James Clemens varsity boys soccer benefits from unbeaten JV and freshman squads
MADISON – Despite not earning a playoff berth, this has been a turnaround season for the James Clemens varsity boys soccer team nonetheless.
Coming off the first non-losing season (10-10-2 in 2024) under fifth-year coach Jared Keesee, the Jets have clinced their first winning record in his tenure. They were 12-8-3 with two games remaining in the regular season.
“This is the strongest that we’ve been,” the coach said. “Those players now have that expectation that we should be winning.”
That resurgence stems, in part, from a deep program featuring nearly 80 players at three levels. The junior varsity and freshmen squads are on the verge of unbeaten seasons, which has never happened at either of those levels in the school’s 13-year history.
Keesee said having all three squads with winning records, to go along with a combined 11 tournament wins in his five seasons, “definitely gives us something to point to, as far as our development. It gives us that momentum.”
Last Thursday, James Clemens had all three teams in action and came away without a loss. The varsity defeated Hartselle 3-1 behind a goal and an assist from Anthony Ortiz. Isaac Coon and Andrew Bendickson also scored in that match.
The Jets improved to 21-0-4 at the JV level with a 5-1 win over Hartselle. Jacob Spilar, Benji Day, Cayden Swinford and Aneesh Maruvada scored but the most notable goal came on a penalty kick by Hamilton Hosier, a goalkeeper.
The freshman team remained undefeated at 14-0-2 with a 1-1 tie against Gadsen City. The Clemens goal came from Chiemelie Chidebelu.
The varsity team has outscored the opposition by a 55-39 margin with the JV and freshman squads holding 80-14 and 50-7 scoring advantages, respectively.
The Jets’ first winning varsity record since going 9-7-1 in the 2017-18 season might be even better if they could figure out a way to beat Bob Jones. Including a 4-0 loss earlier this season, James Clemens is on a 1-8 skid against the Patriots.
“We always struggle against Bob Jones,” Kessee said.
As for the varsity team’s top scorers, Michael Perez has a team-leading 14 goals and four assists. The others are Jesus Sanchez (eight goals, four assists), Ortiz (6, 10), E.J. Biggers (6,9, but out with a season-ending injury) and Adam Hakim (6, 3).
“We combine in our passing really well and we have a lot of selfless players,” Keesee said. “I’ve seen multiple occasions where a player will have a really good look at goal but will make that final pass to give us an even more impressive final product.”
While five keepers have seen time in between the pipes, the top keepers have been Antonio Deganis (67 saves) and Hudson Titsworth (41 saves including 18 in a single match).
“Antonio and Hudson have both done incredibly well this season and have made some monster saves for us in key moments,” the coach said. “It’s definitely a luxury to have such quality options available to me as a coach for the keeper position.”
Rounding out the varsity squad’s top players are solid defenders Jay Mattes and A.J. Romero.
“Jay has been a really solid physical presence in the back for us and has really helped us with those aerial challenges,” Keesee said. “A.J. moved in this summer and made an immediate impact as an outside back with his speed.”
Kesee gets plenty of help from a deep coaching staff that includes Zach Day, Jordan Wren, Andrew McKibbin, Jasmine Perez-Acosta, Hayden Flynn and Sarah De Gannes.
