Johnson began its Class 3A second round journey in the Georgia High School Association soccer playoffs on Friday. The Knights hope to finally be able put the finishing touches on it on Monday.
Where last we left off, Johnson had a 1-0 lead over Calhoun when torrential rains hit west Georgia Friday night, forcing the suspension of play with 12:37 left in the first half.
They tried to resume on Saturday but the Yellow Jackets’ field was ruled unplayable even as the Knights’ team buses were already rolling and en route. They had to turn around and head back to Oakwood. They settled on Monday.
It’s a situation most long-time coaches, including Johnson’s Frank Zamora, rarely, if ever, encounter.
“I’ve never been a part of something like this. It's definitely an unusual situation,” he said Monday as they prepared to leave for Calhoun for a third time in four days.
But he said you have to be ready no matter what time, or day, the whistle blows.
“It's the playoffs, you know, and you have to be ready to play a full game, regardless of whether it's chunked into two halves or three or or four, or however many days it takes to play the game. You have to be ready,” he said.
“Obviously, I believe the home team will always have a little bit of an advantage in situations like this, just because they're not making those long road trips. But at the end of the day we just have to be able to push through and find a way to emerge from all of this.”
Waiting in the wings for the winner in the quarterfinal round is Chestatee, who was able to knock off Class 3A No. 2 seed Richmond Academy in penalty kicks on Friday in Augusta. It was one of two upsets and three overtime games in Class 3A in the Sweet 16. The GHSA had set the Elite 8 to be played on Tuesday with the semifinals set for Friday.
No one is sure how that will be settled as of Monday. However, the Knights, who were the Class 4A state runners-up in 2024, face the prospect of perhaps playing three games in five days if they continue to find a way to advance.
“To be honest, we haven’t had any conversations with Chestatee yet. I haven’t even really given it much thought,” Zamora said. “First, we have to take care of business today or we won’t even be able to have that conversation.
“But you saw what happened on Friday. You can't relax for any time. We’ve talked about that over the weekend. I feel like we're focused and locked in.”
