Saturday, October 11, 2025 will go down as one of the great days in the history of Delta Eagles soccer — perhaps even the greatest.
That afternoon, Delta boys soccer clinched its first sectional trophy in nine years with a thrilling 2-1 win in extra time against Oak Hill in Sectional 23 at Mississinewa High School. Later that night, Delta girls soccer broke an even longer streak without a sectional title, winning its first in 23 years with a 9-0, 60-minute win over New Castle in Sectional 24 at Yorktown High School.
For a school with just four sectional trophies between its two soccer programs — two for the boys and two for the girls — this season has been a wildly successful one for Delta. The boys’ 13-2 regular season record was its best ever, while the girls went 15-1 and found themselves ranked in the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association coaches poll for the first time ever, earning the No. 20 spot in the final poll of the season.
Both teams will advance to regional semifinals this week. The Eagles boys will host Guerin Catholic on Wednesday, Oct. 15, while the girls will play at Oak Hill on Thursday, Oct. 16. Both matches will kick off at 6 p.m. on their respective dates with regional championships to follow on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Maddox Huffman’s clutch header in extra time lifts Delta boys soccer to victory
Delta’s road to a boys soccer sectional title was a challenging one. The Eagles drew a first-round bye in the Sectional 23 bracket but took on a pair of solid teams from the Central Indiana Conference, knocking off CIC champion Eastbrook, 2-0, in the semifinals before facing CIC runner-up Oak Hill in the sectional championship.
Delta got off to a perfect start in the final with sophomore center back Keller Bartlett finding the goal with a header in the third minute of the game. From there, the Eagles entered a defensive slugfest with the Golden Eagles that was mostly stuck in the midfield. Just has he has been all season, Bartlett was a huge factor in Delta’s defensive prowess as his return from an LCL strain last season continued to pay dividends.
“It feels good to be back there with my friends and working together as a team,” Bartlett said. “We all help each other, and it just feels amazing being out here together.”
Both teams played a tough, physical game, and the officials seemed willing to let it stay that way with limited foul calls. The physical nature of the match made it an emotionally charged one for players and fans alike as the clock ticked on.
“As long as it’s that way for both teams, our guys have done a great job of adjusting to that,” Delta coach Tony Pierce said. “We play a physical style anyway, so our guys won’t back down from that, and if the referee’s going to let it go, then that’s how the game’s going to go. He could have kept a little tighter lid on it, but it was fair for both teams I felt.”
Delta took a 1-0 lead into halftime and held Oak Hill off the scoreboard until the 62nd minute when Golden Eagles senior Caden Myers hit a beautiful shot off the right goalpost, putting it in the perfect spot to make it unsavable for Delta keeper Elijah Bell. The intense match entered extra time with the score knotted at 1-1.
Four minutes into extra time, Delta senior Maddox Huffman — who has scored more goals than anyone in this history of Delta boys soccer — converted the biggest score of his illustrious career. The Eagles were awarded a corner kick, and junior midfielder Senad Selimovic placed it right in the box. Huffman elevated for the header and drilled it into the back of the net for what would be the game-winning goal.
“I’ve been waiting for a moment all game, just to go in there and put one in the goal,” Huffman said. “It feels great. Ever since my freshman year, losing to Eastbrook in a rough game, (a sectional) is something I’ve been chasing for a while, so it feels great to finally get out there and do that.”
The victory gave Delta its first boys soccer sectional title since 2016 and third overall. Prior to the match, Pierce made sure his team understood the historical magnitude of it for the school.
“We took them to the trophy room at the school today,” Pierce said. “We showed them there’s one sectional trophy for the soccer team in a room full of tennis and basketball and football, so we just talked about how this is their day to get their name in history and get something in that cabinet for them.”
Avery Jarrells scores six times as Delta girls soccer cruises to sectional crown
Later in the evening, Mason Turner — a member of Delta’s 2016 boys sectional champion team — became a sectional champion once again as the coach of Delta’s girls team. He became the first person to bring the school a soccer sectional title as both a player and a coach.
“It means a lot,” Turner said. “I’ve always told my girls I know what it takes to make it here. I thought we would bring it home last year. I did a lot of self-thinking about me and my coaching style and didn’t want to make some of the mistakes I made last year, wanted to work even harder to be able to bring it home this year, especially with this group of seniors that I have.”
The Eagles girls had a much less thrilling road to their sectional title, winning both the semifinal against Jay County and the final against New Castle in convincing fashion with a 9-0 final score in each match. Freshman striker Avery Jarrells — the top girls goal scorer in Class 2A — scored a hat trick against Jay County and doubled that with six goals against New Castle.
“I just think it’s memorable” Jarrells said. “I get to go out here and play with my family and all my friends. I just think it’s an amazing experience doing it all with them.”
It was a particularly meaningful win for Delta’s 12 seniors, which make up over half of the team’s 23-player roster. The Eagles lost a heartbreaker in the Sectional 24 championship last season, falling to their archrival Yorktown in a penalty kicks shootout. Bouncing back with a sectional title this season was a source of motivation all season that finally came to fruition on Saturday night.
“It’s been a long time coming,” senior goalkeeper Ruth Sherck said. “I’ve played with some of these girls for a really long time. I’m proud of this team because they work hard. I think just being a family, connecting well, knowing each other — it’s all about morale. We’re a talented team, but it wouldn’t work if we didn’t work together.”
The Eagles won two girls soccer sectional titles under the single-class format in 2000 and 2002 but had not won one since then. After dominating their way through the regular season and sectional bracket, the Delta girls will face a big challenge at undefeated Oak Hill (17-0-1) next week, but the Eagles will carry plenty of well-earned confidence to Converse.
“We always say, ‘Be confident, not cocky,'” Turner said. “We know that going forward, every team’s going to be good. Coming into sectionals, we played these teams before, so we kind of knew what to expect. Now, we’re going into a little bit of uncharted territory, so we got to make sure we’re coming into each game ready to play our game.”
Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Delta doubles down on soccer sectional championships as boys and girls teams both win titles
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
