Athletics News
Season Preview: Boys Soccer
2023 was unforgettable for the Indians. Hit rewind and you see a team that went 16-1, losing only in overtime in the Sweet 16. TFS won its first-ever Region Championship and grabbed a #1 state ranking. The total score was a dominant 113-6 in favor of Tallulah Falls, who crushed several team and individual records, both single-season and all-time marks.
Fast forward to present, and Jeremy Stille in his fifth season over the program hopes to have a similarly-historic campaign. That’s entirely possible with nearly all of the standout players back, including All-State senior forward and all-time TFS goal-leader Austin Ball, who was the Region Player of the Year. He had 39 goals and 16 assists, both single-season records as well. Fellow All-State members and seniors Jake Wehrstein and Brit Shaw roll it back to anchor the back line.
The team will miss the contributions of next-level star Jake Hall, who went on to Randolph-Macon College, as well as Simeon Conjagic. However, GK Kelton Reynolds, who holds the single-season (13) and career (17) shutout records, and posted 77 saves, returns between the pipes. Other standouts coming back include Clay Kafsky (6 G, 13 A), Landon Hall (11 G, 11 A), Koen Eller (4 G, 2 A), Jackson Cording (3 G, 4 A), Jared Mullis (2 G, 2 A), and many others.
“Austin led the team in assists and goals last year will be returning for his senior year,” echoes Stille. “The defense of Wehrstein, Shaw, Josiah Turney, and Laith Reynolds will all be returning. Midfielders Kafsky, Hall, Mullis, Cording, Eller, and Jacob Mitchell as well. We return our keeper Kelton Reynolds, who set personal defensive records last year.”
All that to say, this team is loaded with talent, including incoming players such as Kale Borchers (21 G, 11 A) and Tyson Hall (7 G, 3 A) who starred for the MS team last year as 8th-graders.
“We should have a solid foundation to continue to build on as we move into this season,” adds Stille, last year’s Region Coach of the Year. “We have intelligent seasoned upperclassmen on the team, for the first time in a few years, and will be able to integrate some exceptional young talent into the squad as well. We should have more depth this season, allowing us to be less fatigued later in games and later in the season. Although we may not hit the statistical highs that we reached last season, we definitely plan on competing for a region championship and a deep run in the state playoffs.”
The Indians will open their much-anticipated season on January 31 in a non-counting scrimmage at home against Seckinger. The official season and home-opener is February 6 against Athens Academy. There are eight home matches including the scrimmage, with six road matches.
The JV Indians meanwhile went 7-0 in their inaugural season, and are built with a roster of players on the cusp of the varsity level. The opening game for the JV team is February 5 at White County.