BETHANY — Throughout the 4A state tournament opener between Bethany and Clinton, the Red Tornados constantly attacked on the Bronchos’ side of the pitch.

Clinton finally broke through in the second half on an eye-popping goal for a 1-0 win to eliminate Bethany Tuesday (May 5) at SNU Football Stadium.

Bethany coach Sean Williams called the winning shot “unsaveable”

Early in the second half, Bethany was unable to fully clear the ball and Clinton senior Austin Reynaga found space. He hit a left-footed shot that slipped past a diving Seth Greiner, giving Clinton a 1-0 lead with about 30 minutes remaining in the contest.

Reynaga’s shot from the right side of the goal curved as it sailed into the far left corner of the goal, just out of Greiner’s reach.

“There’s nothing he could do about that one,” Williams said of the lone goal against Greiner. “It hurts for him, as good as he is,”

The score highlighted a physcial match where the Reds had plenty of chances and were repelled the Bronchos many times.

Clinton nearly scored in the opening minute, getting multiple quick looks at goal, including shots that hit the frame, but Bethany survived the early pressure. From there, the first half settled into a tight, possession-by-possession match. Bethany created some dangerous moments through seniors Eli Marquez, Griffin Tarrant and juniors Cody Martin and Brian Zelareyes, but Clinton junior goalkeeper Willie Salido repeatedly came off his line to shut down chances before they fully developed.  

The match was scoreless at halftime, with both teams’ defenses controlling the game. Clinton’s back line consistently put multiple defenders around the ball, while Bethany’s defense — led by players such as seniors Carter Buck, Denton Jaggers and junior Westyn Hoefar — kept the Red Tornadoes from finishing several promising runs.

Bethany pushed for the equalizer over the final 30 minutes. Marquez took free kicks and corner kicks, Jaggers moved forward at times, and the Bronchos tried to generate chances through Hoefar, Tarrant and the Zelareyes brothers. But, Clinton’s defense continued to swarm the ball. In the final minutes, Clinton protected the lead by clearing balls into open space and forcing Bethany to restart from deep positions.

When Williams saw Clinton opposite his team on the bracket, he knew what to expect and that the Red Tornados were better than a fourth seed.

His Bronchos teams regularly play Clinton in non-district matches

“‘It’s always a way to test us in non-district play, and see where we’re at, what our mentality is.”

Despite more Bethany shots on goal in the second half, Williams said miscues made a difference.

“We couldn’t slow our bodies down and slow our minds down to get the technique right,” Williams said. “I thought we just kind of rushed everything tonight.

“It’s just they make you play fast. And so we just didn’t we didn’t handle our moments as well as they handled theirs.”

Bethany has six seniors graduating. Williams pointed out that many of them played important roles and have started for all four years.

The Broncho seniors include Greiner, Marquez, Jaggers, Tarrant, Buck and Ethen Herren.

“I thought other than composure in the 18 (the penalty area), I thought everybody did what I asked them to do, and I’ll sleep fine with that,” William said. “I always tell them that effort’s the only thing that matters to me and I thought they battled for everything.”

Photographs courtesy of Kristie Escoe of Life in Action Photography.

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Clinton (9-5)	0	1	1
Bethany (6-6)	0	0	0