Lexington junior defender Cesar Muñoz is back. He’s hoping his community can one day recover just like he has.
Wednesday night, the Lexington boys soccer team will take the pitch in the Class B boys soccer state championship versus Gretna.
Making it to the finals almost didn’t happen for Muñoz. The junior defender suffered two knee surgeries in 2025 that required significant rehab to get back on the pitch.
“I really didn’t like sitting on the bench just watching, knowing that I was injured, but I worked my butt off all season and offseason too, ready for this moment,” Muñoz told NebPreps. “I knew what we wanted, and we came and we were making it to the finals.”
The first injury happened in January of 2025, which required surgery to repair a complete meniscus tear and a slight ACL tear. He missed the first nine matches of his sophomore season. Then came another meniscus injury in November of 2025 and another surgery.
“Everyone has their own stories,” Muñoz said. “God makes it for you, so that was God’s plan for me. So I just had to stick with it and just move on … It’s like a good month and a half to two months of rehab, just a lot of strengthening my muscles and getting that meniscus better so my left leg could be good.”
The rehab was long, but like all Minutemen, especially those in Lexington in 2026, he’s a fighter.
Soccer is now the heartbeat of Lexington and the community. The Minutemen have made the previous six state tournaments with runner-up finishes in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
The boys soccer team making it to another championship match has given the community something to rally behind after a turbulent six months.
On Nov. 25, 2025, Tyson Foods announced the closure of its Lexington plant effective Jan. 20, 2026. The plant closure and the approximately 3,200 jobs it eliminated meant uncertainty for its school and, more importantly, the community.
“We did it for them,” Muñoz said, pointing to the celebrating crowd of fans after the 2-1 semifinal win over Schuyler. “Obviously, Tyson closed. That made us all sad. We didn’t know what was gonna happen, if we were gonna lose players or not. But they all still come and watch. They all come and support us. They drove three hours to come watch us, and it’s just amazing.”
Through the turmoil in the community with the plant closure, Muñoz and his teammates lost not just friends but classmates and teammates.
“A couple of people moved,” Muñoz said. “They moved pretty far. It’s not like they just went to Kansas. So it hurts a little bit knowing that we grew up with them, but can’t do this with them.”
A win on Tuesday would not only be for those currently on the roster and those who stayed in the town. It would be for those families that lost their jobs and had to move away from their community, the one they loved, to find work to feed their families.
“It would mean a lot,” Muñoz said of the state title. “Especially with everything. Yeah, it would mean a lot. We’ve been here a bunch of times. We got to the final, but we just couldn’t accomplish what we wanted. So it would be amazing to bring the first state championship back to Lex.”
