Glenelg senior midfielder James Debose faked a touch inside and quickly shifted outside on the wing, leaving a Hereford defender in the dust. Debose crossed the ball into the box where fellow senior Tito Tokunboh-Salako was there to put home the game’s opening goal in the fourth minute.

That was his first of two goals in three minutes as the potent forward led the Gladiators’ offense in a commanding 3-0 Class 2A state semifinal win over No. 5 seed Hereford.

“Coach [Joey] Osborne told us that we should press early and be on them,” Tokunboh-Salako said. “They’re going to be very direct, but we have to make sure we drop back. We knew there was going to be space in the middle because it’s a wider field than our home field and we just found those spaces and exploited them.”

The top seed Glad

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