Putnam County boys’ soccer had a disappointing end to its season, but still enjoyed a successful year. The War Eagles went 15-1-2 overall and captured the Region 4-AA championship en route to an Elite Eight berth in head coach Michael Taylor’s first season. They also finished ranked No. 5 in Class AA.
Putnam County had six players – seniors Brandon Reeves, Marco Owenby, Edwith Lopez, Preston Wilson, Fernando Salas and junior Bryan Canales – named to the All-Region First Team. The War Eagles also had two All-Region Second Team selections in Elijah Watson and Chris Perez.
Reeves was named to the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association (GACA) Team for GHSA’s Class AA. He led the War Eagles in goals scored with 30 during his senior campaign.
Reeves is one of three Putnam County players signed to play for Thomas University next year, with Owenby and Lopez joining him at the South Georgia school this fall.
Also, PCHS senior Jermaine Nelson recently signed to be on Thomas University’s track-and-field team.
“This is the first year I’ve gotten to work [with this senior class]. What I have noticed the most is that they’ve all worked well together,” Taylor said. “They have played together in school or club for a long time, but also work well with our younger guys. They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which I think has really helped in terms of continuity on the team. We’ve got a great group.”
Putnam County’s 2023 season came to an end in the Elite Eight after a close 1-0 loss to Union County. The Panthers went on to lose to eventual-state champion Tattnall County 3-1 in the next round.
“I am proud of my guys and what we’ve accomplished this year, despite the ending,” Taylor said post-season. “There’s so much more than just that one game. Just watching the growth of our team.”
The War Eagles were a senior-led team this past year; however, the team will return plenty of young talent in 2024 with hopes of winning a title.
PCHS returns two of its top scorers in Canales and Andrew Hildreth. Each junior played a pivotal role in helping the War Eagles make an impressive late-season playoff push in 2023.
“Those two guys were very important to our success this past year,” Taylor said. “We also have a lot of others returning that will only help us build the program in the future.”
Taylor said he hopes this past season’s success will only lead to more shortly.
“Obviously, we wanted to win the region and make it past the first round, which we did. But we also wanted to start forming the team and build the foundation so it wouldn’t be for just part of the season,” Taylor said. “We wanted to build on it from one month to the other and now on to next year.
“We accomplished all of those [goals], but now that we’ve got to that Elite Eight, I am sure all of the players are hungry to get the Final Four and eventually the finals for next season. We couldn’t have done all of that without all of the hard work and effort the guys put in this year.”