In Clermont southeastern there is a very pleasant high school athletic surprise that had been unfolding all season long and caused a lot of distress for the opposition.

The Felicity varsity boys soccer team came through winning some big games and recording a very respectable record for a program not known for not only having a winning season but being in serious competition for a conference crown.

The Cardinals were 9-6-1 overall and was runner-up of the Southern Buckeye Conference National Division championship chase with a record of 4-2-0.

Coach Vicki Wehrum, from one of Felicity’s leading families in sports, was pleased with the efforts of her guys.

“I think the reason they did so well is that we had nine seniors on the team who have been playing soccer together since they were kids and they have always been a close group and they are very experienced at playing the game so long with each other.”

Not only is the vast majority of the squad 12th graders, but from that number they selected a good quartet of captains to lead them on the field – Derrick Brock, Jacob Fry, Chris Paul, and Clayton Wehrum, the coach’s son.

The offensive thrust of the Red and White was powered by the scoring of Wehrum, a striker, and Fry, who is also a striker. They have both scored almost 20 goals.

Felicity’s best playmakers and assist leaders were Wehrum, who had at least 10 assists, and Fry, who had more than eight. Bradley Prather, a junior striker, has also performed very well on the offensive end of the field.

Paul was his squad’s goalkeeper and according to his coach “did a real good job” along with “the entire defense”, especially Brock, who was the stand out in the middle of the Cards’ rugged defense from whom they built their aggressive play around. “He helped hold down the back line,” said coach Wehrum.

The Felicity head mentor can not express enough her pride and pleasure in coaching such a talented squad that shares its talents with each other generously with its very impressive team work and this has certainly caused great confusion amongst the enemy players.

Coach Wehrum, herself, is a former Felicity sports letter earner. A member of the FHS class of 1986, she lettered in track and field and is very excited about beginning a new winning tradition at her alma mater.

“Everybody is working hard. We take each game one at a time. This is a good group of boys that I’ve definitely enjoyed coaching. My expectations for them is high. . .

“All of my seniors were very good leaders. They have been the corps of the team. This was their year to do well.”

The main obstacle to the Red and White’s complete success in the National Division of the Southern Buckeye Conference was the Batavia Bulldogs.

“Batavia has always been a big challenge for us and everybody else in the league. We want to remain consistently competitive with them every year and with the rest of the league.

“We hoped we could continue to compete very well and add on some more wins the rest of the season which we were able to do. We just missed our goal that was to get a total of double digit wins. We came a long way this year.”

The remainder of the Felicity High School varsity boys soccer roster includes senior defender and midfielder Jeremy Miller, senior midfielder Jake Foster, senior midfielder Sean Lee, senior defender and midfielder Devin Trammell, senior midfielder Jake Jones, junior midfielder Shane Reese, junior defender Chris Smith, junior midfielder Angelo Quiles, freshman midfielder Austin May, and freshman midfielder and striker Jordan Utter.

Felicity’s members of the Southern Buckeye National all-star squad were Fry, Paul, Prather, and Wehrum (first team) and Brock, Jones, and Trammell (second team).