Hobbton prepping for 2021 soccer season

The Hobbton boys’ soccer team is gearing up for its 2021 campaign as the start of the season is quickly approaching. The Wildcats are slated to take part of the Soccer at the Swamp jamboree at Clinton High School on August 19 and 20, as they take on Midway and South Johnston, but before that, they officially kick off their season against Princeton on August 16.

In the days and weeks leading up to that, though, Hobbton has been fervently preparing their team in practice and in drills with Wildcats head coach Jonathan Jacobs acknowledging that there are key members from last year’s team that will need to be placed. Pieces, Jacobs says, that were much experienced.

“We lost six seniors, five of whom had played since their freshman year,” Jacobs said. “The sixth one started in his junior year so he played the last two years of high school. Four of those five had been starters since their freshman year, so, they were really big for us from their freshman year on to their senior year. It’s going to be a huge loss losing them as they only lost one conference game their whole four years. Of course, that’s going to be hard to fill.”

The Wildcats went 8-3-1 last and reached the second round the NCHSAA 1A State Playoffs. The six seniors that Jacobs references were Charles Ibarra, Milton Cinto, Jared Sanchez, Melvin Cinto, Juan Ibarra, and Erick Soza.

Jacobs, though, says that there were players that missed last season that he hopes to get back, adding to the mix of players that did play and gained some experience.

“Hopefully we will have some players back that weren’t allowed to play last year because of COVID,” he continued. “I know of a two freshmen that are coming. I have heard that there are two more that hopefully can help us. I’ve seen one play and I think he will be able to help us from his freshman year. I want to get him some playing time to see how well he can actually perform at the varsity level. Other than that, it’s just wait and see who shows up August 2 and we will go from there.”

August 2 marks the official start of the Fall Season with the action kicking off on August 16. In addition to their game against Princeton, Jacobs says he’s looking forward to seeing how his team stacks up against the teams at the jamboree,

“We are really excited about the jamboree,” he said. “This year these will be actual games that will count on our record. We are excited to see how it works and hopefully it will be a good indicator of how we are and where we need to go,” he concluded.

Other teams lining the Wildcats’ schedule include Trask, East Columbus, and North Johnston. Even though this season marked a year of conference realignments, Hobbton remained in the Carolina 1A Conference and will face off against familiar foes Lakewood, Union, North Duplin, Neuse Charter, and Rosewood.