Junior Luther Gross had another monster game Thursday night at the James A. Cawood Elementary School field, leading the Harlan County boys soccer team to an 8-0 50th District victory over visiting Barbourville.
Gross scored three goals and assisted on two others to lead the Black Bears, who improved their overall record to 4-2 with the win.
Harlan County head coach Tommy Key spoke highly of Gross following the game.
“He’s my best player in the region; I don’t know many better than him,” Key said.
“Luther sacrifices a lot. We take him out quite often. He could have double his points right now. He knows it’s important to get everyone else going, so he passes the ball.”
Through his team’s first six games, Gross has recorded 12 goals and seven assists.
Freshman striker Mason Howard added two goals and an assist for the Black Bears, while sophomore Austin Tye, freshman Joe Wright and senior Trevor Farley added single tallies. Tye also added two assists, including a first-half corner kick that resulted in a spectacular header by Gross to stake the Black Bears to a 2-0 lead during the 15th minute of the contest.
Following the second goal of the game by Gross, the Black Bears made it 4-0 when Howard and Tye combined for tallied less than a minute apart just past the halfway mark of the first half. Gross completed his hattrick during the 29th minute to make it 5-0 at halftime.
With seven games canceled this season for various reasons, the youth-laden Black Bears boast five freshmen starters, along with two starters who had never played soccer prior to this season.
Howard headlines the group of freshmen with five goals and four assists through his first six varsity games. Bryson Robbins, Leslie Pitts, Bo Smith and goalkeeper Wesley Greene round out the first-year starters, while sophomores Wesley Greene and Dustin Pendergrass are playing their respective first years of soccer.
“We are young, but talented,” Key said, “and we’re young where it counts in key sports. If we can figure it out we’re going to be fine.”
Greene, who has shared goalkeeper duties this season with sophomore Christion Smith, has been the primary starter this season for the Black Bears and has recorded, or shared, four shutout wins.
Greene was credited with three saves in the Thursday win over Barbourville, while Smith recorded one save during the second half.
“It’s always nice to win a district game. It’s hard to win them and I don’t take any of them for granted,” Key said after the victory over Barbourville. “We are so inconsistent right now, so this is a positive. I’m happy. We’re going to come back to practice Monday and come back out next week and see what we can do.”
Next up for the Black Bears is a 6 p.m. home game against Jenkins, while Barbourville (1-8) hosts Knott Central on Saturday.