Freedom boys a feel-good story

By JCOTEYN
Published February 1, 2008

LAND O'LAKES - Dennis Derflinger has, by his own admission, been flying under the radar.

At Freedom High, where he coaches boys soccer, that is a good thing.

At a school that has gotten as much bad press than any other in the county this past year, that is a good thing.

At a school where the Turmoil might be a better nickname than the Patriots, that is a good thing.

Let's face it, Freedom deserves a little good news, and Thursday Derflinger and his team provided some.

Going into Land O'Lakes as a heavy underdog, the Patriots knocked off the No. 5 team in the country - that's country, not county - in the region quarterfinals.

Freedom High, soccer school?

"Maybe," Derflinger said, grinning widely.

Derflinger is a rarity at Freedom: a coach who has been with the school since it opened in 2002.

While coaches and athletic directors and star football recruits have come and gone, but mostly gone, Derflinger, who previously coached at Plant, has been a stalwart.

His first team went 1-11.

His second made the playoffs. So has every team since.

They don't have a big following, according to keeper Kyle Peel. Heck, he adds, other teams want to play the Patriots, because of the team's reputation.

That is to say, they don't have one.

"Our program has always been successful," Derflinger reminds you, though if a program is successful and never beats a nationally-ranked team, does it make a sound?

Freedom's win rang loud and clear Thursday night.

The Patriots weren't necessarily the better team. Land O'Lakes coach Mark Pearson said as much afterward, and few would disagree.

The Gators had more chances, controlled the ball for a majority of the game, and when they turned it on in desperation over the final three minutes, they were pretty darned good.

But so was Peel, who might be the smallest keeper in high school soccer at 5 feet 8. Save after save he turned the Gators away. Save after save he deflated their spirit, until they could only crumple to the turf as the final buzzer rang their death knell.

He would have been the smallest player on the field if not for teammate Bobby Huertas, who Peel proudly points out is at least an inch shorter.

Huertas outplayed two bigger, stronger, taller Gators for the game's only goal.

Land O'Lakes will call it a fluke. And it was just a little fluky: a long, bounding ball that the keeper came out for, until his defender inadvertently headed it right past him for Huertas to poke home into an empty net.

That's one way to look at it.

Here's another:

If Huertas hadn't been such a nagging pest on the play, hadn't followed it all the way through, hadn't made the defender rush the pass and maybe even distract the keeper enough to slow him down for a second, and hadn't followed the loose ball until he could get his foot on it to score the game's only goal, maybe the Gators clear that ball easily.

That's how teams that shouldn't win do.

That's how you find yourself on the radar, how you deliver good news to your school's doorstep, how you show everyone in the halls how the best sports team at the school does it.

At Freedom, that's a good thing indeed.

John C. Cotey can be reached at 813-909-4612 or johncotey@gmail.com.

[Last modified February 1, 2008, 00:00:24]