WILLIAMS, CA (MPG) – Since 2022, it has been the Williams Yellowjackets and the Winters Warriors boys soccer teams squaring off in the Northern Section Division III championship game, with the ‘Jackets winning two out of three.
Yet last Wednesday afternoon the Warriors exacted a little bit of revenge after they topped Williams 4-3 to hand the Yellowjackets their first loss of the season and force a tie atop the Sacramento Valley League standings.
It was a match in which the ‘Jackets, who didn’t ever look truly in sync, were always playing catch up and ultimately just ran out of time.
Although Winters opened the scoring in the seventh minute, Williams responded in the 16th minute when Gerardo Navarro headed one in on a kick from the corner.
But the Warriors came to play and surged ahead 2-1, finding the back of the net in the 21st minute.
Still, the Yellowjackets played to their strength on set pieces and drew even six minutes later when Angel Hernandez redirected the kick into the goal with another header.
Coming out of halftime, the Warriors again struck first, scoring in the 60th minute after the ‘Jackets failed to the clear ball and allowed their opponents three shots at the goal.
Yet, Williams has a pretty potent arsenal of its own and saw Leo Hernandez boot the equalizer from long distance five minutes later.
Unfortunately for the ‘Jackets though, Winters made another run and scored what was to be the game winner in the 68th minute, because despite getting shot opportunities, the ball did not bounce in Williams’ favor.
With the defeat, the reigning NSCIF Division III champion Yellowjackets (10-1-2) began their title defense on Feb. 20 as the No. 3 seed with a match against No. 6 Redding Christian, with the winner traveling to Winters on Feb. 25 to play the No. 2 seeded Warriors.