Boyd-Buchanan soccer coach Jason Owens teaches physics, but he knows chemistry when he sees it.

And the spark among his seven sophomore starters was easy to recognize.

The Buccaneers will be one of the youngest teams competing today in the Class A/AA state soccer tournament, but without contributions from the stellar group of sophomores, Boyd-Buchanan wouldn’t be there.

“I was able to have a bunch of them in class, and I saw that they had an awesome dynamic,” Owens said. “They’re just like a bunch of brothers. That’s what they contribute to this team. They push each other nonstop and make each other better each day. And that’s what’s fun about it. You see these guys who think they can take on the world, and they push each other until they can.”

Today Boyd-Buchanan will take on Madison Academic Magnet School in a quarterfinal match at 5 p.m. EDT. The run that led the team to the state is one the Bucs couldn’t have imagined after graduating seven starters from last year’s team that lost in the region semifinals.

“It was scary at first,” Bucs senior defender Terry Driggers said. “We were worried we were going to have a horrible season. We lost our first few games, so it was a shady start, but we picked it up as the season went on, and we’re at our peak right now.”

The Bucs’ returning players included sophomores Taylor Shull, Joey Glisson, Blake Griffith and Drew Zumbrun, who each earned starting spots as freshmen. Classmate Ben Beasley took over a starting fullback spot this year, along with first-year player Michael Bowen. Boyd-Buchanan has also benefited from the performance of sophomore Jake Lockert, a first-time goalkeeper.

“We got a couple of kids to come out who hadn’t played soccer in high school,” Shull said. “I didn’t know how that would work out because we were pretty young and some people didn’t have experience. But the more we’ve played, the better we’ve gotten.”

For returning seniors Driggers and forward Alex Kuhne, the season hasn’t been without its growing pains, but both players recognize that their younger teammates have helped make their final season a special one.

“They were pretty immature at the beginning of the season, but they definitely stepped up,” Kuhne said. “They’ve been playing a lot like juniors and seniors. You couldn’t really tell that they’re sophomores.”

Owens said the group’s early success can be attributed to their confidence and athletic ability, but he added that the connection among the sophomores is their biggest asset.

“We have good players, but do I have somebody that I can say, give him the ball and let him go do it? No,” Owens said. “ And they know that. But it’s all about teamwork, and passing, and doing your job. These guys bought into that this year. They pass as good as anybody we’ve played, without having that go-to guy. In a way, that’s what makes this team so good. They know they have to rely on each other, and the sophomores in particular do that.”

And while the 10th-graders know this year’s achievements will lead to even higher expectations the next two seasons, right now they’re focused on giving the team’s four seniors more games to play.

“Making it this far was a dream,” Zumbrun said. “I never expected it, but we worked as a team and made it happen. I don’t want it to end. I’m going to miss these guys so much. Every game we play it’s like I’m fighting just to keep playing with these guys. For these seniors, it’s now or never.”

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