Marble Falls boys soccer beats Davenport
CAPTION: The Mustangs celebrate the game-winning goal in the final minutes of the Class 4A Division I Region IV championship. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Marble Falls High School boys soccer team defeated San Antonio Davenport 2-1 March 31 to become the Class 4A Division I Region IV champions for the first time in school history.
“Sheer guts,” head coach Ryan Craven said. “The kids found a way and we had a good crowd to help us get over the top and gave us a little boost of energy that we needed, that we didn’t have ourselves. So that was cool.”
The Mustangs (18-3-5, 10-1-1 District 24-4A champions) will face Waco La Vega (26-2, 15-1 District 23-4A champion) at 7 p.m. Friday, April 3, at Waco ISD Stadium, 1401 S. New Road in Waco. Buy advanced tickets here. Note that Waco ISD has a clear bag policy.
Against Davenport, Marble Falls couldn’t have gotten a better start, scoring the first goal within the first 2 minutes of the match.
Eliezer Chocoj had the ball and moved it down field then passed and it ricocheted. Aaron Luna got the ball and didn’t hesitate to kick it into the net for the first goal.
“It went right over their defenders, who were sliding to try to stop it, then right by the goalie’s hands,” the coach said. “That was something we talked about with our midfielders, getting pushed up into the box on the attack. It is good to see the stuff that we talk about and practice.”
CAPTION: Aaron Luna (17) celebrates scoring the first goal of the match against San Antonio Davenport as Ismayl Ismaylov (11) runs to join him. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
From there, the Wolves upped the intensity and finally senior midfielder Josh Atampi scored on a through ball with about 15 minutes remaining in the half for the 1-1 tie.
“They switched the field and our defenders both went for it and kind of collided, and the guy got the ball and then (junior goalie) Jett (Marcum) kind of saved it and then it went past him. Basically it was him and the net. It bounced off Jett. It was him and the goal. Nobody else was around.”
At halftime, Craven gave his players some truth.
“This is the worst game you’ve played all year, you’re playing horrible and they’re not better than you. You gotta go,” he recalled saying. “‘I can tell that your legs are heavy, but right now your (soccer) family is going to end or their family is going to end and you gotta find a way to empty the tank. You should be crawling off this field at the end of it because if you lose and you give everything you had, then you can live with yourself. But if you just hurt kind of and are trying to survive, then you’re gonna feel sick at the end of the game.’ And so our kids honestly responded.”
The Wolves stepped back onto the pitch determined to deliver the knockout goal. Atampi, regarded as Davenport’s best player, led the surge.
“Davenport really put it on us, and we looked like we were just fatigued honestly,” Craven said. “We came out and just weathered about a five-minute attack that they had. Jett made a couple big saves and the crowd got into it, and really gave our guys a boost of adrenaline, I think. Jett had two huge saves in the second half versus that kid.”
Meanwhile at the minutes ticked off, the Mustangs saw an opportunity.
Eliezer Chocoj had a chance to score off a header, but it hit the post.
Then five minutes later, Chocoj got another chance. This time, there was no stopping him as he came toward the goal from the right side and used his right leg to put ball into the net from about 10 yards out thanks to an assist from Ismayl Ismaylov with 15 minutes remaining in the match.
“He takes the ball wide and takes on a defender and shoots the ball right between the goal post and the goalie,” Craven said. “And we found a way to get that goal to put us over the top and then just hold on for dear life the last 15 minutes. I had to mix some people around and move them to different positions. And I think the fact that we were able to possess the ball, finally, the last 20 minutes of the game made them run out of gas.”
CAPTION: Eliezer Chocoj scores the final goal of the match against San Antonio Davenport to send the Mustangs into the Class 4A Division I state semifinals. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Mustangs relied on Demarco Davis, brothers David and Daniel Dominguez and the back line of Will Guzman, Drake Taylor, Carlos Galindo Roque and Noe Gonzalez to protect the goal.
“I think we are just honestly tired from our district and tough playoff game (1-0 against Pharr Valley View) on Friday night (March 27) and finally started to take its toll on us a little bit,” Craven said. “We were tired, banged up, we were flying around sliding, jumping up in the air, doing cartwheels, standing on our heads, everything we could do to get the ball out and, like I said, what helped us defensively the last little bit was we were finally able to possess the ball a little bit.”
He credited Davenport head coach Robert Watson for preparing his Wolves very well to play his Mustangs for a third time. Marble Falls went 2-0-1 against Davenport in 2026.
“He’s a really good coach,” Craven said. “They had a good plan. If you go off of just sheer possession and shots, they outshot us, they outpossessed us, but the big thing is we’ve been in games like that before and it’s kind of our motto – we win close games, we pride ourselves on defense, and we spend lots of time on shooting. We did what we had to do to win.”
CAPTON: The Mustangs with their coaches, families and friends celebrate being regional champions for the first time in school history complete with the gold ball trophy and banner. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
