Jackson boys soccer team rides early goal past Perryville

The Jackson High School boys soccer team got off to a fast start thanks to a pretty goal in the first minute.

That set the tone for Monday's dominant 4-1 win over visiting Perryville in Jackson's final regular-season game.

"We came out strong tonight," said Jackson senior Law Duncan, who led the Indians with two goals. "We had a lot more intensity and energy this game than in the past few. We won a lot of balls."

Jackson (14-5) put Perryville (14-7) into a hole just 54 seconds after the start of play.

Senior Zack Taylor sent a free kick to the left of the Pirates' goal from about 25 yards out. Senior Clay Baker headed the ball to senior Blake Kingree, who tapped it in.

"That was a really nice goal," Jackson coach Zach Walton said. "It got us off to a good start."

It was not the start the Pirates were looking for.

"Scoring in the first minute I really thought knocked our sails," Perryville coach Jerry Fulton said.

The Pirates managed to regroup and play Jackson relatively even for the next 30-plus minutes. Perryville had a few solid chances but could not capitalize.

"I thought we came back a little bit," Fulton said.

Jackson made it 2-0 with just less than six minutes left in the half when Duncan scored after an impressive individual effort by junior Keagan Cavanah.

Cavanah outfought a Perryville player to save a ball from going past the end line to the right of the Pirates' goal. He sent a nice cross to Duncan, who was stationed on the left side and had an easy shot at the net.

"I feel like we played pretty good tonight," Cavanah said. "We got our passes down pat."

The Indians broke open the contest by scoring twice in the first seven minutes of the second half.

Duncan got his second goal from in close only three minutes into the final period.

Cavanah made it 4-0 less than four minutes later when he got to a loose ball in front of the net and blasted it home.

Perryville broke the shutout with about 28 minutes remaining on a goal by senior Bryce Weibrecht. But the Pirates got no closer.

"I thought our boys did a nice job of playing possession, playing quick," Walton said.

Duncan said the performance was a good way for the Indians to head into district play.

"We needed a good game like this under our belt before districts," he said.

Fulton did not seem overly disappointed.

"Jackson is a good team. They played very well," Fulton said. "But they're not in our conference or our district."