Meriden
Adams, a recent Lebanon High graduate and anchor of the Raiders’ central defense, will suit up for today’s Twin State Lions Cup senior all-star game at New England College in Henniker, N.H.
It appeared Adams, a first-team all-stater, would miss out after injuring his back during the NHIAA Division II postseason last fall and sitting out the Raiders’ penalty-kicks loss to Goffstown in the final.
With Lions Cup tryouts coming soon after the championship game, Adams nearly didn’t partake until learning that simply showing up would render him eligible for the roster.
That was enough for Lions Cup voters — comprised of previous coach of the year winners from throughout the state — who selected him despite his performing at far less than 100 percent at the tryout.
Adams, who fittingly is slated to play at NEC beginning this autumn, is looking forward to today’s game against Vermont. He estimated his health at 95 percent following a recent New Hampshire Soccer Conference summer league game.
Proceeds from the Twin State Lions Cup benefit the Austine Green Mountain Lions camp for the hearing impaired as well as the Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation.
“It means a lot. I didn’t know if it was going to work out,” Adams said on Wednesday after Lebanon Central Supply’s 4-2 win over Touchline Boys SC at Plainfield School. “Sitting out the championship game was really tough because I felt like it was four years of hard work leading up to that point, and then having to spend it on the sideline. This allows me to get back out there and play with the best players in the state and contribute to a great cause.”
Adams’ absence in the title game was his own game-time decision. After he originally aggravated his lower back in midseason, he exacerbated the injury during a practice collision with Raiders goalie Davis Cole before their semifinal against Windham.
Five minutes into that eventual overtime win over the Jaguars, Adams got tangled with teammate Jordan Hammond while diving for a through ball.
“We got tripped up and he landed on the exact same spot on my back, and it was too much (pain) to keep playing,” Adams said. “I felt like it was a pinched nerve.”
With three days between the semifinal and final, Adams visited a physical therapist and it was determined his injury was likely a partial tear of one of his muscles.
“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to hurt it so bad that I wouldn’t be able to play in college,” Adams said. “Once we figured out that probably wouldn’t happen, (the physical therapist) basically said, ‘It should be fine. It’s up to you (whether to play in the final).’ ”
Stiff after the ride to Southern New Hampshire University on championship Saturday, Adams said it became clear during warm-ups that he was too hurt to play — at least, too much so to give the Raiders the best chance of winning.
“I knew (senior classmate) Jacob Peress would be the one taking over for me, and that he would be able to play the position better than I could,” Adams said. “As hard as it was, I knew it wasn’t in the best interest of the team for me to play.”
Peress ended up playing one of his best career games, helping to keep Goffstown off the board during a scoreless regulation and two overtimes. Adams, meanwhile, showed potential coaching chops with a vocal, instructive presence on the sideline throughout.
Not seeing his son on the pitch was difficult, too, for Adams’ father, Bruce, who also played center back for the Raiders in the mid-to-late 1980s.
“You have to respect the decision that he made,” Bruce Adams said. “He could have played hurt, but he knew that Jacob healthy was going to be able to do a better job than he could at that particular time. To be mature enough to recognize that, step aside and support him is enough to make a dad proud.”
Now that Adams is nearly back at full strength, he should be able to provide a staunch presence today for the Granite State. Adams’ tactful ability to swoop in and deny forwards has proven nearly impenetrable, a big contributor to Lebanon’s 10 shutouts last fall.
“He’s one of the most competitive players I’ve ever coached in my 24 seasons with Lebanon,” Raider coach Rob Johnstone said. “He goes 100 percent all the time, whether it’s practice or a game, and his skill set really allows him to do that.
“You could line the team up and make them sprint 60 or 100 yards, and he probably wouldn’t finish first. But if you put him in a 10- to 20-yard area, nobody close to him is going to get by. He’s like a really good safety in football who can cover all dimensions of the field within his area.”
New Hampshire will be coached by Stevens High’s Jason Stone, the NHIAA Division III coach of the year, who said he has been impressed with Adams’ play since coaching him in the 2016 Granite State Games.
Stone echoed Johnstone’s sentiment that Adams’ guile more than compensates for less-than-stellar speed.
“It’s easy to underestimate him, until you try to get by him,” Stone said. “He just uses his body so well, and never gives up.”
Hanover’s Sam Strohbehn and Jake Acker, Woodsville’s Antonio Houde and Stevens’ Ethan Sweet also will suit up for New Hampshire today, while Julian Stott, Adams’ Lebanon teammate, will miss the game for family reasons.
Vermont’s team features Woodstock midfielder Colin Campbell and Green Mountain Union’s Mack Walton, who plays for Lebanon Central Supply.
The boys are scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. The girls game is at 4. Sharon’s Mallory Lloyd and Woodstock’s Anna Dieffenbach are scheduled to suit up for Vermont against a Granite State squad that includes Lebanon goalkeeper Kassidee Rogers, Hanover back J.J. Taube and Sunapee’s Jessica Parsons and Sydney Clark.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.