While nine returning seniors to the boys soccer team had tasted state playoff victory
Feb. 4 for the first time in Mingus Union High School history, it was their head coach’s son who helped make the difference in their first win of the new season Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Ezekiel Behlow, the only freshman on the MUHS varsity boys soccer team, punched in a goal with two minutes remaining before halftime to give the Marauders a commanding 2-0 lead over Coconino High School they would never relinquish.
Three-year lettermen Luis and Martin Hernandez also provided strong minutes at center midfielder and left wing to help the boys varsity survive a self-inflicted goal in the second half and rebound from a controversial 3-2 loss Nov. 25 at Mohave High School in Bullhead City.
“[Luis] is ready for the big time now,” head coach Calvin Behlow said. “I need him up front.
“We gave up an ‘own-goal’ but did what we had to for the win.”
Senior Orlando Machado, one of 11 players on their final drive to get back to where no Mingus boys soccer team had been before February — the second round of the state playoffs — got the Marauders on the board first after 19 minutes had elapsed in the first half.
“Second half was not as pretty as [the] first,” Behlow said. “Without two senior midfielders, we had to play with heart and were able to earn a ‘w’”.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Dec. 3, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
