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Cathedral high school’s John Carter Austin leapt into the air to head in a flicked header past Adams County Christian School’s goalkeeper to give the Green Wave a 1-0 win Monday night.

The goal came midway through the second half as Paxton Junkin launched a free kick from the half way line, and delivered a driven ball into the 18-yard box. Austin said he noticed an opening for him to close in on goal, and he said he found himself away from the defender marking him with a chance at a free header on the back post.

“It was like a gift almost,” Austin said. “It is probably one of the best moments of my life. It was awesome, and it means everything to me. To score something that crazy, and in this important of a game is life changing.”

As the ball hit the back of the net, Austin ran towards the left sideline, jumped up into the year and threw a fist pump. Austin said he copied the celebration from his favorite player Cristiano Ronaldo, and he said he wears the number seven because Cristiano Ronaldo wears the number seven.

Cathedral’s head coach Dennis Hogue estimated that it was about seven shots that his goalkeeper Joseph Garrity saved in the first half. Several of those shots that Garrity saved the Rebels had chances to put in the rebounds to score.

Rebels head coach Jimmy Allgood could be heard urging his players to follow up shots in the first half, an adjustment the Rebels made at halftime. Cathedral also made an adjustment at halftime to limit the amount of clean chances at putting shots on target for the Rebels.

Hogue said he had a double stopper and a player trailing the play so if ACCS cleared the ball he could play it back in. Hogue also gave credit to defensive back Junkin for helping Cathedral keep a clean sheet.

“He is the smart guy on the defensive end,” Hogue said. “Joseph made many saves and kept us in the game. For every save Joseph made Paxton probably cleared the ball twice, so having him is huge.”

Green Wave’s win puts them in a position to control their destiny in the district, Hogue said. With only three other teams in their district, a loss for either ACCS or Cathedral puts them in a hole, Hogue said. He said winning the first game against the Rebels puts more pressure on ACCS.

Cathedral will play Oak Forrest on Thursday night, and Hogue said beating them would give his team a good chance of making the playoffs. Hogue said right now ACCS versus Cathedral is probably the most important game of the season adding to the rivalry. The next time Cathedral will play ACCS will be at home on Feb. 1 with kick-off set for 5:30 p.m.

“It is our favorite match to play because we are cross town rivals, and bragging rights in town,” Hogue said. “These boys will dog each other until the next time we play. Then whoever wins that game will have bragging rights.”