Sequoyah snaps skid with Tellico rout

Editor’s Note: The Advocate & Democrat reached out to Tellico Plains’s coach Miguel Ovalle but did not receive a response prior to publication.

Sequoyah soccer busted the burden of a three-game losing streak emphatically on Thursday.

The Chiefs neared a decade of goals against county rival Sequoyah when they beat Tellico 9-2.

“They came together, played together and did a good job,” Sequoyah coach Lindsay Liszeski said.

Danilo Camacho, Jefferson Garcia and Christian Palacios all noted braces for the Chiefs (3-2) while Sequoyah’s eight-goal first half overshadowed Tellico’s bright effort from early on.

“Tellico was really impressive. They were much improved — they were organized and communicated. Tellico did all the things right,” Liszeski added. “They had a good thing going for them, so our guys had to step up their game a little bit.”

It took Sequoyah 13 minutes to breach Tellico’s defense before exploding for eight goals in 27 minutes.

Brandon Herrera and Jimmy Vasquez put themselves on the scoresheet in the first half, joining the earlier-mentioned three.

“They were all communicating really well and passed around like they needed to. When our second string got in, Diego Contreras was playing really hard,” Liszeski added. “I thought our defense stood out. Oscar (Chavarria) was right on top of it whenever they would get down the field.”

Sequoyah found a ninth goal in the second half when Marco Lee finished off Brayden West’s opportunity.

“In the second half, some of our less experienced guys got to get out there and they did a really good job of working together and playing hard defense,” Liszeski said. “We have come off of three hard losses so we needed this to boost us.

“I thought it was great in the second half for our guys that don’t always play in the main event.”

Camacho’s brace was special. The freshman typically is a spectator to the offense from his goalkeeper position, but he made the most of his opportunity in the outfield.

Denio Jeminez stood his ground filling in as Sequoyah’s netminder. The junior notched 11 saves in the win.

“I was really proud of them and how they played. It was a fun game and we needed the morale boost,” Liszeski said. “We needed to get our heads on and our act together. We know the competition in the district is going to be really tough.”

Sequoyah starts district play with two contests next week. Four of the next six contests are in District 5-AA action.