BONNEVILLE — Not a cloud hung in the sky after one of Blackfoot’s first-regular season wins of the season, a September victory over Hillcrest in Idaho Falls. Head coach Liam Pope wore a grin while he teased his players, who pulled on warmup gear and prepared to return home. The mood was light for the Broncos, who were off to a dazzling start to the season.

Pope chuckled.

“Freaking morons,” he said.

Over the next two months, Blackfoot reeled off 15 wins, enjoying goals from stars and reserves alike. The Broncos became one of the best teams in Class 4A. They proved it by advancing to Saturday’s 4A state championship game against Vallivue.

On Saturday, though, all the things the Broncos used to advance so far deserted them: Their offense, their defense, their health, even the sunny skies, which released rain and snow on a windy day at Bonneville High.

For all those reasons, Blackfoot players and coaches lamented that their season ended in a 4-1 loss to Vallivue in the 4A state championship game. They held a plaque in the postgame huddle, where players shed tears.

It wasn’t the plaque they wanted.

“It’s just really hard to think about,” senior Dominic Sanchez said. “To think about the game. It’s sad.”

For Blackfoot, even the highs turned into lows on Saturday.

The Broncos scored barely a minute into the game. Senior Frankie Garcia threaded a nifty pass near the box to sophomore Gabe Batacan, who pinged the ball into the back of the net.

Blackfoot’s sideline erupted. They didn’t notice that Batacan immediately crumpled to the ground, holding his knee. He laid there for several minutes before trainers helped him to the sideline.

Batacan returned to the game some five minutes later, but the short-lived injury underscored the more lasting pain the Broncos suffered to get to the state title game. On Friday, junior Misa Reyna turned his ankle and had to leave Blackfoot’s semifinal win over Canyon Ridge. He couldn’t play against Vallivue.

“We met at team breakfast today, and the kid limped into the restaurant and limped back out again,” Pope said. “There was no realistic chance that we were going to be able to play him today. If we would have played him, that would have been neglectful on my part.”

Instead, Blackfoot dealt with different problems against Vallivue.

The Falcons equalized in the 11th minute when Alex Barragan booted in a corner kick and JJ Osuna headed it in. Blackfoot goalkeeper Gavin Cornell looked frustrated. The feeling never quite went away for the Broncos.

Barragan made things even tougher on Blackfoot 18 minutes later, when he dribbled on the right side, nearly horizontal with the goal, and unfurled a shot. It sailed under the glove of Cornell, who misplayed the bounce and watched the ball settle into the back of the net.

Vallivue took a 2-1 lead headed into halftime.

“They probably played through midfield better, and the forwards were sharp,” Pope said of Vallivue. “I think we probably ran out of gas when we needed to mount a challenge. We simply ran out of gas.”

That became clear as the game went on. Vallivue registered 23 shots, 12 on goal, and the Falcons kept possession on the Broncos’ side of the field for much of the second half.

It paid off beautifully for the Falcons. Senior Raoul Barragan stretched his team’s lead to 3-1 with a goal. Twenty minutes later, it became 4-1 when Raoul Barragan tallied his second score of the night, this one a shot into the top shelf and past Cornell.

At that point, just five minutes remained. The reality was beginning to set in for both teams.

“It’s really just the culmination of a lot of hard work,” Vallivue head coach Christian Adamson said. “These guys really grinded it out all the season. I think I’ve said it a lot of times this season — this is a really special year, because we have so many seniors.”

When the horn sounded, on the other end of the field, where the Blackfoot reserves sauntered onto the field to comfort their devastated comrades, things adopted a somber tune.

Pope was straightforward. He was sad. This was Blackfoot’s third state title game appearance in program history. The Broncos secured runners-up honors in 2004 and became champions in 2011. This match represented a chance for a group of nine seniors to etch another mark in the Blackfoot record book.

They did that. The agonizing part is that it isn’t the mark they wanted to write.

That leaves Pope and Co. the challenge of picking up the pieces from a season that fell one step short of the ultimate destination. Part of that, he said, involves remembering the accomplishments: The 15-2 record, the 4A District 6 championship, the fact that the team made it farther than 24 of Idaho’s 26 4A clubs.

The reality, Pope acknowledged, may take some time to sink in. The players feel dejected, and understandably so.

Snow whistled through the wind as Pope said this, one of his last remarks on this team.

“In 30 year’s time, when they’re all as old as I am, they’re going to look at that trophy and they’re going to be proud as hell,” Pope said. “They’re going to be sad and disappointed today, and they should be. They’re competitors. They’re battlers. They should be devastated today, otherwise they wouldn’t be the guys they are.

“But I’ll tell you right now: They’re going to look back and think, ‘What a hell of a run.’”