Coming off a Final Four appearance, Fort Walton Beach boys soccer hasn’t missed a beat and still looks like a team that will make noise come playoff time.
- After years of strong regular seasons followed by playoff heartbreaks, the Vikings last season did something that hasn’t been done since Ronald Reagan was in the White House: make the Final Four.
And this year, despite some rough patches, the Vikings overall look like a team that can make noise come playoff time.
While this season has certainly had some low points — getting swept by archrival Choctaw and losses to Niceville and Gulf Breeze — the Vikings are sitting at 9-4-2 today. That record might be better than it appears, considering Fort Walton also played Niceville and Gulf Breeze to ties and has wins over North Bay Haven and Pace.
The Vikings are doing well for a team that lost an impactful senior class that was the key to that Final Four run with players like leading goalscorer D’Angelo Sanchez, Esteban Mendes, Brian Chadwell, Jason Reyes and elite goalkeeper Elijah Lacey.
How is Fort Walton continuing to succeed?
They simply do what the best programs do: The next players step up.
This roster includes a deep attacking corps anchored by emerging underclassmen Wilmar Munoz, Isaac Holbrook and Juanma Cotes, all three of whom played crucial roles in the Final Four run. Two players who have been given bigger roles with departing seniors’ shoes to fill are Yuliesti Herrera and Brody Bentley.
- The Vikings also have a sturdy defense anchored by two seniors who have become leaders: Christopher Reyes and Liam Ackerman. Both were key in the Final Four run.
Coach Mario Rodriguez is impressed with how players have filled the shoes of the departing senior class, attributing it to the team’s desire to improve and the need to meet the standard that comes with being a program of this caliber.
“They’ve stepped up tremendously. The biggest thing is they keep working hard. They want to get better,” Rodriguez said. “We’re starting out this second half of the season strong, and we’ve got to keep building to get the expectation back up to the Final Four.”
The effort players have put in combined with the desire to improve is what impresses Rodriguez most.
- “What impressed me the most is their effort. The ability of wanting to do better than we did last year,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez wants his team to be consistently consistent as the growing pains start to fade and the calendar slowly turns toward districts and playoffs.
“What needs to be cleaned up the most is our consistency. We’ve talked about it all season long. Can we stay consistent? Can we keep our composure?” Rodriguez said.
But Rodriguez believes this team is not only capable of returning to the Final Four, but of finishing the job and bringing an elusive state title back to the Fort.
“The ceiling is the Final Four, but not just the Final Four this time, it’s the state final. And I think they can do it,” Rodriguez said. “They have the heart, they have the grit, and we’ve just got to take it one step at a time.”
So when you take all of this into account, it shouldn’t be surprising that Fort Walton is a threat to get back to the Final Four and a contender for the state championship.
