History will be made Saturday when the Vardaman Rams play the first high school soccer game in Calhoun County history.
The Rams travel to Tupelo to take on TCPS Saturday at 2 p.m. Ismael Rios and Israel Murillo will lead the historic team as captains.
“I’m very thankful,” Murillo said of the opportunity to play soccer for Vardaman High School. “This is something we’ve been wanting, dreaming about for years.”
Ismael Rios and Israel Murillo
“It feels great,” Rios said of putting on the Rams’ jersey and preparing to take the field for VHS. “I came here from Houston for this opportunity.”
The roster of 19 players began practicing Oct. 17.
“We have a lot of individual talent, but not a lot of experience playing as a team,” Coach Joel McNeece said. “That’s been the focus of practice – honing skills while building a better understanding of how to play winning, team soccer.”
“I can tell we’re getting better,” Murillo said. “We need to get better. We need to win games.”
Rios agreed he doesn’t want to just represent the school well in the way the team carries themselves, but by being a winning program on the field.
“We’ve got a lot of room for improvement, but we’re determined to win as much as we can,” Rios said.
If the Rams are going to win this season, they will do so against bigger, much more experienced competition. The Rams are playing as an independent, ineligible for the playoffs until next year, and face only one other Class 1A school in TCPS. Other opponents include Pontotoc, South Pontotoc, North Pontotoc, Strayhdorn, MRA, Tishomingo County, Mooreville and Lewisburg.
“It’s a challenging schedule that will certainly test us in our first season,” McNeece said. “But our kids welcome the challenge. They’re just excited to take the field and play soccer for Vardaman High School.”
“This is my passion,” Rios said of the game of soccer. “It’s hard to explain what it means to me. Playing lets me clear my mind, keeps me focused on what I want to do.”
“I love playing this game,” Murillo said. “I love working with the team. I love everything about it.”
Vardaman also has a Lady Rams soccer team this year. Due to their inexperience, they chose to practice this year and will begin competing in games next season. Kayla Long is their head coach.
Rams Soccer
Nov. 12 at TCPS 2 p.m.
Nov. 17 Pontotoc (at Tupelo) 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 19 South Pontotoc (at Tupelo) 10 a.m.
Nov. 19 Lewisburg (at Tupelo) 2 p.m.
Nov. 29 at Strayhorn 6 p.m.
Dec. 2 at North Pontotoc 6 p.m.
Dec. 16 MRA (at Oxford) 7:40 p.m.
Dec. 30 Tishomingo County 11 a.m.
Jan. 5 North Pontotoc 6 p.m.
Jan. 6 at Mooreville 7 p.m.
Jan. 9 Strayhdorn 6 p.m.
Jan. 20 at Tishomingo County 5 p.m.