The Rhea Middle School 2024 Soccer Team Poses for photo after their win over Ocoee on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.(Photo:GaryBolden)

Evensville, TN -- Rhea Middle Boys’ Soccer season started off with friendly scrimmages at the annual Cleveland Play Day Tournament on Saturday, February 24th, with 6 teams in attendance for round-robin style competition.  RMS Varsity ended with a 2-0-1 record with the JV team adding in a 1-0-1 record.  The annual RMS Green vs. White intersquad game followed on Monday, Feb. 27th, with the Green team taking home the bragging rights.  

These pre-season friendlies set the tone nicely for the season opener at home vs. Athens on Thursday, March 1st,  with a Varsity win of 6-0.  Varsity scorers included Elijah Norman and Simeon Toliver, both off of corner kicks from Anderson Cathey, Anderson Cathey contributed 2 goals with assists from Sam Walton and Sawyer Campbell, Sawyer Prudhomme with assist from Sawyer Campbell, and Gio Pacheco rounding off the last goal of the game.  The defense was held down solidly by Ethan Nelson in goal with Elijah Norman, Sawyer Campbell, and Simeon Toliver as the defensive backs, holding the visiting Cougars back to only a couple of shots on goal the whole game. The midfield attacking unit moved the ball smoothly through the field between Gio Pacheco, Emiliano Sanchez, Anderson Cathey, Sam Walton, and Jeremy Perez, with help off the bench from Sawyer Prudhomme, Ryan Spengler, and Gavin McCosh.  The attacking striker unit of Ian Arnold and Zane Shaffer were a dynamic duo, both making beautiful runs and through balls that kept the Eagles on the opposing side of the field for most of the game. Eighth graders, Elijah Norman and Simeon Toliver, had this to say about the game, “This was a lot of fun for our first game to win. Our entire defensive line was involved in goals/assists, which is extremely rare, and both of us added our first goals as Eagles off of corner kicks by Anderson. We are looking forward to a great season and hope to bring home a championship this year!”  JV added a victory as well with a final score of 4-0, goal scorers of Levi Wright and Brodhi Gilmore, both scoring 2 a piece. 

Tuesday, March 5th, was another home game vs. Ocoee with a cold and rainy setting that each team had to work through low-skipping and high-bouncing balls due to wet turf conditions.  Sam Rasnake had a great game in goal with a shut-out, and the Eagles looked tremendous with good passing throughout the first half, with goals from Ian Arnold off of Zane Shaffer’s assist and Anderson Cathey off of Emiliano Sanchez’s assist.  The second half saw lots of good looks and scoring opportunities but the Ocoee keeper held the Eagles scoreless, while the Eagles defense and midfield battled off consistent attacks from the Colts looking to even out the score.  The game ended with a final score of 2-0 for the Eagles. Eighth grader Anderson Cathey had this to say following the game, “Really proud of how the boys played. We worked together really well, and I’m excited for what the rest of the season has for us.”  JV games followed with the winning streak of 3-1 against the Colts with goals by Avery Scoggins, Levi Wright, and Gavin McCosh. 

Head RMS Coach and Assistant RCHS Coach Carson Ruehling, in his first year of coaching the middle school boys, has this to say, “The growth from day 1 until now has been phenomenal.  Across the board, our guys are buying in and working hard, which has shown the past 2 games.  Both games we came out the first few minutes flat, but we continued to outwork our opponents and found the back of the net, which proved to be enough since we were able to keep a clean sheet. I’m excited to continue working with this group.  There’s a lot of potential here and if they keep pushing themselves, it will be a great season.”

RMS 2024 roster consists of students from SCMS, RMS, DCS, and homeschoolers from Rhea County with eighth graders: Adrian Juan, Elijah Norman, Anderson Cathey, Ian Arnold, Avery Scoggins, Israel Alberto, Simeon Toliver, Ethan Nelson, Sawyer Campbell, Emiliano Sanchez, Sam Rasnake, Jeremy Perez and Gio Pacheco; seventh graders: Chris Lopez, Levi Wright, Sam Walton, Brohdi Gilmore, Ryan Spengler, Seth Smith, Hank Roberson, Sean Cook, and Samuel Sanchez; sixth graders: Axel Shelton, Gavin McCosh, Sawyer Prudhomme, Zane Shaffer, Jude Anderson, Bentley Knight, Michael Howard, Devi Lopez, and Excar Vazquez-Diaz. The coaching staff consists of Head Coach Carson Ruehling, Assistant Coach Christian Warren, and Conditioning Coach Michael Smith. 

Author: Audrey Norman