Boyd-Buchanan soccer coach Todd Ledbetter took a seat with his team comfortably in the lead Tuesday.
He pulled out a metal folding chair, plopped down, extended his legs and crossed his arms in the final minutes of the Lady Bucs' 6-1 win at Hixson in a Region 3-A/AA semifinal.
"I was thinking, it's not very often that you get to sit down in a semifinal match and just watch," Ledbetter said. "I felt that it was one of those games where everything clicked. It's hard work, it's determination, and let's be honest, we want a rematch with Grace."
They'll get that game, on Thursday at Grace Academy. The Lady Golden Eagles beat Boyd-Buchanan 1-0 last week and with a 5-0 win over East Ridge on Tuesday advanced to host the region title game.
"Getting a rematch was a driving force," Ledbetter said. "We beat them in the regular season and they beat us in the district championship game."
The third game in the series will be Thursday, most likely at 7 p.m. The winner will host a game on Saturday and the loser will travel with a spot in the state tournament on the line in each game.
"We can't wait," Boyd-Buchanan junior Logan Highfield said. "We're going to try and go to state."
Highfield recorded a hat trick against Hixson with goals in the 14th, 30th and 55th minutes.
"She's had an up-and-down season and hasn't scored as many goals as she did last season," Ledbetter said. "Tonight was the night where everything clicked for her. Her third goal was a fantastic finish and everything we've worked on. She put it all to use."
Junior captain Emma Rogers scored less than four minutes into the game off a free kick from outside the box and a little to the right. It stunned the Lady Wildcats.
"It woke us up and got us going in the right direction and set the tone for the rest of the game," said Rogers, who was looking forward to about 48 hours to recuperate before facing Grace. "I'm going to drink a lot of Gatorade and eat a lot of meat, and rest as much as I can."
Ariana Schoonover and Taylor Barber also scored goals Tuesday for Boyd-Buchanan (12-6).
"I told them before the game that I wanted high intensity, I wanted to score early and I wanted to score often," Ledbetter said. "This is probably the most efficient we've been all season."
With three minutes remaining, Hixson's Samantha Green scored from the right side with a blast off her right foot. The Lady Wildcats ended their season with a record of 14-6.
* Grace 5, East Ridge 0: At Grace, Kayla Bibbs had three goals and an assist and Abigail Smith had two goals for the Lady Golden Eagles (10-10), who led 2-0 at halftime.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.