The Santa Fe Preparatory boys soccer team overcame the flu and a case of the second-half jitters Saturday to defeat Portales 1-nil in a District 2A-AAA match at Brennand Field.

The Blue Griffins (9-6 overall, 5-2 in 2A-AAA) were missing four varsity players who were sidelined with the flu, including starting defenders Brian Lewis and Greg Throne.

Their absence forced Prep to juggle its defensive lineup, with Seth Kaufman stepping into the stopper role and Kevin Lowe filling in at sweeper.

The re-tooled "D" occasionally bent but would not break, and a first-half goal from freshman Graham Sides proved to be the difference, as the Blue Griffins held on through a nervy final 40 minutes to earn the win.

In doing so, the Blue Griffins maintained control of their own destiny in the race for the District 2A-AAA title. Prep closes out its season with 2A-AAA matches against Monte del Sol on Monday, Santa Fe Waldorf School on Wednesday, and Desert Academy on Friday. If they win out, the Blue Griffins will wrest the 2A-AAA title from city rival St. Michael's.

"From our perspective, there's a lot of parity in our district now," Prep head coach Hersch Wilson said. "For every game from here on out, it's just going to be about how hard we try out there, because we're going to be playing so much."

Sides' goal proved to be all-important in a match that featured only a handful of scoring chances for either side as both offenses struggled to get shots on target.

Sides finished off a corner kick from Grayson Osgood in the 21st minute, connecting first-time from six yards out and threading his shot through the legs of Portales goalie Erick Ibarra and into the net.

The strike was Sides' 10th goal of the season, and puts him one goal ahead of his brother, McCall Sides, who also is featured in the Blue Griffin attack.

"We knew we had to win," Graham Sides said. "We know we have to win every game from here on out."

Prep squandered several chances to add to its lead before the halftime whistle, and had to endure a back-and-forth second half against a pesky Rams squad that beat the Blue Griffins 2-1 in their first district match in Portales on Sept. 5.

"Portales again gave us a really tough game," Wilson said. "They're just a totally different team from last year when we were beating them 6-0 or 7-0."

Prep outshot Portales (7-11, 3-6) 16-14 for the match, while Santa Fe Prep goalie Danny Quinn finished with seven saves and Ibarra had five stops.

"I thought it was pretty even, and that we played 'em pretty close," said Portales head coach Jonathan Smith. "We just couldn't score. It just didn't happen for us."

Contact Jon Sward at jsward39@gmail.com.