By Rubin E. Grant
Homewood’s boys soccer team is not taking a step back this season.
Although the Patriots graduated their top two strikers from their 2024 Class 6A state championship team that finished 24-3-4, their goal is to increase their number of state titles to eight. Homewood’s previous state championships came in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2021 and 2024.
“I don’t see a world where one year you win it all and the next year when you have 14 seniors you don’t try to do it again,” Homewood head soccer coach Julian Kersh says. “We still have an experienced team, so our goal is to get back to Huntsville (site of the state tournament) and win it again.”
The Patriots lost leading goal scorers Will Jackson, the 2024 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Alabama, who is now at Wake Forest and Charlie Herring, who is at Rhodes College in Memphis. “When you graduate players like Will Jackson and Charlie Herring, who created so many scoring opportunities for us, you have to have other players stepping up,” Kersh says. “It’s exciting to see what the younger guys can do.
“We might not have the raw fire power we did last year, but we’ve got guys who play with a lot of energy and aggression and press the net. We’re different, but it doesn’t mean we lack the ability to score,” Kersh continues. “There’s not one or two guys. I knew we were going to need to be more balanced in all phases. It’s been a team effort so far. All of our success this season is because of team effort.”
Homewood opened the season with an 8-1 record. The only blemish was a 2-0 loss to Hoover. “We’re doing well,” Kersh says. “We’ve been battling the elements more than anything else. We lost to Hoover, and they’re a quality team, but at that point we had played only two games, and they had played six. It would have been a struggle to beat them at any time, but at that point we weren’t ready to play a game like that.”
Playing a key role in the Patriots’ early success has been from their seasoned midfielders, including seniors Gid Malone, Charley Chewning and Haines Durkin, the team’s captains as chosen by their teammates. Malone has committed to play for Centre College in Kentucky. “We returned almost our entire midfield, including our three captains who we depend on a lot,” Kersh says. “They’ve all started a lot of games, and all three give up a lot of leadership. Senior midfielder Andrew Harbin is a hard worker who presses the ball forward, and when there’s a moment of opportunity to score, he can still finish.”
One area of concern for Kersh entering the season was the Patriots’ defense. “People were paying attention to Will and Charlie graduating, but we graduated three of our four defenders, and that’s tough to replace,” Kersh says.
Homewood has had a few players rise to the occasion defensively. “One who has really stepped up is senior Allen Shanks at center back,” Kersh says. “He formerly played right back, but he has the physicality and poise to play there.”
One of the main starters to return is junior Jeff Griffin,” Kersh continues. “He might not be the cleanest soccer player, and he would tell you that, but he’s fearless and plays so hard. He makes the other team’s attackers work hard to beat him. Junior Brooks Harwell also returns from last year. When we get control of the ball, he does a good job of pushing it forward. He’s very technical and can create scoring opportunities.”
In net, 6-foot-1 senior Jacob Hill is one of the top goalkeepers in the state. He recorded four saves in the Patriots’ 3-1 victory against Spanish Fort in the 2024 Class 6A championship game. “I can’t speak any more highly of him than I already do,” Kersh says. “He came to us in the eighth grade, and he was much shorter and skinnier then. He had never played goalkeeper, but last year he was on the Class 6A All-State team. When you lose three starting defenders, it’s good to have someone in goal like him. He gives our team and our defenders so much confidence. He makes critical and difficult saves.”
Despite Homewood’s solid start, Kersh believes the Patriots face a daunting challenge to repeat. He listed Briarwood, Chelsea, Pelham and Mountain Brook among the top contenders in the Birmingham area and said there are several good teams in south Alabama. “It’s not going to be easy,” he says. “6A boys is a buzzsaw, and there are a lot of teams with the talent to beat anyone. There’s not a single opportunity in 6A to take a night off.”
“We’re improving,” Kersh conitinues. “Early in the season, we had a couple performances that were not too good. Some of that goes back to the weather. We’re trying to stay focused on getting better.”
