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St. Johns Boys Soccer Opens the Season With Grit, Determination and a Strong Showing Against Tough Competition

PAYSON, Ariz. (August 24, 2026) — The St. Johns High School Boys Soccer team was invited to participate in the Payson Invitational on Friday, August 21, and Saturday, August 22, where the Redskins faced four challenging opponents and put together a weekend that exceeded their coaches’ expectations.

The weekend featured teams from both Arizona and Nevada, including two Las Vegas programs with strong postseason experience. Through four games, the Redskins showed that they were ready to compete.

Strong Start Against Willcox

The Redskins set the tone for the weekend Friday morning against Willcox.

St. Johns came out strong and quickly established the tempo of the game. Ryker Musgrove found the back of the net after an unselfish assist from Alan Tryon, giving the Redskins the lead.

From there, the defense held strong to preserve the shutout.

Jarom Tryon started in goal, with Brody Waite, Luke Pemberton, Lewis Brown and Ty Hendriksen forming the defensive line in front of him.

The strong defensive effort gave St. Johns its first shutout of the weekend and provided plenty of momentum heading into the afternoon.

Redskins Battle Nevada Semifinalist

Later Friday afternoon, the Redskins faced one of their biggest challenges of the weekend when they took on Chaparral High School from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chaparral is a 4A Nevada school with an enrollment of more than 2,200 students. Last season, Chaparral advanced all the way to the Nevada state semifinals.

The size and experience of the Las Vegas program did not intimidate the Redskins.

“We knew it would be a very tough game, but we were looking forward to it to see what we were made of. We were excited to see what we could learn from it,” Coach Hendriksen said following the game.

Although St. Johns spent much of the game defending, the Redskins played with grit and passion from the opening whistle to the final one.

Attacking midfielders Paxton Hancock and Alan Tryon played a critical role in keeping Chaparral from consistently entering its attacking third. Their work rate was impressive, with both players covering approximately 3.8 miles during the game.

The defensive effort was just as remarkable. Brody Waite, Luke Pemberton, Lewis Brown and Ty Hendriksen combined to cover approximately 12.5 miles while helping keep the powerful Las Vegas attack off the scoreboard.

When the final whistle sounded, the Redskins had earned a 0-0 tie against one of Nevada’s strongest programs.

The performance also earned the respect of coaches and teams throughout the tournament.

“After the game, multiple coaches came up to me to tell me how much fun it was to watch the game,” Hendriksen said. “It felt like every Arizona team there was cheering us on. The Snowflake team, who had already finished their games for the day, stayed to watch and yelled from their bus as we left to congratulate us. It was a great confidence-building game.”

Offensive Explosion Against Winslow

Saturday brought a different kind of challenge.

The Redskins knew their first game against Winslow would give them an opportunity to get valuable minutes for players who had seen less action during Friday’s demanding games.

Winslow is entering only its third season as a soccer program, and St. Johns was able to rest most of its starters while giving JV and bench players significant playing time.

The younger players took advantage of the opportunity.

CJ New and Asher Hancock each recorded a hat trick, while Israel Jessop, Ryder Waite and Carter Smith each added a goal.

Bryson Willis and Jarom Tryon split time in goal and combined for another shutout.

When the game ended, the Redskins had posted a dominant 9-0 victory.

Final Test Against Eldorado

The weekend concluded Saturday afternoon against another Las Vegas opponent, Eldorado High School.

Eldorado is a 5A Nevada school with a number of talented individual players, and the Redskins once again found themselves facing a physically and technically challenging opponent.

St. Johns continued to battle throughout the game, creating several scoring opportunities while maintaining its defensive discipline.

This time, however, the result did not go the Redskins’ way. Eldorado came away with a 2-0 victory.

Despite the loss, the Redskins’ effort remained strong through the final whistle.

A Weekend That Exceeded Expectations

When the four-game weekend was complete, the St. Johns coaching staff was impressed with what the team had accomplished.

The Redskins finished the tournament with two wins, one tie and one loss, while recording three shutouts.

Perhaps even more impressive were the team’s work-rate statistics. Across the four games, the Redskins collectively covered approximately 149.8 miles.

The team also finished the weekend with a 23% shot-conversion rate, while holding its opponents to just 5%.

Those numbers tell the story of a team that was willing to work.

But the biggest takeaway from the weekend may not have been found on the scoreboard.

The Redskins competed against programs with significantly larger student populations, faced two talented Las Vegas teams, gave valuable experience to younger players, and earned the respect of coaches and opposing teams throughout the tournament.

For a St. Johns program beginning its season against some of the toughest competition it could find, the Payson Invitational provided exactly what the coaching staff hoped it would: an opportunity to learn what the team is capable of.

And after four games, the Redskins appear to have learned that they are capable of quite a lot.