The Rhea Middle Team poses with 2nd place plaque after their championship game on April, 30, 2026(Photo:RheaMiddleBoysSoccer)

Cleveland Middle Wins 5-0 For League Tournament Championship

We’re so proud of the work the Eagles put in all season to get to the championship game! We came in as underdogs and proved what hard work and grit and mental toughness can accomplish if we show up! Runners-Up District Champions is something to be so incredibly proud of, especially when so many underestimated us and didn’t think we would make it)! We are just so proud of our boys! RMS Boys Soccer now has 2 District Championships (2019 & 2024) and 2 Runners-Up District Championships (2023 & 2026). What growth our soccer program has been having over the last few years! 4 plaques in 8 years is just proof of how we are advancing and growing as well in our community! 

That being said, we know the loss of 0-5 is tough to swallow. It’s tough to take as coaches as well, as most of the time, that score is considered a “killing” in soccer. But we also want to point out that 3 of those goals came from lucky direct kicks that hit the far-upper corners of the nets. 3 of them! That is basically unheard of in middle school soccer and an insanely lucky game for the Raiders! So at the end of the day, it was essentially a loss of 0-2, without those lucky direct kicks added in. While the luck of the kicks was on their end last night, our Eagles still played hard, played aggressive, and especially in the 2nd half, won the balls in the middle and kept the pressure up on the Cleveland side of the field. So many boys put their all into that game, but 3 of them really stood out: 1) Finny Shaffer, for keeping his head up in the goal, and never letting the mental game take him out with discouragement. He showed up & out, stepping in wherever we needed him, and had a killer game in the goal for us and a fighting attitude for his team the whole time, 2) Gustavo Lopez, for never letting up, for being relentless and aggressive and bodying up to every single ball out there, and for never-ever giving up. He left it all out on the field, and we couldn’t be more proud of his effort and grit! 3) Sawyer Prudhomme, for holding our midfield down, especially in the 2nd half, battling off a physically aggressive Raiders team, winning the ball over and over, and putting shots on their goalie time and time again, never letting up, and trying to put his team on the scoreboard the entire game. There are so many great players on our team, and we just want to encourage them as they either move up to the high school team or come back next year to the middle school team! Our future is bright, and we are so proud of all of our boys' efforts, on the JV & Varsity teams, and can’t wait to see what next year holds! It’s great to be an Eagle! Runners-Up District Champs of 2026, your RMS Boys Soccer team! 

Audrey Norman, Rhea County Middle School Boys Soccer Coach 2026