OAKWOOD, Ga. — After playing three matches in five days last week in the middle of the 2025 playoffs, the four-day layoff leading up to the Class 3A state finals on Wednesday for Johnson must have seemed like a veritable summer vacation.
But Knights' coach Frank Zamora, who is leading them into their fifth-straight title match -- this time against Northwest Whitfield at McEachern High School -- said it’s been back to business-as-usual. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
“We finally got some rest, but we’ve been practicing and working hard to get ready,” he said on Monday, three days after shutting out No. 1-ranked Oconee County 2-0 on the road in the semifinals. “You can’t really relax too much at this time of the year. The next match is always around the corner.”
Consider the corner turned. And if they can pull off their third title in four years on Wednesday, it may well have been the most earned of them all.
The Oconee County win was the end of a five-day whirlwind where they completed a 2-1 road victory over Calhoun on Monday that began on the Friday before and then they returned the following day to hold off rival Chestatee (also 2-1) in a physical war in the quarterfinals at The Dungeon.
And even if you take out the three matches in a week, it hasn’t been an easy road for the second-ranked but 10th-seeded Knights (15-4). Northwest (13-2) is the third top four team in Class 3A in the scorbord poll that they have faced in the last three rounds. Northwest was ranked third while Chestatee was ranked fourth in the final scorbord poll.
Johnson, ranked in the top three most of the season, dropped to the 10th slot in the playoffs based on its second-place finish in Region 6-3A due to a 1-0 loss to GAC.
“We've beat some real good teams in the playoffs. We've had a tough route to get to where we are, but we also like that,” Zamora said.
Over the past decade, the Knights have built themselves into a perennial title threat every year, having played in now eight championship matches in that span. However, the 2025 campaign had a different aura surrounding it after they graduated nearly two dozen quality players who had won back-to-back state titles in 2022 and 2023. Add to that a very uncharacteristic 2-2 start and then dropping their first region match of the season to GAC -- the Knights' first region loss of any kind in 10 years that snapped a 63-game region win streak -- and a small crack suddenly seemed to be opening in their armor.
“Maybe there was a lot of doubt from people outside the locker room, but in the locker room, we never doubted that we would be in this spot where we are right now,” Zamora said. “Like you mentioned, we did graduate a lot of people over the last couple of years, but we also had a good group of seniors who were returning. We were gonna have to work harder and, you know, adjust.
“We had multiple talks in the locker room about just believing in one another and never doubting each other and trusting the process. We knew we would be here playing in the championship game. We just took a different route this year.”
Northwest is also no stranger to championship soccer. The Bruins won the 2018 Class 4A title and lost the 2022 Class 4A title match to arch-rival Southeast Whitfield.
It’s also a rematch of a 1-0 Johnson victory over the Bruins in the 2024 Class 4A semifinals.
“Northwest is a good team with some very talented players. They play a similar style to us and play it very well,” Zamora said. “They defend well, and they push numbers into the attack. They attack quickly and look for the opportunity to play a little bit more direct and get numbers into the attack.”
If there is a difference between the 2025 Knights and some of the powerhouse teams over the last three or four years it’s they don’t have a Jorge Sandoval to lean on when they need a goal. Instead, they have to rely on a more team approach using ball control to create chances from anywhere they can find them.
Zamora said that a slight change in strategy has been playing to their advantage in the playoffs.
Captain Jalil Chavez, Junior Castillo, Daniel Trujillo, with Yannick Niyibigira coming off the bench, all can score when needed. Evan Rohde has had a pair of huge goals the last two rounds as well.
Castillo leads the team in goals (21) while Chavez has 16 goals and leads the team in assists. Against Calhoun and Chestatee, Chavez provided the eventual game-winning goals, while Castillo iced the game against Oconee County with a goal with 17 seconds left.
“It's definitely more spread out across the board this year,” Zamora said. “Junior can produce at any time, and so can Jalil. But this year has been a combination of if they mark one of the forwards, then the other one takes advantage.
“If they're focused on Jalil, guess what? Now Junior is available. If they focus on Junior, now Danny's available. It just opens up a lot of options for us and more opportunities.”
Zamora said all the early-season talk of their dynasty-like run coming to an end was most definitely premature. They have saved their best for the end of the season.
But without the star-quality of some of the past Johnson championship teams is this Knights’ group poised to add another trophy to the burgeoning case?
“You know, I think we're playing some of the best soccer we've had all season. We've had a tough draw in the playoffs,” he reminded. “I truly do believe that the guys have what it takes. I'm hoping we can continue on that trend of playing the best soccer when it matters the most. And that's kind of where we are now.”
