For five years, Brigham City’s Steve Brooks has been relentlessly chasing a dream.

It’s not a big dream like traveling the world, curing cancer or winning the lottery; in fact, it would be absolutely appropriate to call it a “mini” dream.

But for Brooks, the end of five years of near misses and “not-quite-good-enoughs,” when his team of 8th grade football players finally made it to the the Wasatch Front Football League’s Mini Bowl with a close win last Saturday, was one of the biggest moments of his life.

Brooks’ eyes were moist as he hugged his wife after the final whistle and spoke about “a long five years.” And he spoke in soft, calm words to his team after the game, when he told them “we don’t need to tell you anything...you did everything you were supposed to do.”

“It’s huge,” said Brooks about his team’s 13-12 win over a Kaysville team to earn a berth in this Saturday’s championship game at Weber State at 5:30 p.m. “It’s a goal we set at the first of every year and it’s extremely difficult.”

Brooks said that this year, finally, all the pieces came together for his football team. From the size and athleticism of quarterback Shad Watson, to the hands of Teagan Hubbard and Breckin Gunter, to the drag-defenders-for-the-ride running of Matt Williams and Jayk Brooks, the pieces worked together perfectly to best one of the toughest teams in the league. Kaysville had won in the Mini Bowl the previous two years, and had played in the last four.

“This is as good as it gets,” Brooks said about Kaysville.

And, as might be expected between two good teams, the game swung on just a handful of plays.

Early in the fourth quarter, Kaysville capped off a 6-minute, 60-yard drive with a touchdown to take a 12-6 lead. After a good kickoff, the Bees started a drive from their own 18, and quickly used passes to Hubbard and Jacoby Bryce to move deep into Kaysville territory.

The drive bogged down, however, and on a third-and-nine, a high snap put the Bees in a deep hole close to mid field for a fourth-and-17.

With the game on the line, another bad snap sucked the breath from the Brigham City sideline, which dramatically set the stage for the explosion that followed when Watson recovered, dodged one defender and heaved a pass while getting hit to Hubbard down the sideline for a big gain.

“We had to have that one,” said Steve Brooks, “because we’re done if we don’t.”

Matt Williams ran the ball in from five yards out to tie the score at 12.

But the Bees had an advantage. They had stopped Kaysville on their previous point-after conversion attempts, and now had a chance to take the lead.

And Brooks, who has not been shy about going for two this year, played it conservative.

“I called a two-point play but then changed it because I knew it would make a difference,” he said. Watson ran in from two yards out to give the Bees a 13-12 lead.

But with 3:40 left, there was still enough time for Kaysville to engineer a drive and score.

A couple of big runs and a defensive pass interference call gave Kaysville a first-and-10 at the Bees’ 25-yard line. And with just over a minute left, things were looking desperate.

But the Bees’ defense stepped up and forced a fourth-and-eight. With defenders coming and the game on the line, the Kaysville quarterback threw up a prayer that Breckin Gunter brought down.

“It was thrilling to see that never for one moment did they doubt themselves,” said Brooks.

The game seemed to prove Brook’s theory, he said, that Brigham City has the bigger heart, and if they play with all of that heart, they will win.

Of course, a question looms now, and will be answered Saturday is: Which is better, big hearts or big bodies?

“They’re huge,” Brooks said about the Layton Silver team they will face in the Mini Bowl. One of the kids, according to Brooks, is around 6-feet tall and well over 200 pounds. They are a power team who will try to run right over the Bees. “And they’ve got the size to do it,” he said.

The game should be an interesting test of Brigham City’s finesse against Layton’s brute strength.

“Ultimately, our defense will win out over theirs,” said Brooks.

Correction...

A photo in the October 21 edition about the Brigham City Midget football team had incorrect identification for the subject. The caprion indicated the player was Shad Watson. It was actually Logan Sleight.

We regret the error.