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SANDY — To win its first state title in two decades, Ogden High had to do it the hard way with a gritty 1-0 win over Morgan in Thursday's semifinals before facing an undefeated Manti that had allowed just four goals all year in Saturday's championship final.
The Tigers made it look easy.
Adam Jenks and Jace Rodriguez each had a goal and an assist, and third-seeded Ogden handed top-seeded Manti its first loss of the season 4-1 in the 3A state championship game Saturday afternoon at America First Field.
Taylor Pierce and Ben Points each scored a goal for the Tigers (15-3), who got two assists from Harrison Hoskins in their first state championship since 2005.
Tomas Reyes pulled one back in the 78th minute for Manti (17-1) to prevent the shutout, but the second half was all Ogden before the Templars' tally.
After a scoreless first half, the clinic started with Jenks, who found Points in the 44th minute for the opening goal before the senior captain met the sophomore defender with his teammates at the corner flag.
"He's our workhorse," Points said of Jenks. "Like our coaches say, he'll run through a fence for us. That's just the type of player that this program needs."
Points had as much of an impact as the rest, though.
"He's our nine; he's not only a playmaker, but he gets the job done," Ogden coach Todd Scott said of Points, the 5-foot-9 attacker with 14 goals and eight assists. "He's an unselfish nine. He looks for the pass before he goes to score. He's a heck of a player."
Points nearly doubled the advantage 10 minutes later, but his touch was just off the post.
For the first time since 2005, the Ogden Tigers are @UHSAAinfo state champions ⚽️ 🏆 pic.twitter.com/cUDzP5Jq5f
— KSL.com Sports (@KSLcomSports) May 11, 2024
Instead, Jenks took his turn in the 57th minute, rising up like a salmon after Rodriguez dispossessed the Templars about 30 yards from goal before crossing the ball on a dime to find Jenks and lift the Tigers to the most dangerous lead in soccer 2-0.
There was little danger for Ogden, though.
Rodriguez did it again four minutes later, taking a pass from Hoskins in the middle of the box before finishing through traffic to push Ogden's lead to 3-0.
"I think my boys were just nervous," Scott said. "We had intensity, but we had to go back and play our game. We were doing too much in the first half, but then we got patient and got it done."
Hoskins found Pierce for the Tigers' fourth goal in the 68th minute, equaling the Templars' total goals allowed from the rest of the season.
Suddenly, the floodgates were open after the Tigers were admittedly frustrated before halftime.
"We were doing too much, but once we started playing for each other we turned one goal into four," Points said. "We had a lot of chances and didn't score them. We were kind of getting frustrated, but once we got that first one, we knew we could get more."
