcons will hit the road on Friday against Wesleyan in Norcross.
