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JACKSON - Before the 3A State boys soccer championship match Worland Warriors coach Ron Overcast laid it out plainly for his team, "I talked with them and said we've knocked on the door of this title game twice. Today, let's go blow the hinges off of it. And we did it," he said.

Blow the hinges off the door the Warriors did as they were victorious 2-1 in extra time over the Star Valley Braves Saturday at William T. McIntosh Stadium in Jackson.

That's not to say there were not a few worrisome moments in the 100 minutes of play but, ultimately, the Warriors came out on top. They did so by displaying the trait that has defined them all season -

resiliency.

"I'm not even sure what to even say, said Overcast. "I was telling the Northwest coach these boys don't even know how to lose. Sometimes they try, but for them to come back after giving up a goal in the last 40 seconds, to be down a man for the rest of the game, and for Mocko to hit that goal, it shows you the types of players we have."

The Warriors took the lead in the 12th minute when freshman Rudy Sanford took a pass from teammate Daniel Weyrich and took a shot from 35 yards out. Sanford's shot had so much heat on it that it ripped right through the hands of the Star Valley keeper.

"Daniel Weyrich got the ball to me and he does a great job holding down the midfield. All of the guys were playing strong, up tight defense which allowed me to be free in the midfield and I knew they had confidence in me so I just took it and it ended up being a good shot. Heck of a job to my teammates, this is a team sport and I'm just so happy right now," said Sanford when talking about scoring his 12th-minute goal.

From that moment until the 75th minute the Warriors controlled the game. In every aspect the Warriors were better, they were sounder fundamentally and physically, they bullied the Braves. The Warriors were so physical that two players, Luke Lamb and Jaime Luna, picked up yellow cards.

But with five minutes remaining in regulation, the Braves attack started to find more and more opportunities. With less than a minute remaining the Braves got a direct free kick in the Warriors defensive third 42 yards out from the goal.

Some confusion on the play led to Luna blocking the kick, this led to his second yellow card, this time for encroachment, resulting in his ejection from the game.

Down a player, the Warriors defense was still setup well but when the Braves kicked the ball into the 18 Worland had trouble clearing the ball. Star Valley quickly took advantage of Worland's clearing troubles and struck in the equalizing goal with 42 seconds remaining.

After time expired, a stunned group of Warriors walked back to their bench to figure out the plan of attack for two 10-minute extra time periods. It could have been easy for this team to go in the tank after being so close to a championship but that's not how this group operates.

"That's one thing I love about this team, before going into the huddle I was down but looking around at the guys I didn't see any heads down. That just shows how much adversity we've gone through and how much we can overcome. It's unbelievable what this team can go through, I love this team," said Warriors junior Rylan Mocko.

The Warriors took the Braves best shot in the early minutes of the first period of extra time, but in the 86th minute Worland broke through.

On the attack, Warrior Dillon Wolf, from 42 yards out, sent a long ball to the opposite side of the field. On the other side was Mocko who read the ball correctly and took advantage of the out-of-place Brave defender and hit a hard, low ball to the far post for what turned out to be the championship-deciding goal.

"It's kind of funny, beginning of the season I've had some easy opportunities and I ended up missing them. We worked day in and day out on finishing inside the six. So when I saw that ball flying in the air, it's so hard to read with the turf and I'm just lucky I got the good read on it. But I took that touch and saw the keeper creeping near post I thought to myself if I hit it hard enough on the ground to the far post it's going to go in," said Mocko on the championship goal.

The execution in the extra time periods is what won Worland their championship, even without a whiteboard the Warrior players knew what their coaches asked of them and got it done.

"The marker was dried up and we can't draw the formation we're trying to get them into. In my seven years coaching, we've never played short-handed and I'm not even sure if we've talked about it. We were scrambling on the fly there but that just shows you the type of kids we got. We hadn't even practiced that.

"In that first overtime we went to a 4-4-1 and we popped Mocko loose and he made that great shot. In the second period, we went back into a 4-5 and didn't even have a forward out there. But we moved Devon [Mercado] into the center-mid and I don't think Devon has even played that position before. But again, it's about the types of kids we have whatever you ask of them, they'll do it and that's what championship teams are made of. I'm so very proud of all of them," said Overcast.

The Warriors had many unsung heroes help bring home their first championship in program history. Brayan Castro had played in the midfield all season long, but in the championship, he was moved to the back four on defense.

"This was much bigger than one player, it's a team game. It's hard switching positions but it's got to be done," said Castro.

Added Overcast, "Look at one of our seniors, Brayan Castro, he's spent most of the year in the midfield and we decided today [Saturday] because of [Gerson] Lozano and [Noah] Hutchinson we needed him in the back four. He stepped up and played an incredible game. That's how we do it. We have these unselfish players that will do whatever is asked of them and they'll compete until they win."

Andrew Edholm played on the back line for most the match but moved up to the attack for a stretch in the first half to spell Mercado. Edholm, while not as fast as Mercado, used his physicality to push around the Brave defense.

"I just want to be an asset where ever Ron needs me. I was happy to go wherever, I was going to work my hardest and make the team better," said Edholm. "Every team prepares for us and we had to be ready to take every team's best shot and we all did what had to be done."

The 3A championship has been a long time coming for Worland. Jackson High School ruled 3A soccer and often ended Worland's shots at a title. Now that they're on top and with a majority of their roster returning the Warriors are looking to become a Jackson-like power.

The journey from also-ran to burgeoning power has been a surreal one for seniors like Castro, Werbelow and Clemons Abbott. "Being in the program for four years and having us Greybull guys travel, we saw the commitment from everyone and that's why we made it to the championship and that's why we won. Everyone was committed and everyone deserves this championship," said Castro.

Added Overcast, "The commitment they've shown the past four years with driving 60-plus miles back and forth to practice every day. It's hard on them because the school calendars don't always align, they've made a lot of sacrifices. Clemons Abbot I remember sitting with at state soccer when he was in eighth grade and he was excited to play for us. Then he had three injuries in a row and finally in his senior year he gets to step out on the field with us and wins a state title."

Basking in Saturday's championship victory will go on for a few more weeks, but then it's back to work for Worland with offseason camps and open fields. More importantly, Overcast wants his player competing whether that's playing soccer, basketball, football or any other competitive sport.

"We'll enjoy this one. We had good turnouts to our open fields in the offseason and really good turnouts to our winter program. The kids are busy if they have football, basketball or what have you that's fine. I just like that the kids are competing. Those three-sport and two-sport guys they get battle-hardened and to me as long as they're doing something that's good. We don't want them just sitting in front of the TV playing Fortnite," said Overcast.

Having players get work in over the offseason may not be too much of a concern since many of next year's returners were already in that mindset.

"We have to stay together and we have to work this summer and all offseason and show up ready next season. We can't take anything for granted because it was hard work that got us here," said Sanford.