SACCO: Just Sam being Sam at Wilson

FISHERSVILLE

All that stood between Sam Bowman and his second goal of the season was a little bit of grass, some exposed red clay and a Page County goal keeper who was having a hard time keeping anything out of the net.

But with Josh Miller streaking into the box to his left, Bowman decided to push the ball toward Wilson Memorial’s scoring machine instead of doing the honors himself.

Miller missed the shot.

After the game, Bowman just shrugged his shoulders.

Yep, that’s just Sam. A guy who would rather see an “A” next to his name than the “G.”

Sooner or later, you’re going to have to realize that Bowman, along with a few other guys who wear the Wilson green and white, are going to be the key for this team to not only win its second straight Shenandoah District title, but score a return trip to where it ended last season — the Region B semifinals.

So, why, Sam? Why did you flick that ball toward Miller instead of firing it toward the back of the net?

It’s simple, really.

“Honestly,” Bowman says, “he’s a better finisher than I am.”

It’s mathematics, the senior says. If it comes down to a 50-50 chance to shoot or a 100-percent chance to dish it off to one of Wilson’s big guns, well, take a guess what Bowman’s going to choose.

“I’m going to dish it off,” he says.

It’s all just part of the game. And if sports fans in Augusta County would drop their anti-soccer stances and take a little bit of varsity interest in a game that’s fun to watch despite most contests being low scoring, they’re going to see some talent.

What’s wrong with a chess match played on a pitch? What’s wrong with Bowman playing the part of the pawn and deciding to kick the ball over to one of the knights? Nothing.

Actually, it’s preferred, and on Tuesday, in a game that turned into Page’s version of Pickett’s Charge less than 10 minutes in, Bowman was on full display.

His cross to Miller for his first assist of the game was sweet enough to give Panther defenders cavities.

His second assist looked like they drew it up in the dirt before the match even started. With Davis getting ready to turn on the afterburners and streak through a porous Panther defense, the senior forward made eye contact with Bowman and pointed a few steps ahead of himself.

Bowman’s through pass hit its mark and Davis corralled it and hammered it in.

Somebody, Davis said after the win, has to be the distributor. And Bowman does it as well as anybody.

“He’s really good at assisting,” Davis says.

That’s an understatement.

“It’s just part of the game,” Bowman says. “Soccer is a team sport, and our goal is to play as a team. If [assists are] what they need me to do, then yes,” he does like handing them out.

The notion of Bowman’s team-style play puts a smile on coach Kyle Congleton’s face. It’s not just Bowman, he says, there are plenty more.

“That’s the one thing we coach,” Congleton says. “An assist, in my book, is as good as a goal.”

But trying to name all the distributors on his team is akin to rattling off the state capitals. It’s a tough job and you don’t want to leave out Nebraska. (Omaha? Lincoln? Whichever.)

“There’s Grant [Davis] and Josh [Miller],” he says. “Philip [Congleton], Quinton Knott ... there’s a whole list of guys.

“You want them to give it to whoever has the best option, and that’s how you try to coach them.”

It doesn’t matter to anybody who prefers to assist who puts the goal in. Never has, never will.

“As long as somebody is finishing,” Bowman says with a laugh.

With a 7-0-2 record (3-0-1 in the Shenandoah) and tough Stonewall Jackson up on Tuesday, the Hornets are going to need all the assists they can get.

“That’s how goals are scored,” Davis says. “One person has got to be selfish.”

And another person just has to be Sam.

Follow Jim Sacco, Augusta County’s only award-winning sports columnist, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PoochPunt