By Robert Wilson
Hartfield Academy boys soccer team won the Battle of Lakeland Drive for the fourth consecutive time.
Hartfield defeated Jackson Prep 1-0 Friday night at Prep in a rematch of last year’s state championship game when Hartfield’s Dereck Lazo scored with a minute to go in the second sudden death overtime to defeat Prep 2-1.
Hartfield – ranked No. 17 in Mississippi and No. 3 in MAIS Class 4A by MaxPreps – improved to 10-3-1, 8-1 against MAIS teams with the only loss to Jackson Academy on penalty kicks. The Hawks haven’t lost to Prep since a regular season game late in the 2023-2024 season.
Prep – ranked No. 15 in Mississippi and No. 1 in MAIS Class 4A by MaxPreps – dropped to 12-3-3, 10-1 against MAIS teams.
The game’s only goal was in the first half when Judson Jones scored off a pass from Lazo midway through the first half.
Hartfield goalkeeper Coleman Williams and the Hawk defenders, led by Colin McIntyre, Hayden McMinn and Braxton Gaddis, kept Prep scoreless.
“We knew going into the game it wouldn’t be easy,” said Hartfield coach Jake Benton, who has won six state titles (four boys and two girls) along five state runner-up finishes (three girls and two boys) in 11 years at Hartfield. “Prep are a good team. In the first 15-20 minutes, Prep controlled the tempo and dictated the play. Once we scored we were able to settle in and knock the ball around for a bit. The goal we scored was nothing fancy. Dereck Lazo put the ball on the box in a dangerous area and Judson Jones timed it to perfection for a beautiful volley. It took everyone from the bench to the field to get that result. Sideline behavior was excellent in supporting their teammates. It was a team effort to grind out a result. For a majority of the second half, we were on the edge of our box defending with 10 and trying to live for another counter attack. It wasn’t pretty but extremely proud of my boys for committing themselves behind the ball. Colin and Hayden were excellent defensively and winning areal duels in the midfield. They cause a lot of chaos. McCool Simpson wasn’t able to play the possession style we’d like but he’s work rate box to box was the lift we needed. McCool is a senior captain and we would like to play a style of soccer to possess the ball but instead had to play direct and long balls. But he ran box to box. He ran forward in the attacking third and dropped deep to help defend. Coleman played excellent and did well coming off his line to cleanup through the balls. Braxton played great. His positioning was exceptional to limit any real threats.”
“I think the biggest thing was our preparation and mindset going into the game,” Simpson said. “We knew Prep was going to come out with a lot of energy after last year and after seeing them play this year, so we made it a point to match it from the opening kickoff. Defensively, communication and physically were the two main local points, which helped keep them from getting into a rhythm and putting points on the board. This win definitely gives us a lot of confidence moving forward and most importantly its shows what we’re capable of when we play as a team and give it our all.”
Hartfield won its second Division I championship in four years of being Division I and last year with its championship win over Prep.
The game was tied 1-1 after 80 minutes of regulation, two 10-minute overtime periods, one five sudden minute sudden death period and within one minute of another five-minute sudden death period. If Lazo had not scored, the teams would have gone into penalty kicks to decide the state champion.
Both teams lost one player to red cards during the game, Hartfield lost one with about 17 minutes in regulation, and Prep lost one in the overtime periods. The game ended with both teams having only 10 players on the field.
Hartfield’s victory over Prep Friday was Prep’s and first-year coach Kevin Johns’ first loss to an MAIS team this season.
Johns is the most successful youth coach in Mississippi Soccer Association history with 24 state championships for the Jackson Futbol Club/Mississippi Rush and also has two decades of men’s college soccer coaching experience at Mississippi College.
Johns – a Clinton High alumnus who played on the 1992 Belhaven College NAIA national championship team – has been coaching with the Jackson Futbol Club since 1993 and has been director of coaching for JFC/Mississippi Rush since 2010. He was the men’s soccer coach at MC from 2003 to 2025 and was the Conference Coach of the Year four times and has 222 collegiate career wins. Johns also was the assistant coach and assistant general manager for the minor league professional team Jackson Chargers for two years.
Johns replaced legendary Jon Marcus Duncan, the winningest high school soccer coach in Mississippi history. Duncan resigned to go work for his father, Jimmy Duncan, after winning 30 state championships (15 boys and 15 girls) in 25 seasons at Prep.
“The guys made a few adjustments during the game and as the game went on, we started playing better and had a very good second half,” Johns said. “We had quite a few chances to tie it up, but it just didn’t go our way. We can learn some things from tonight, and hopefully use some of that over the next couple of weeks as we prepare for the playoffs.”
