History
A Montgomery County Original
It started with a
student teacher from Michigan.
How one soccer education class at Mt. Sterling Elementary became one of Kentucky's proudest soccer traditions.
In the spring of 1978, a Morehead State student named Jeff Lendon brought a soccer ball to Mt. Sterling Elementary to introduce the game to the youth of Montgomery County, a rural county steeped in American football tradition. Student-teaching there, he put the game in front of kids who'd never seen it.
He didn't just start a team — he built the whole pipeline: a local rec league, a feeder program at J.B. McNabb Middle School, and in 1983 the first-ever boys and girls varsity teams at Montgomery County High School. Those earliest varsity rosters were coed: girls like Katherine Charas and Rova Thorne pulled on the jersey and played alongside the boys.
“Montgomery County was feared and respected each and every year — in my opinion the best county soccer program in the state.”— Kevin Wright, MoCo assistant coach & two-time state-champion girls coach at West Jessamine
Over 22 seasons Lendon won 246 games — 14th-most in Kentucky history — with five state-semifinal trips and two state-final appearances. Off the field he was just as influential: a founding member, president, and chairman of the state coaches' association who set up and ran Kentucky's first soccer all-star games, and chairman of the KHSAA's state soccer committee. He coached club soccer too, in the Kentucky Youth Soccer Association — Lexington's LYSA Glory and the CKY Storm. And he commissioned the Central Kentucky Soccer Conference from Montgomery County, where the Indians held their own in the top flight against city programs like Henry Clay, Lafayette, and Lexington Catholic.
“Jeff was nothing but good to me. The Lexington Catholic–MoCo games when I played were epic — big players on both sides. I went on to Centre and started coaching in 1994 after graduation. Kentucky soccer was still finding its way; ODP was a way bigger deal back then, and Jeff was nothing but nice to me on staff as the goalkeeper coach when I was a nobody. I'll always remember that.” — Jeb Burch, Head Coach, Centre College Men's Soccer
1983
First Varsity Season
2×
State Runner-Up
18
Regional Titles
3
Head Coaches, 40+ Years
The Program, Year by Year
1978
The first ball is kicked
A Morehead State student named Jeff Lendon brings a soccer ball to Mt. Sterling Elementary — likely the first ever kicked in Montgomery County. This is a football-crazy town, with deep gridiron roots and the winning tradition to match, and before the spring of 1978 its people know little of the world’s game. Student-teaching with fellow Morehead classmate Laird Johnson, Lendon introduces the community to soccer through a Community Education class in a third-grade classroom; that first spring, the fledgling program splits a pair of matches with Morehead. By fall, the new Community Education League has 125 kids in grades 1 through 6 playing. A Michigan native, Lendon studies under Dr. Mohammed Sabie, the man often called the “Father of Soccer in Kentucky.”
1983
First varsity season
After building a local rec league (125 kids in its first fall), a middle school program in 1981, and a JV season in 1982, Lendon launches the first-ever boys and girls varsity teams at Montgomery County High School. The first varsity game is a 3 – 0 shutout at Berea on September 6: Michael Brooks scores twice, Tony Martin adds a third, and Bart Bell keeps the clean sheet. It is also the first fall the KHSAA sanctions the state soccer tournament.
3 – 0
First Varsity Win
1985
The first region title
A 6 – 1 win over GRC at Cunningham Field delivers the school’s first regional championship. The state quarterfinal that follows is an instant classic: Male 7, MoCo 6 in sudden-death overtime, in the rain at Ballard High in Louisville.A 6 – 1 win over George Rogers Clark at Cunningham Field delivers the school’s first regional championship. The state quarterfinal that follows is an instant classic: Male 7, MoCo 6 in sudden-death overtime, in the rain at Ballard High in Louisville.
1988
Eight seconds from overtime
Final seconds of the region semifinal, tied 1 – 1: Junior Ballard launches his famous somersault flip throw into the box and Anthony Chandler scores at the buzzer to beat Oneida Baptist 2 – 1. Fans rush Cunningham Field. The run ends past midnight in a freezing-rain shootout against Owensboro in the state semifinal.
1989
State Runner-Up — and a record-setting year
Reached the KHSAA state final (fell to Ballard 0 – 2), set the Kentucky single-season record with 16 shutouts, and Anthony Chandler earned NSCAA/MetLife All-American honors. That winter, Lexington’s brand-new Dunbar came calling with its head coaching job and higher pay. Lendon turned it down and stayed home.
16
Shutouts
2nd
In State
1994
Back to the final
A second state-final appearance, at Woodford County; fell to St. Xavier 0 – 2.
1995
3rd all-time in Kentucky
A 163 – 103 – 13 standing, with more regional titles (9) than any program in the state and five Final Four appearances.
1997
A program cover, painted by hand
The 1997 program cover was an original painting by Mina McLean, grandmother of Charlie Hughes (’27) and mother of Myra Hughes (’91).
The JV squad that same fall of 1997 included freshman Adam Martin (’01), father of Colton Martin (’28) and Riley Martin (’31), who built and manages this website.
2004
The Lendon era closes
22 seasons and 246 wins — 14th-most in Kentucky history. His coaching tree runs deep: successor Nick Pannell and Kevin Wright (two state titles coaching West Jessamine girls) both came up under him. And the Indians still open every game with the chant assistant coach Steve Nehlsen taught the team in 1984.
246
Wins
22
Seasons
11
Region Titles
2005
The Pannell era
An assistant under Lendon takes the reins and never lets go — a .665 winning percentage and four state-tournament appearances over 15 seasons, 25th-most wins in Kentucky boys soccer history.
203
Wins
15
Seasons
These totals cover Pannell’s Montgomery County tenure. He retired from coaching in 2020, then later returned to the sideline at North Oldham (Oldham County) — so his career record continues to grow.
2012
From the 12th Region to the 10th
A statewide KHSAA realignment shifts the Indians out of the 12th Region — a longtime fight with Bourbon County, GRC, Harrison County, and Paris — and into the 10th Region, District 39, where they compete today.A statewide KHSAA realignment shifts the Indians out of the 12th Region — a longtime fight with Bourbon County, George Rogers Clark, Harrison County, and Paris — and into the 10th Region, District 39, where they compete today.
2015
The program goes social
A Facebook fan page brought Montgomery County soccer online for the first time, the program’s first home on social media.
2020
The Miles era begins
Kevin Miles takes over a program with deep roots and modern expectations. In a COVID-shortened first season, the Indians still won the 39th District and 10th Region and reached the state tournament, the first of three straight district and region championships to open the Miles era.
2026
Website launches
mocoboyssoccer.com launched in July 2026: a news hub and living archive of the program, from 1978 to today. Design direction inspired by the marketing graphics of the @MoCoBoysSoccer social media, designed by T/A Martin Studio.
Contributions: Adam Martin, with conversations and archives from coaches Jeff Lendon and Nick Pannell, the Riherds scoreboard, and Mt. Sterling Advocate scans and archives.
Traditions
The Chant · Since 1984
I KOO BE A
I A BE A
I KOO BE A
I A BE A
I KOO BE A
I A BE A
NICKI, NICKI,
A TOO, A TOW
A TOO, A TOW
Before every game since 1984, the Indians have opened with the same chant. Steve Nehlsen was raised in the Upper Volta region of Africa, where his parents served as missionaries, and came to Mt. Sterling to pastor the Alliance Church. He began volunteering with the soccer program in August of 1984, joined the staff as varsity assistant and junior high coach, and taught MoCo players a Dani war chant from Indonesia, one he and his teammates had used on his college team. They have used it to open every game since.
The warm-up playlist has its own staples: “We Will Rock You” and “In the Air Tonight” have soundtracked Indians warm-ups for generations.
“I remember Jeff personally making sure that playing field was in perfect shape each fall. He cared about people, the game, facilities — Jeff made for a better soccer experience all around.”
The Coaching Tree
Players and assistants who came up under Coach Lendon and went on to lead programs of their own — from his own handwritten coaching tree, verified against school and scoreboard records. More branches are still being confirmed.
Program Honors
State Runner-Up
Fell to Ballard 2 – 0 in the KHSAA state final at Eastern High School, Louisville.
State Runner-Up
Back to the final at Woodford County; fell to St. Xavier 2 – 0.
All-American
A. Chandler named to the NSCAA/MetLife Boys All-America Fifth Team.
State Record — 16 Shutouts
Willie Willoughby set the Kentucky single-season shutout record.
3rd All-Time in Kentucky
163 – 103 – 13 by Kentucky’s first statewide record book — with more regional titles (9) than any program in the state.
Co-Founder, State Coaches Association
The same year the Indians went varsity, Lendon initiated the KHSSCA with Rick Kazee of Lafayette and Steve Nehlsen of Sayre, then led it as president into 1996.
Coach of the Year — Jeff Lendon
Voted Coach of the Year by his peers in the state coaches association after the 20-7-1 state runner-up season.
National Coach of the Year Finalist
In his retirement year, Lendon was named one of eight regional coaches of the year in the country by the NHSCA, on top of a state Coach of the Year honor.
In the Kentucky Record Book
Full record book →The Indians' program record book — individual marks across the years. Several are also recognized in the KHSAA state record book.
All-State Honor Roll
KHSSCA All-State selections. Modern honorees (2022 – 25) from the coaches' association's season awards; founding-era selections from the program's scanned archive. One note on the early era: All-State selection then required a player's coach to hold association membership, so some deserving Indians never made these lists.
District Champions
27th, 24th & 39th DistrictDocumented district finals — 2000 – present confirmed on Riherds, earlier from the program's records. There was no district round in the program's first seasons (teams advanced through the region); district play began around 1988. Where a title isn't documented it isn't listed, rather than assumed.
Region Champions
18titles · 8th, 12th & 10th Region18 regional championships across three head coaches — and a region number that moved with the sport: the 1985 title came in the 10th Region (per that fall's Mt. Sterling Advocate), the late-80s and early-90s titles in Region 8, then the 12th Region, then the 10th again since the 2012 realignment. Greyed rows are region runner-up (finalist) finishes. Numbers per era verified on Riherds (2000+), the 1994 state program, and the program archive.
Sectional Champions
4 · 1995For much of the program's early history the KHSAA soccer postseason included a sectional round — one game between region champions, with a Final Four berth on the line. When the coaches' association published its state record book in 1995, Montgomery County led Kentucky with four sectional championships— more than Lexington Catholic, Covington Catholic, or anyone else in the state, each with two at most. A small county program, out-titling the commonwealth's traditional powers at the doorstep of the Final Four.
From the KHSSCA state record book (updated Fall 1995). Years derived from the program's archive — each sectional-era Final Four berth came through a sectional win; the 1988 sectional is confirmed in the KHSAA state program itself, and the remaining opponents are being confirmed from Coach Lendon's archive. As the sport grew statewide the sectional and semi-state rounds gave way to today's reseeded 16-team state tournament, and the Indians' alignment was renumbered over the decades — from Region 8 / District 27 in the founding era, to the 12th Region / 24th District, to today's 10th Region / 39th District (2012).
In the State Tournament
5Final Fours · 2State FinalsFive Final Four appearances (1987 – 94) — among the most in Kentucky history — plus modern deep runs in the reseeded 16-team state bracket. From the program's official records.
Season by Season
1983 – 2026: 517 – 361 – 54Bar shows each season's win share; results are grouped by head coach. Season rows for 1983 – 2017 come from the program's official records (Coach Pannell's tables, with 1983 confirmed from Coach Lendon's archive); 2018 – present are computed live from the game database. Pannell's era total is his official KHSAA career record; the KHSAA book carries Lendon at 245 – 210 – 22, one result off the season-by-season sum shown here. Program history digitized and verified across sources by Adam Martin.