Playing with familiar faces all around him, Calhoun standout midfielder Darwin Lom had two goals and an assist to lead Georgia to a 6-1 victory in the Tennessee-Georgia all-star boys' soccer game Saturday afternoon at Finley Stadium.
Lom was chosen MVP for the match, which featured recent graduates from northwest Georgia and southeast Tennessee.
"I treat every game like it's my last game," said Lom, who will continue his soccer career at Shorter University. "This was my last game of my high school career, and it was nice to play with my friends. We gave it all we had, and we came out on top for our state."
After Tennessee goalkeeper Joey Sealor (Ooltewah) had several saves early, Georgia broke through in the 15th minute. Kobe Perez (Dalton), who has committed to Mercer, split the defense up the middle and made a nice touch pass to Lom for a one-on-one matchup with Sealor. Despite the keeper's dive at the ball, Lom dribbled safely around to score.
"Darwin did awesome," said Northwest Whitfield coach Ryan Scoggins, who directed the Georgia all-stars. "He is that type of kid you can look at and say he is going to be fine in college. He has a strong frame and finishes his plays well."
Perez, one of six Dalton players in the game, impressed Lom with his pass. Dalton has won three straight state titles, and several northwest Georgia teams made deep state tournament runs this year, with Calhoun finishing second in Class AAA.
"Everybody is tremendous," Lom said of his Georgia teammates. "I don't even know how they can be this good. Some of them even make me look like I just started playing soccer. It's really nice playing with some of the best."
Javier Rodriguez (Dalton) and Bryan Villa (Northwest Whitfield) added goals in the 21st and 27th minutes, and Georgia led 3-0 at halftime.
Christo Payne (CSAS) headed in Tennessee's goal in the 50th minute, following up his header attempt that bounced off the goal.
"The ball bounces around sometimes, and some players give up on it, but you never know when it's going to bounce your way," said Ooltewah coach Rick Adolph, who led the Tennessee all-stars. "It went his way, and it was an impressive goal."
Lom answered eight minutes later with his second goal, and he set up Calhoun teammate Sergio Alvarez for Georgia's fifth goal. Georgia's final score came from Miguel Hernandez (Southeast Whitfield) in the 68th minute.
Josh Barbosa (CSAS) was chosen MVP for Tennessee. Cooper Loftin (East Hamilton) played well on defense and had two impressive shots stopped by diving saves.
In the girls' match, Tennessee won 2-1. McMinn County's Arielle Hansford, who is going to Lipscomb, was the MVP.