2007 State Champions!

On Saturday, Trevor and I drove to Tucson to watch the St. Johns High school football team compete for the state title. Talk about one of the most exciting games I have ever seen in high school football. It was definitely between two very worthy teams. Either one could have taken it, but St. Johns prevailed!

The last time St. Johns won the football championship I was a senior. There were so many talented people both from my grade, but also kids from the junior class. I really don't think they could have won without the talent from both grades. That year though, the game before the championship we had to play Phoenix Christian and that game was so intense. Honestly that game ended up being way more exciting than the actual championship. I don't know whether I was more nervous at that game against Phoenix Christian or this one against Arizona Lutheran!

For those of you that weren't there, this game was played on U of A's football field. There were instant replays and the refs on the field had microphones to tell us what the calls were. It really made it feel like the big time. This game came down to the wire. It was tied up at the end of the 4th quarter so they had to do overtime. They put the kids on like the 15 yard line or something and they get 4 downs to try and score. We won the coin toss so we chose to go second. Arizona Lutheran scored a touchdown and then the extra point. Now it was our turn. We scored a touchdown as well, but here's where it got tricky. Do you kick for the extra point and tie it up, or go for the win with a two point conversion? We went for the win.....and it WORKED!!!! It was so exciting. My cousin Sterling played one heck of a game. We were so proud! Back home people were listening to the radio and I guess my cousin Julie said that one station was saying towards the end that they were going to have to get a shovel to dig this kids head out of the ground after a really hard hit by Sterling!

Those boys could not have been more excited, and I don't blame them. It was such an awesome game. No one thought we would win. We were ranked like 9th, but they did it. One of my favorite things was write after they came off the field I saw Shad Bride say, "where's my mom and dad?" They wouldn't let the fans out on the field so they were lined up along the fence. Shad's parents were just a little farther down and they rubbed his sweaty head and hugged and hugged. It was so cool.

This team is also a young team. There were only a few seniors. The one picture is of Sterling and Randall Raban, two seniors with their golden football trophy! The one near the beginning is of Sterling and his dad hugging after the game. Now both Sterling and his older brother, Preston, have won a state championship. I wish everyone could have been there. These boys have come a long way. They started the year 0 and 3. They came together and did service projects each week as a whole team (mormons, catholics, and everything) to work on unity. They committed Coach Morgan to not swear around them, and Coach Garcia to not chew around them. I think that because of all those things they were blessed.

Way to go State Champs!