Area boys soccer postseason starts next week

Nobody wants to enter a tournament feeling like they’re playing for second place. Three schools in next week’s District 2-3A boys soccer pairing at Arnold couldn’t be blamed for adopting that mantra.

Choctawhatchee, last year’s state runner-up in Class 4A, is the overwhelming favorite in the four-school district that begins on Tuesday. The Indians were cruising along at 17-2 late last week while Arnold was 4-11-4 and Rutherford 3-7-3.

The fact the host Marlins edged the Rams in a recent game dropped Rutherford to the No. 4 seed and a first-round collision with Choctawhatchee. Arnold faces Milton, 4-12-0.

“Choctaw, who took second place in their 4A state run last year, look unstoppable now that they have been dropped into 3A play.” Arnold coach Rick Sylvester said. “There is no question — Choctaw is, far and away the best team in the district and maybe in North Florida. Rutherford has a daunting task meeting them in their opening game.”

The Marlins have struggled through their worst season in Sylvester’s nine years guiding the program.

“Having faced a great deal of adversity this year, and sporting the worst record since I have been coaching here, we are clinging to the hope that we can beat Milton and somehow make a go of it in the final,” Sylvester said. “With very limited forces left after a long season of attrition, the odds are certainly against us, but we are hoping that we can make the best of our beautiful facility and put on a respectable show at home.”

Bay fashioned a 10-0-0 district record to earn the first seed in District 1-2A, that tournament at Walton in DeFuniak Springs. Tornadoes coach Ron Houpt knows that anything can happen in the playoffs witnessed by his team’s deep run last winter.

Bay, 13-6-3, by far looks like the best bet on paper to advance of any county squad.

“This district tournament has had many surprises in the past,” Houpt said. “We will focus on not letting that happen to us. We will play one game at a time and treat it as the most important game we will play this year. Actually it will be.

“We started off slowly this year and have made adjustments in the last month and are now ready to make a playoff run. We have had many injuries during the season, but now seem to all be healthy.”

Mosley, 10-6-1, lost a tiebreaker with Lincoln for the No. 3 seed in 2-4A which could become pivotal as it knocked the Dolphins into Monday’s play-in game. The ramifications were made more severe by the winner of that game advancing to meet top-seeded Chiles in one of Wednesday’s semifinals. Leon and Lincoln meet in the other.

“It’s a tough road to advance because we will face Chiles in the semi, who defeated us three times during the season,” Mosley coach Dave Skakal said. “If, however, we can beat Columbia for the fourth time we are optimistic because we played very well against Chiles the last time we saw them. Anything is possible in a district tournament.”

Port St. Joe posted a 4-1-1 record during the regular season against 1-1A opponents, with a pair of lopsided victories against first-round opponent Freeport. The top-seeded Tiger Sharks are 13-2-1 overall.

“We will be entering districts this year with a confident, but cautious nature,” coach Gary Hindley said. “We got a bit out of sorts during the holiday break, but our last several regular-season games were back on track.”

District schedules, all times CST

District 1-1A at Rocky Bayou

• Tuesday, Jan. 24: Port St. Joe vs. Freeport 6 p.m., Rocky Bayou vs. Franklin County 8 p.m.
• Friday, Jan. 27: Semifinal winners 7 p.m.

District 1-2A at Walton

• Monday, Jan. 23: Marianna vs. Bozeman 5 p.m., South Walton vs. Walton 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Jan. 25: Bay vs. Marianna-Bozeman winner 5 p.m., Pensacola Catholic vs. South Walton-Walton winner 7 p.m.
• Friday, Jan. 27: Semifinal winners 7 p.m.

District 2-3A at Arnold

• Tuesday, Jan. 24 Arnold vs. Milton 5 p.m., Choctawhatchee vs. Rutherford 7 p.m.
• Friday, Jan. 27: Semifinals winners 7 p.m.

District 2-4A at Chiles

• Monday, Jan. 23: Mosley vs. Lake City Columbia 5 p.m.
• Wednesday, Jan. 25: Leon vs. Lincoln 4 p.m., Mosley-Columbia winner vs. Chiles 6 p.m.
• Friday, Jan. 27: Semifinal winners 6 p.m.