Homewood’s Will Jackson scored two first half goals and the top-ranked Patriots flexed their defensive muscle in securing a 3-1 victory over Spanish Fort in Saturday’s Class 6A championship match at Huntsville’s John Hunt Park.

“The message all year has been to go out and do our thing, stay focused on the task at hand and never look ahead,” Homewood coach Julian Kersh said. “My boys came out and executed and it’s as simple as that. I’m so proud of their grit, determination and work all year long. Obviously, we fell in the semifinals last year so we knew we had a job to do and they came out and delivered.”

Homewood (23-2-3) earns its seventh state title in program history and either the boys or girls team has won the Blue Map in six consecutive seasons, excluding 2020 when the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The boys team started the streak in 2018 and won another title in 2021, while the girls team won titles in 2019, 2022 and 2023.

“I think the state has come to know us, at least the state soccer programs, as a force to be reckoned with,” Kersh said. “It really is the honor of a lifetime to be in charge of this team. I played for it myself back in my day and to take over for Sean McBride a few years means the absolute world to me. Every year we continue to push ourselves and practice the ideals he installed in this program.”

The Patriots fell in last year’s semifinal game to Fort Payne, 3-2, but avenged the loss with 2-0 win against the Wildcats, who went on to win the 2023 title.

“It was never about revenge or anything, we had a mission to complete,” Kersh said. “Fort Payne was brilliant last year and we knew they were going to test us again this year. We felt like every night we stepped on the field this season, if we were at our best we could beat anyone in the state. Semifinals are always gritty games but we knew if we beat them, we could get one hand on the Blue Map and now we got two on it.”

Jackson, a Wake Forest signee, was primed for the championship stage and scored the opening goal in only the second minute of action. The senior midfielder added a second goal on a penalty kick in the 22nd minute, following back-to-back fouls on Spanish Fort, and was named MVP for his performance after also scoring a goal in Homewood’s semifinal win over Fort Payne.

“It’s been an incredible experience, some of my favorite three years of soccer and I’m so proud of this team,” Jackson said. “We came up with a mentality where there was no other option than winning. We were focused and prepared properly. We got the result we deserved.”

Homewood added to its lead almost midway through the second half, Charlie Herring scoring on an assist from Drew Giardina, and held the 3-0 advantage until a little more than 10 minutes remaining. Goalkeeper Jacob Hill notched four saves while allowing one goal on five shots on goal. The Patriots had took 16 total shots, six on goal, and were tagged with 14 fouls and four yellow cards.

Spanish Fort (12-10-2) scored its only goal in the 70th minutes of the match, a solo shot from Dylan Gaynor, and Owen Williams had three saves while giving up three goals. The Toros had eight shots total and was given only a single yellow card while committing 11 fouls.