FAYETTEVILLE -- Hot Springs coach Cory Sturdivant came into Saturday's 5A championship match expecting a classic, and he got just that.
The Trojans netted a pair of second-half goals to pull away, 3-1, and earn its second consecutive state title over De Queen, a program seeking its eighth state championship in the last 10 seasons.
"I want to take nothing away from that De Queen program. Those kids are phenomenal," Sturdivant said. "It was everything we thought it would be coming into the game."
Hot Springs' Erick Guadron, with two goals, capped his historic career with his 15th mulit-goal game of the year, pushing him over 50 for the season. The senior scored with just under 26 minutes to play in the first half to knot the match, 1-1, after De Queen's Leonardo Dominguez gave the Leopards an early edge four minutes, three seconds in on a penalty kick.
The teams went into the break even at 1 and, late in the second half, De Queen had a go-ahead goal disallowed as the sideline official ruled a player offside. Leopards coach Steven Sloan said his club hung its head for a moment and Hot Springs took advantage.
Johnny Gonzales-Vasquez netted a goal with 11 minutes to play and gave Hot Springs the lead for good. And for good measure, Guadron added a goal in the final five minutes to set the final score.
"He's a competitor," Sturdivant said of Guadron, who earned MVP honors. "He gives it everything he's got and we knew people were going to key in on him this year. We've had so many kids step up. The character of these kids, I'm telling you, it's phenomenal."
Sturdivant said the match would come down to strong midfield play and his team took the message to heart.
"We had a few minutes where we let (De Queen) get to the ball, but whoever won the ball in the middle of the field was going to win the game and the kids responded well," he said. "It was a completely different team in the second half.
Hot Springs travels back to central Arkansas with back-to-back state titles and a 21-4 record. De Queen caps its runner-up season with a 18-7-1 mark.
"We knew it was going to come down to a play here and a play there, and that's basically what it was," Sloan said. "They made a run, made a great play. It is what it is."
Sturdivant stressed how proud he was of his players and their representation of the community. For him, it will take a lot to beat Saturday's finals experience.
"I think this was the best state championship game I've ever got to see or be a part of."
Sports on 05/21/2017