A quick 2-0 lead in the first half by the East Limestone Indians would have made it easy for Tanner’s soccer team “to quit,” according to Tanner Rattlers head coach Matt Smith. But three unanswered goals by the Rattlers the rest of the game, including the game winning goal by Randy Cortes with 4.8 seconds left, made it a great night on Friday at East Limestone High School.

“That type of game right there makes you champions,” Smith said.

In the 28th minute of the first half, East’s Angel Reyes found the back of the net with a header to give the Indians a 1-0 advantage. That advantage and what seemed like all the momentum grew as Tanner’s goaltender, Edwin Gonzalez, charged the ball on an incoming striker, only for it to be kicked out of his reach and into the back of the net to make it a 2-0 lead for East at the x minute mark.

Late in the first half, in the 13th minute, Cortes found Manuel Felipe on the break for a goal to put the Rattlers on the board with a score of 2-1, and that was the score at the end of the first half.

In the second, the momentum shifted to the Rattlers who got shot after shot on East’s keeper, Parker Moran.

“That kid right there is probably the best goalie we will face all year. He stopped two penalty kicks and several shots on goal,” Smith said. “He was really good.”

But the Rattlers were finally able to break through in the final 10 minutes. Cortes got the ball past the sliding Moran to tie things up at 2-2 with seven minutes remaining. In the final seconds of the game, Cortes got past the East defenders and drilled one into the (corner of the?)net just before time expired.

“Our guys dealt with adversity and they overcame that adversity. They were always making sure to stay grounded. When they jumped out on us early, it would have been real easy for our guys to quit,” Smith said. “But they hunkered down, settled into the game and we never gave up.”

East’s coach, Blake Tucker was disappointed the outcome, but was pleased with his team’s effort.

“Both teams worked hard. You got to give credit to Tanner, they’re a great team,” Tucker said. “We came out early and they came back at us. It was unfortunate how it ended, but I’m proud of how we played.”

Tanner shuts out Ardmore to win county championship

After a comeback 3-2 victory of East the previous night in the county semifinal matchup, the Rattlers picked up right where they left off, defeating the Ardmore Tigers 6-0 to win championship Saturday at Ardmore High School.

Nehemias Vicente, Frankie Vicente and Manuel Felipe each had one goal, while the scouring leader for Tanner, Randy Cortes, finished with another hat-trick. Cortes has 32 goals on the season in 14 games.

Tanner head coach mentioned that the game the previous night is the type of game “that makes you champions.” On Saturday, March 27, the Tanner Rattlers are officially 2021 Limestone County Champions.

The Rattlers now has an overall record of 12-2.