SANDY — Tate Thurston had heard it every single day this season from his coaches, ad nauseam — run to the back post.
Nearly every time he made his run, to cover the far side of the goal in case of a deflection or redirection of a shot by one of his Sky View teammates, nothing happened.
And yet, he continued to do it.
“Every game, every day,” Thurston said.
Saturday night in the 4A state championship game, held at Rio Tinto Stadium, all those runs finally paid off.
Thurston netted the one and only goal scored in the title game, played between Sky View and Desert Hills, on a back post run.
His score gave the Bobcats a 1-0 win over the Thunder, and the 4A state title.
Never in our wildest dreams did we think we’d be here. We put in so much hard work throughout the season and it feels amazing. I love all these boys and have never seen anything like this. It was amazing. – Sky View's Ty Erickson
“It finally paid off,” Thurston said. “It feels amazing. I have no words for it. The rush you get is amazing.”
It was a rush felt by every one of the Bobcats when the final whistle blew after 80 minutes of desperate soccer.
Watch video replay of the game
“It means everything,” said Ty Erickson. “Never in our wildest dreams did we think we’d be here. We put in so much hard work throughout the season and it feels amazing. I love all these boys and have never seen anything like this. It was amazing.”
“I am really happy to see these boys step up and play the way they played,” Sky View head coach Jorge Cruz added. “I’ve known all these kids for four or five years now. They are like my own kids and they know it. I am really happy to send them off this way.”
That included senior Cade Olsen, who was unable to truly play in Saturday’s contest thanks to a season-ending injury that required he be in a full leg brace.
Olsen started the game though, brace and all, taking the opening kickoff before hobbling off the field for the remainder of the game.
“It was extremely amazing,” Cruz said of Olsen’s symbolic start. “He wanted it. He was one of our starters and if he didn’t have that injury he would have played. It was special to see that, and great that the referees and the whole association allowed them to do that.”
Sky View entered the game as underdogs to the defending champion Thunder — at least that was how they saw it.
“We were definitely the underdog,” Erickson said. “We didn’t know if we really had a chance.”
“It is just, as we walked in here today we looked around and it is massive, it is scary,” added Davis Hall.
Those fears evaporated quickly, as the Bobcats proved themselves in the game’s opening minutes.
“As soon as we came out and showed them that we weren’t going to sit back and let them attack us, I saw that they were scared,” said Erickson. “That was when I knew that we could do it.”
“Desert Hills was good, but we were right on their level,” added Hall.
Throughout the first half the teams traded body blow after body blow.
The Thunder appeared primed to strike first, however, thanks to the play of Ben Simister, Sawyer Heaton and Will Schroeder, among others, but every Thunder attack ultimately came up empty.
Whether it be goalkeeper Malik Horman, or defensive backs Hall, Hunter Smith, Cole Finlinson or Taylor Hobbs, the Sky View back line refused to allow a Desert Hills goal.
“Everyone in the back line was strong,” said Cruz. “They knew they had to play a perfect game and they did.”
The same could be said for Erickson, and it was the senior midfielder’s play in the second half that changed the game.
After the break Erickson simply took over, helping Sky View control possession.
“He is the engine, the heart of this team,” said Cruz.
His services deep into Thunder territory gave the Bobcats shot after shot after shot in the second half.
Desert Hills goalkeeper Preston Hodges proved up to the task more often than not, however, stymieing the efforts of Sky View’s leading goal scorer Jonathan Bergeson a time or two.
When Erickson found Hall on the right wing for a shot attempt midway through the second half it appeared Hodges had done it again, but the ball rebounded off him straight to Thurston.
“It bounced off the keeper and I just finished it,” Thurston said. “That was it.”
It was for the defending champion Thunder, as the Bobcats refused to go home without the championship trophy and held on for the win.
“The whole team played well,” said Cruz. “Everybody, even the bench players that went in played an amazing game. I am just proud of everybody. I knew it was going to be tough. I knew how much competition that was going to be. I am really happy to see these boys step up.”