The next time someone tries to claim that soccer is boring, direct them to Sedona Red Rock High School and its boys team.

The 2021 Scorpions (6-4) endured a season full of the highest of highs and lowest of lows. In just 10 games, they battled some of the state of Arizona’s best teams in the AIA’s fall soccer slate, from defeating rival No. 3 Camp Verde in one of the most gripping and intense matches of the fall season to falling just short of upsetting No. 1 Chino Valley.

Oh, So Close

With one of the tougher schedules of any team in Arizona, the No. 9 Scorpions ultimately fell just short of the Boys Fall Soccer State Championships. A controversial 2-1 late-season loss to Payson High School kept Sedona just one spot out of the eight-team playoffs, but there’s no doubt in the minds of the team that they were one of the top-eight boys soccer squads in Arizona this fall.

“We were [top eight],” said sophomore Luis Beltran. “It was just some lucky goals, there was a bad call and we could have done so much better. And we were missing two key players. With them it would have been so much different.”

In the Payson match, the Scorpions were without senior fullback and heart-of-the-defense Berto Sanchez and senior midfielder and team captain Kevin Beltran. Both players received red cards in the previous match and had to sit out the de facto playoff match against the Longhorns, and coach Sam Blom acknowledges keeping discipline in heated moments is an improvement Sedona could make going forward.

It’ll be tough sledding for the Scorpions moving forward, as they’re poised to lose eight seniors to graduation. But a solid young core will be retained. Key contributors returning could include Luis Beltran, junior midfielder and captain Max Metzger, sophomore goalkeeper Joan Diaz Rodriquez, sophomore midfielder Carlos Gonzalez and sophomore midfielder Noah Horton, among others.

“We’re losing players but so are other schools,” Luis Beltran said. “So I feel like it’s going to be an even balance. It’s going to be good competition next year hopefully.”

Golden Boy

A new tradition has begun for Sedona Red Rock in recent seasons. The “Golden Boot Award,” a normality in professional soccer leagues, goes out to the Scorpions’ top goal scorer each season.

For the second-straight season, Luis Beltran was the recipient. Beltran scored 10 goals and tacked on 6 assists in 10 matches for an incredible sophomore year. Beltran won as a freshman as well, and the possibility of a four-year sweep in on his mind.

“Hopefully,” he said about the possibility of winning all four years. “I mean, I feel like we’re going to lose a lot of our key players so I feel like it’s possible.”

Losing key players or not, Blom knows that Beltran has it in him. Players like Beltran are rare, according to the coach.

“He could be a captain next year, the way he organizes the game,” Blom said. “Sometimes he falls into midfield and makes passes that are setting up somebody else to shoot. And he was always near the goal, always taking chances. Great dribbler, he could take on two or three dribblers at a time.”

Beltran is an expert of the game of soccer on the pitch. He knows where to be on the field at all times. Beltran knows how to pick his spots, even if its to the dismay of his own coaching staff.

“It’s almost like a given, to have somebody with his skill,” Blom said. “He played defense, offense, he knew where to go even though I asked him many times ‘don’t go past the 50 [yard line]’ so that if we have an offensive run he could make a goal. But his instinct was to help the team … So he saw that his team needed him.”

Players at the striker position can often be egotistical. They can feel like they’re the only ones that should be taking the shots, and they’re the only ones that can make them.

Beltran’s mindset is antithetical. Beltran’s 10 goals could have been 20. He made a habit of finding open teammates, and he maintains that the Golden Boot is a team award.

“It was a team effort too,” he said. “They would set me up with easy goals. Easy goals that anyone could score. It was like I have to, that’s my job.”

The results on the field are contrary to the words of the humble striker. He created important goals throughout the year. And as just a sophomore, he’s still got room to grow.