On a sweltering day at Colonel Field, Henderson County hosted University Heights in a rematch of the 2025 regional championship, in which UHA defeated Henderson in extra time to advance to the state tournament.
This time, however, the Colonels would prevail over their 2nd Region foe 4-0 in a dominating performance that was never really in doubt. HCHS controlled possession for most of the game and after leading 1-0 at halftime, strung together a trio of goals in the second half to put the match away.
After nearly a full half of play in which the Cols missed a few early opportunities to score, it was Owen Gillham who struck first with a left-footed shot in the 33rd minute that evaded the Blazers’ goalie on an assist from Warren Grove.
It would not take long after the second half began for HCHS to record another goal. After a touch from Jack Monroe, Stennett Wiggins blasted a ball into the back of the net in the 45th minute to extend the lead to 2-0.
After a bit of back-and-forth play, Miles Pryor broke away on the attack with an opportunity to score. Before he could take a shot, he was fouled by a UHA defender in the box, giving him a chance at a penalty kick. Though the goalie stopped his initial attempt, he gathered the rebound and capitalized on his second chance to put the Cols up 3-0 in the 66th minute.
Before it was all over, Monroe collected his second assist of the game as he set up Ross Plummer who rolled a ball perfectly past the keeper to score the final goal of the match in the 75th minute to seal the 4-0 victory for Henderson.
Jesse Greenwell combined with Owen Smith, who played in goal for the last eight minutes, to record the clean sheet.
The win moved the Cols’ record to 9-3-2 on the season atop the 2nd Region standings.
It was also the second 4-0 win over a familiar region opponent after HCHS defeated Madisonville North-Hopkins on the road earlier this week. That game saw two goals from Pryor, as well as one each from Grove and Reid Campbell. Delivering assists were Zehn Hazelwood, Grove and Monroe. Greenwell also posted a shutout for that match.
“The last two games were really good for us. The results are really, really positive. Both teams are good teams,” HCHS Head Coach Benson Pryor said. “The two clean sheets are what we’ve been wanting to do and how we’ve been wanting to play. We’re making sure that we’re locking in on defense.”
The Cols also own victories over Christian County and Webster County, who are the other two teams in the top five of the region standings.
“I think ultimately we’ve got to keep level-headed,” Pryor said. “We want to win and not come into any future region games thinking we’ve already won here. You’ve got to want to win the next one. Also realizing that there’s a message sent: We can play. We’re a solid team. Right now we’d have to look like the front-runners in the region.”
One of the keys to Henderson’s success has been how well they have shared the workload and the glory on the field. Miles Pryor leads the way with 33 points on 10 goals and 13 assists. He leads the 2nd region in assists and is tied for third in the state, according to stats posted on KHSAA’s website. Grove is next on the team with 10 goals and four assists.
Then, there is a long list of Cols who have contributed multiple goals: Gillham (6), Hazelwood (4), Monroe (3), Tyler Payne (3), Beckham Womack (2), Chihiro Shimizu (2). Several other players have scored at least one goal, as well.
Monroe is second on the team with eight assists, while Hazelwood is third with five.
Monroe attributed the success of his squad to “understanding who we are as a team” and how well they know each other on the field and how they play.
“At the beginning of the season, we realized we didn’t have that one guy that team’s usually have, so we all got that idea in our heads that we all have to contribute, we all have to figure it out and we all have to score,” Monroe said.
As far as his team’s chances to avenge last year’s loss in the regional championship, Monroe has no doubts.
“We’re going to come out, win the district tournament, show the region who we are, and try to get that one back for last year,” Monroe said. “We’ve just got to keep our heads in it, don’t get overconfident and play our game.
HCHS will return to action on Thursday traveling to Evansville Day School before another regional matchup at Fort Campbell High School next Saturday.
Watch the Cols’ Owen Gillham score the game’s opening goal late in the first half on an assist from Warren Grove (15).
