On an individual team basis in 2023, northeast Georgia was never better represented than when Johnson was voted No. 1 in the nation to end the season in the final United Soccer Coaches High School national rankings poll.
The Knights rolled to their first-ever undefeated season on the way to the Class 4A state title, their second straight championship after winning Class 5A in 2022. It’s the first time any team from northeast Georgia has ever been crowned national champion.
However, from an area perspective, the 2023 campaign overall may have been considered somewhat of a disappointment. Just three teams from the northeast Georgia area managed to make it into the semifinals, with Flowery Branch in Class 5A and Union County in Class 2A joining the Knights.
East Hall in Class 4A was the only other team to make it out of the second round. Ten of the 14 area teams that made the GHSA playoffs lost in the opening round, spanning all eight classifications.
What will 2024 have in store for northeast Georgia area teams? There will be your usual suspects like Gainesville and Johnson, with fellow Region 8-4A foes East Hall and Chestatee and an ever-improving Cherokee Bluff squad ready to challenge the Knights.
West Hall finished second in Region 7-3A last season and lost to eventual state champion Coahulla Creek and could be a challenger for a region title.
Gainesville, which was one of those teams to fall in the first round, is expected to challenge again in Region 8-6A.
Coming into the 2024 season, there are plenty of questions surrounding even the top teams like Johnson. But there also is a plethora of young talent waiting to show their skills on the pitch this season.
Starting with the Knights, they graduated four of their top five players from last season but still have more than enough firepower to try and defend their title.
“We graduated some great players, but we were a young team, and they got a lot of playing time while we battled injuries (last year),” coach Frank Zamora said. “We might not be as explosive as the last couple of seasons but we have a lot of depth. I expect us to be able to make a run at defending our title again.”
Senior striker Edgar Vazquez, who had a breakout season in 2023, returns and should be the tip of the offensive spear. Vazquez had two goals and an assist in last year’s state championship game.
“Edgar had a phenomenal season in 2023, and we’re expecting even bigger things this year, as we are with a lot of our guys,” Zamora said.
Seniors Juliann Pimentel and David Arteaga and juniors Alex Gonzalez, midfielder, and forwards Jalil Chavez and Daniel Trujillo offer several options to a potent attack with Gonzalez at the helm.
Defensively, the biggest change will be at keeper, where senior Michael Perez takes over for Christian Hernandez, who started the past three seasons. Senior three-year starter Andres Galicia returns as their most experienced backline player defender, along with sophomore Josue Mendoza, who started every game last year as a freshman, and junior Miguel Duran.
They have a challenging and entertaining schedule with non-region powers Gainesville and Dalton, along with a brutal Region 8-4A schedule including North Oconee, Chestatee, and East Hall, where all four teams were ranked most of last season.
The East Hall boys had a young Vikings group in 2023 that made an impressive run to the Elite 8. They return the bulk of that team in 2024.
The Vikings have seven starters back from last year’s team, including all four starting defenders, led by seniors Oscar Barcenas and Jose Sesmas. On offense, senior three-year starter and leading scorer from 2023 Jonathan Torres returns. He will be joined by returning senior starters in Ainor Romero-Turcios (midfielder) and (forward/midfielder).
East Hall finished just behind the powerful Knights in Region 8-4A, and coach Chris Henry is expecting his group to challenge for a region title.
“While we had a great season last year, we were disappointed in the way that we got knocked out in the Elite 8,” Henry said. “We are in the toughest region in Class 4A, and even making it to the state tournament is a tough task. If you are able to make it out of our region and qualify for the state tournament, it has shown that no matter what seed you are, you have the ability to make a deep run.”
The Gainesville boys are coming off a frustrating season as the Red Elephants lost a bid for the Region 8-6A title on the final day and were part of Region 8-6A teams being swept out in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Red Elephants, who finished second in the region, graduated several key players from last year’s group and come into 2024 with a young group overall. However, they have plenty of talent.
Gainesville coach Eli Viviant said the expectations never change.
“Our goal for this year is to win region,” Viviant said. “Our team is really young but talented. It’s a deep group, which hopefully will help us share the load and go deep into the playoffs.”
Offensively, Miguel Galaviz, Daniel Galaviz, Gabriel Ixcoy, Justin Arriaga, and Hautfadi Nyembue should give the Red Elephants plenty of firepower. But Viviant said they are still searching for the right combinations on the backline as they head into the season.
“Defensively, we’re still working on this,” he said.
The Chestatee boys were ranked most of the 2023 campaign and return eight key players from that group, including senior keeper Nate Ibarra. They also return three of their top four defenders, senior Alex Vasquez and juniors Edwin Rodriguez and Denny Zamudio.
Three midfielders are back, with seniors Nick Felix and Javi Rebollar and junior Jeff Zamudio.
Chestatee coach Mike Herrin said despite the tough region and challenging schedule, he expects his group to make a run at the playoffs.
“Our expectation is always to make the state tournament,” he said. “But we realize that we have a tough region. We did a breakdown of last season’s stats and had some eye-opening revelations: things we hope to correct and things we hope to continue doing.”
Flowery Branch is the defending Region 8-5A champion, but the Falcons could be in rebuild mode after graduating several key players from the Final 4 team.
