FORT WALTON BEACH — With more than 15 minutes left in Thursday’s Region 1-4A semifinal clash with Vanguard, Fort Walton Beach coach Mario Rodriguez did something few coaches do a win-or-go-home postseason tilt: He emptied his bench.
His starters, up 4-1 at this point on goals from Isaiah Esparza, Juanma Cotes, Brian Velasquez and Oscar Gallardo, had earned the rest. Only something telling ensued: Not a single starter sat for the rest of the game, instead choosing to stand on the bench and cheer on their Viking brothers in navy blue and red.
Near goals were celebrated like hat tricks. Defensive stops and clears drew “oohs and aahs.” Any 50-50 balls won were treated as though the Vikings had won a corner opportunity.
This was brotherhood at its finest, a culture that explains why the Vikings are the last area men’s team alive and on the doorsteps of a second straight Final 4 appearance.
“It’s a culture that we said, here’s next man up,” Rodriguez said. “And these guys at practice, even before tryouts, they have each other’s back. And that’s the culture we have here. It’s next man up. And it’s kind of the expectation, going forward, these guys love each other, and even if a player’s down, they’re gonna boost them up for next game. It’s always, ‘Hey, you’re next.’ “
Cotes, a senior who netted the game-winner in the 21st minute, loved his view from the sideline over the final 15-plus minutes.
“I think it’s very exciting to see those guys out there. They’ve earned it,” Cotes said. “They did really well out there and it shows that our bench is as strong as our starting 11.”
It’s rare to have a team so comfortable in a Sweet 16 tilt that it can empty its bench and rest its starters for nearly a fifth of the game. Yet here Fort Walton Beach is, a juggernaut with eight seniors ready to defend its region title and get a little redemption in the process.
“Man, I’m grateful to have these guys,” Rodriguez said. “I know we’re losing eight seniors after this year, but this program just continues to reload. It’s just something else. This program is buying into whatever we got going on, and it’s just a winning culture. It’s a big culture thing.”
The redemption part comes after losing 1-0 to Wakulla earlier this postseason in the District 1-4A championship. Even so, the Vikings retained the No. 1 seed in the region and with it homefield advantage for all three rounds, including Tuesday’s Region 1-4A championship at Steve Riggs Stadium.
“They’re a great team,” Rodriguez said of Wakulla. “Obviously we didn’t play the best in the last matchup, but it’s soccer. I think that loss lit a fire under us, and we’re coming to win it all again, here, on our home pitch. It means the world to have the fans here, the student body here. Steve Riggs is going to be loud Tuesday night.”
Echoed Cotes: “We’re ready to take on anyone at this point. In that loss, we learned that we have stay strong when things don’t bounce our way and we have to keep fighting.”
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Fort Walton Beach boys soccer empties bench, routs Knights in Sweet 16
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
