If fourth-ranked Hixson had played the first half of its District 6-A/AA soccer match against East Ridge like it did the second, the Wildcats might have won by a comfortable margin Thursday.
The same could have been said for the Pioneers if they played their second half like the first.
The teams’ bad halves combined with their good ones for a 1-1 tie at Camp Jordan. East Ridge (5-4-2) now has a 4-1-1 district mark by handing the Wildcats their first non-loss of the season. Hixson (10-0-1) is 3-0-1 in the league.
“We played good in the first half, but they played well in the second,” East Ridge coach Jeremy McIntyre said, calling the Pioneers’ first half “the best” he had seen them play.
“We were hitting our through balls and connecting on the things we had worked on,” McIntyre said.