JACKSON — South Webster’s Hunter Barnard scored two first-half goals to set the tone — as the Jeeps held on and knocked out No. 2 seed Northwest 4-0 to win a Division III Southeast District boys soccer championship on Saturday at Jackson High School’s Alumni Stadium.

This was the third time this season that that No. 3 seed South Webster has defeated the Mohawks in as many matchups.

The Jeeps raised their record to 15-3-2, and captured their first district championship since 2019.

The Mohawks, which lost both regular-season Southern Ohio Conference Division II matchups against the Jeeps by one-goal counts (3-2 and 2-1), ended their year at 14-5-1.

Last season, Northwest lost to another SOC II foe for the district championship —3-2 to Minford.

The Mohawks last won a boys soccer district championship in 2017.

“I knew this was going to be tough game,” South Webster head coach Corey Claxon said after the win. “We’ve beat them twice this season and (Northwest) was ready to go. They played physical and that actually hurt them. We kept our composure and we challenged for the ball all day.”

Barnard, a sophomore midfielder, booted goals at the 36:15 and 25:04 marks for the 2-0 Jeeps lead.

Claxon said the first goal from Barnard set the tone, because his player won the battle at the goal.

“That was big,” he said. “That really gave us a boost because of the way he scored.”

Barnard challenged Northwest goalkeeper Logan Shepherd in the air, and came away with the goal.

“I just saw Tyler (Sommer) in the right spot with the ball and the ball came at me and I saw the opportunity,” Barnard said. “I’ve been challenging the keepers all season long and I did that today and the ball found the net.”

Tyler Sommer assisted on both Barnard markers.

Northwest was frustrated in the first half, and Levi Shepherd was awarded a yellow card.

Then, Mohawk senior Jay Jenkins was given a yellow card and picked up a second one — which earned a red card and an automatic disqualification from the match, trailing 2-0 in the first half.

“That first goal really put a damper in our plans,” Northwest coach Josh Keeney said. “We had to change some stuff around and we kind of got down and just couldn’t recover. After our two studs (Levi Shepherd and Jay Jenkins) got yellow cards, they had to back off how physical they usually play, and that hurt us tremendously.”

After Jenkins’ ejection, South Webster added to the score — when Benaiah Andrews juked with the ball at the goal, and slid it past the goalie with 8:25 to go in the first half for the 3-0 Webster lead.

“They were seeded higher than us and they thought they were going to come out here and bully us,” Barnard added. “It didn’t work in their favor.”

South Webster’s Carson Corriell made the score 4-0, when he knocked it in from close range — set up by a nifty assist pass from Andrews with 13:42 left in the contest.

“Our kids really brought the effort,” Claxon said. “We settled down and passed the ball well and worked together. It had been a few years since we had won a district championship, so this one feels pretty sweet. We knew Northwest was going to come out playing hard, but we were first on the board and never looked back.”

The Jeeps now play another SOC II opponent for the third time —the 18-1-1 Wheelersburg Pirates in the Division III Region 11 semifinals on Wednesday night.

First touch is set for 7 p.m. at Athens High School’s Joe Burrow Stadium.

The Pirates swept the Jeeps in the regular season —rallying in the second half for a 2-1 win at South Webster on August 24, then pitching a 6-0 shutout at Ed Miller Stadium in Wheelersburg.

* * *

South Webster 3 1 —4

Northwest 0 0 — 0

SW — Hunter Barnard (Tyler Sommer assist) 36:15, 1st (1-0 SW)

SW — Hunter Barnard (Tyler Sommer assist) 25:04, 1st (2-0 SW)

SW — Benaiah Andrews (unassisted) 8:25, 1st (3-0 SW)

SW — Carson Corriell (Benaiah Andrews assist) 13:42, 2nd (4-0 SW)

SHOTS — South Webster 13, Northwest 7

SHOTS ON GOAL — South Webster 11, Northwest 4

SAVES — South Webster 4 (Sam Odegaard), Northwest 7 (Logan Shepherd)

CORNER KICKS — South Webster 4, Northwest 1

FOULS — South Webster 5, Northwest 9

YELLOW CARDS — Jacob McGraw, South Webster; Levi Shepherd, Northwest; Jay Jenkins, Northwest; Caleb Lewis, Northwest

RED CARDS — Jay Jenkins, Northwest