Athlete: Emerson Gomez
School: James Kenan
Sports: Boys’ Soccer/Football
Position: Goalie (soccer)/Place kicker (football)
Year: Senior
Hometown: Lempira, Honduras
Parents: Enrique and Lidia Gomez
A multi-sport athlete nicknamed “E-Money” by his teammates, Gomez helped lead the Tigers to East Central 2A regular-season conference championships in boys’ soccer and football this past fall. He collected 56 point-after-touchdown (PATs) for Kenan, which won the program’s first league crown in nearly a decade. Gomez played 10 games between the pipes and filed four clean sheets (shutouts) on the soccer pitch. He logged 52 saves for James Kenan, which reached the fourth round of the 2024 NC High School Athletic Association Class 2A playoffs.
Tigers’ head football coach Tim Grady said, “Emerson was a joy to have on the team. He is extremely humble. After kicking a very important kick [PAT] one night, he said, ‘It wasn’t me. It was God.’ He will be missed by his coaches and teammates.”
Tigers’ head soccer coach Mitchell Quinn said, “In my opinion, the goalkeeper position is not an easy position. Emerson is very good at this position and he’s very effective when coming out to get the ball. He also understands that he’s not going to save every shot and he’s very good at keeping a level head when a shot does get by him.”
