A district 7-AAA winner was supposed to be crowned on Thursday night, but heavy thundershowers postponed the game to Friday night at either the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex or Riverdale.

It all depends on the field conditions since more rain was in the forecast for Friday.

Regardless of when and what happens when the district finals take place, both Riverdale and Blackman have at least one more game this season as the Region 4 tournament starts on May 17. Both teams won their semifinal games on Tuesday that earned each of them a spot in the next phase of the postseason. However, both of the wins came down to the wire with key players stepping up and making game-changing plays.

The No. 4 seed Blaze got a late score by Matt Carter to upset the No. 1 seed Siegel 2-1 in the first game of the doubleheader.  While, Blackman goalkeeper Paxton Mitchell made some world-class saves to keep Blackman in the game.

“I stayed focused and kept the ball out of the net,” Mitchell, last year’s freshman of the Year, said after the game.

Blaze head coach Bill Vice added “It was your typical Siegel-Blackman classic.” Blackman will be making their first appearance in the regional tournament in a few years.

“I was pretty pleased,” Vice said. “We put it together at the right time.  It was a reward for the seniors to advance to regionals.”

In the following game on Tuesday night, Riverdale’s Josh Arman scored on a beautiful high-arching free kick early in the second half to break a 2-2 tie with LaVergne. The Warriors held on for the 3-2 win.

“I was looking to place the ball in the far post,” Arman said of his game-winner. “It was perfect placement for the ball. It felt really good.”

Josh’s father and Riverdale head coach Ail Arman added it was a big accomplishment to make the next step by advancing to regionals.

When the weather finally decides to cooperate, Coach Arman said it will be other classic matchup between the schools in the district finals. It will be the fifth time that the Blaze and Warriors have met in the district tournament.

The players and coaches will have an extra day to prepare for the game. Both of the coaches told their teams after the game was called at 8 p.m. on Thursday night to get plenty of fluids and be ready to play the next day. However, weather delays are nothing new for either team. Arman said his Riverdale team went through the same thing during last year’s regional tournament.

Josh added the delay will not affect the team at all. “We have a great team this year. We can’t control the weather. We have to think positive. It gives us an extra day of rest.”

Even through both teams will play in the regional’s next week, the results of the district title game does have an effect on where their first game will be held. The winner of the district will host the District 8 runner-up, while the loser has to travel to the District 8 champion.

Because of the weather postponement and the paper’s deadline, the game report will not be in this Sunday’s print edition. However, please check out our website, murfreesboropost.com for updates and results from this contest.