More than ready for the moment, and perhaps a bit beyond, the Tanner boys soccer team brought their own band to help ring in a great celebration.

Between rousing tunes from the stands and a bevy of shots, the top-ranked Rattlers commanded the opening half and fended off a spirited rally try for a 2-0 victory over No. 3 St. Luke’s in Saturday’s Class 1A-3A state title match at Huntsville’s John Hunt Park.

With the win, Tanner (22-5) captures the first state title in program history.

“It’s crazy, we’re the first (Limestone) county school to win a soccer title, I believe,” Tanner coach Matt Smith said. “It was a struggle. That first goal settled everybody down and we got into a rhythm.”

The Rattlers got on the board to open the 27th minute of the first half as Moises Parra booted an almost 40-yard drive past St. Luke’s Larson Holt, who allowed two goals and grabbed seven saves in the title match.

Tanner added to its lead in the 42nd minute, Randy Cortes assisting Steven Lopez on the goal, and outshot the Wildcats 24-15 with nine shots on goal, compared to only five on-goal shots from St. Luke’s.

Junior goalkeeper Christian Cruz was named MVP following a five-save performance in the championship match. He allowed only a single goal throughout Tanner’s playoff run, a 2-1 semifinal win over Westminster-Oak Mountain, and gave up 24 goals all season.

“It’s feeling great, I never would have imagined it,” Cruz said. “It’s awesome to come out here as a junior and win the MVP award. It’s awesome to come out here and play with my friends. My family. A shutout in the finals? That speaks volumes but I couldn’t do it without my starting defense: Oliver Gonzalez, Christiam Vicente, Osbaldo Vallarta and Rey Leon.”

Lopez led the Rattlers with six shots, followed by Parra, Randy Cortes and Junior Diaz with four shots, and all four had at least two shots on goal. Justin Moreno added three shots for Tanner.

For St. Luke’s, Brayden Darby led the way with five shots and Mason Brown had three shots. Atli Johnston had two shots and all three had a shot on goal. Despite losing in the title match, St. Luke’s coach Ryon Depinet led the Wildcats (21-6-2) to their best season in program history after taking over a five-win program six years ago.

“Whenever I took over, we had never even gotten to six wins,” Depinet said. “These seniors and those that came before them, even though it doesn’t feel like it now, this is still an accomplishment. Our best season was 5-13 and now we can say we’re state finalists. Every year, we’ve done something greater so, hopefully, we’ll be back and get a blue map.”

Tanner becomes the first public school to win the Class 1A-3A (1A-4A) title match since Collinsville in 2013.

“I’ve won football and track state championships as an assistant coach, but this is my first-ever state championship as a head coach,” Smith said. “It means a lot. It means everything. Besides getting married, December 10th, this right here is the best feeling I’ve had in my 34 years of life.”