RICHLANDS – Isaiah Betton put in the work leading to his junior soccer season at Richlands.

Just ask coach Mike Roed.

“Isaiah went to Spain for two weeks in the summer and played club there … and when he came back after that type of training, he just stepped up to another level,” Roed said. “And when he says he watches tape, he breaks everything down, and he watches professional teams play. He’s a student of the game.”

Betton’s work paid off.

The junior forward set the Wildcats’ single-season goal-scoring mark with 44 to help Richlands (19-3-2, 11-1 Coastal 5-A/6-A Conference) to its first conference title since 2006.

As a result, Betton is The Daily News Player of the Year for the 2025 area high school boys’ soccer season.

“We started seeing Isaiah step up towards the end of his sophomore year, but we did not know he was going to explode during his junior year,” Roed said. “He did the work in the offseason, and he continues to work.”

Betton entered the season having already been one of the area’s better players.

As a sophomore, he was named all-state and first-team all-area after he recorded 18 goals and seven assists. As a freshman, Betton was second-team all-area after he tallied 22 goals and seven assists.

But this fall, Betton elevated his game to a higher level by breaking Roman Eddleman’s school record of 42 goals in one season that he set in 2015. Betton’s play helped the Wildcats record the most victories since they won 16 in 2014.

“Last year, I started off slow and I really didn’t do too much. I just did enough,” Betton said. “But this year, I started off faster and scored more off my chances. If you told me early in the season that I would have scored 44 goals, I would have said you’re lying. But after doing it, and seeing the work we put in, yeah, I think I should have scored that and more.”

Roed appreciates that desire from his standout striker.

“Isaiah wanted to break the goal record this season,” Roed said. “He is driven to be the best.”

Betton kicked off his third season with an assist in a 2-0 win over North Brunswick. He then scored four goals in a 6-2 result over East Duplin.

Betton found the net in a 2-2 draw with Jacksonville and later scored five in a 6-5 win over Topsail. He had another five-goal outburst in a 6-3 victory over Havelock while adding another four-goal effort while ending with four hat tricks and three braces.

“We lost a lot of seniors, and everybody said we were not going to be as good because we didn’t have this and didn’t have that,” Betton said. “But we knew that we still had a good team. We knew we had a good team to prove people wrong.”

The Wildcats certainly were a good team as they started 9-0-1 on their way to the league title. And while Betton netted 44 of Richlands’ 81 goals, he was quick to credit his teammates.

“Yeah, I scored a lot of goals, but my teammates really helped with every goal that I had,” he said. “A lot of them came from the team building things up the middle and then playing me forward. I didn’t score a lot of goals myself … we were all in sync and we knew what we needed to do.”

But how did the Wildcats make it work?

“If the ball starts from the back, I’ll watch where it’s going to go, and then if we play it into the midfield, our midfielder will probably work it around for a little bit,” Betton said. “I am moving left to right to see what they are going to do, and as soon as I get a cue from someone, I’ll make a run through a gap. They know what gap to find me. Then I look up, try to stay composed in front of the goal, and I see what the goalkeeper is going to do. Then I just out it into the goal.”

While Betton is pleased with his season, he remains motivated, not just to have another strong individual season, but to also help the Wildcats advance further in the postseason. Richlands fell in penalty kicks to Croatan in the second round of the state 5-A playoffs.

“When I come back for my senior year, I am going to be hungrier than ever,” Betton said. “We want to try to win the conference again and go farther in the playoffs.”

Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on X @jdnsports.