Arnold boys soccer team looking ahead to playoff opener

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -This is a very big week for a handful of area soccer teams. They are getting set for their respective state playoff openers, or regional quarterfinals, the first of five matches a team needs to win to claim a state championship! Arnold is among that group gearing up for a playoff match Wednesday. The Marlins, will host St. Augustine in a couple of nights at Gavlak. Arnold with a unbeaten record of 17-0-2 and the 5A-1 district title, and those accomplishments part of the preseason to-do list for head coach Jona Hammond and his guys!

“I’ve been coaching now for seven years and this is our 7th district championship in a row.” coach Hammond told me via a Zoom call Monday. “Which you know, is pretty awesome for Arnold High School. That’s just one goal of many we have this year. Another one was to go undefeated in the regular season and we were able to do that. Another one was to be the number one team in the state and we were able to do that. So you know so far so good.”

The coach says the last two wins in district, a 3-1 win over Washington, and the 4-0 win over Fort Walton Beach weren’t the best games the teams played in recent weeks. He adds there are reasons for that beyond just how the team performed.

“You know we were playing away, and field conditions, kind of the perfect storm.” says Hammond “But we were able to weather it and get a win. So you know we were playing really good soccer that last (regular season) week. And it started to get better. Now here we are after a district championship with another week off. Or another six or seven days. But we’re at home. And I think that’s a big advantage for us. "

The Yellow Jackets are 5-10-4. They won their district tourney, that’s how they made it into the playoffs. Regardless of that, Hammond says his guys will not take anything for granted, they’ll work hard to get ready and he expects the team to be locked in Wednesday. That match Wednesday set for 6 o’clock.

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