Coming into this year’s 5A playoffs, No. 14 Salem Hills wasn’t expected to do much.
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Sure, it wasn’t a surprise that the SkyHawks beat No. 19 Viewmont in the first round, but their second round match against No. 3 Olympus appeared likely to be the end for them.
What’s worse is that Salem Hills’ star, Brooks Barker, was feeling ill. Barker scored a first-half goal against the Titans, but he was unsure if he could play in the second half.
“(After) halftime, I got off the bench, and I was a little dizzy,” Barker said. “My head was feeling funky, and I’m like, ‘Man, something’s not right.’
“I actually tried to shove down some Gatorade and pretzels. Didn’t help, and I almost threw up in front of their whole bench. I was like, ‘Oh man, I got to come off.’”
Salem Hills head coach Jerry Johnson took Barker off the field, and Barker immediately went to find a trash can. After, Barker wanted back into the game, and he delivered with two second-half goals for the hat trick and a 4-3 upset of Olympus.
“I was talking to Barker about that game. ‘Of all of your high school games, which did you most enjoy?’” Johnson said. “I think for him that was a big, big game because he had to dig deep.
“It was one of those games where you come in, and nobody expects you to do anything. I think for him it was one of those things where he’s going to look back at it for the rest of his life.”
Barker was nearly a one-man offense all season. He either scored or assisted on 75% of all Salem Hills’ goals, including back-to-back hat tricks in the playoffs.
Barker ends his career with 69 goals and 35 assists. His offensive dominance is what ultimately earned him the 2026 Deseret News Mr. Soccer award.
“I think there are very few players in soccer who are talented enough and understand the game well enough that they individually can change outcomes of games,” Johnson said.
“Watch World Cup matches. You can have somebody that’s really outstanding on a team, and the team may do OK or may not. It’s not like basketball, where somebody can take a game over and do something, But Brooks, in some games, has been such a factor that he changes the outcomes of games.”
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While Barker is signed with 2025 NCAA quarterfinalist Georgetown and ultimately held scholarship offers from eight Division I programs, that wasn’t the case before last summer.
Everything changed for him after his club team, Celtic FC, was invited to a showcase in Washington last June.
“We had an event in Washington where we played against the Crossfire (Premier) ECNL team of our age,” Barker said. “It’s kind of a battle because it’s two separate sides of youth soccer. Who’s the better team?”
In that game, in front of roughly 50 college coaches, Barker scored four goals for a dominant 5-0 victory. His dad Nate said his son’s recruitment changed drastically after that game.
“From that point on, his whole recruitment just shifted, and everything went from just a little bit of communication to we were talking to 150 schools at one time across the divisions,” Nate Barker said.
“He ended up with eight offers across Division I and ended up at Georgetown. He always said, ‘I’d love to play on the East Coast.’ It was kind of a pie-in-the-sky dream. Just a once in a lifetime opportunity and something that he’ll never, he’ll never look back on and regret.”
Whether it was at the state tournament or in big games for his club team, Brooks Barker has never been affected by the pressure. His uncanny ability to stay level-headed ultimately sets him apart. He played in eight postseason games for Salem Hills in his career and scored 16 total goals in those games.
“It’s really fun to know that the whole community is watching you and is counting on you sometimes,” Brooks Barker said. “To be able to have that pressure, it honestly just helps me perform better, helps me to want to be better every time I step out.
“It’s been fun the last couple of years to have that dynamic with the school, the community and just be able to perform for everybody.”
He plans on serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Madrid, Spain, before taking his talents to Georgetown.
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Past Deseret News Mr. Soccer winners
- 2025 — Lewis Knecht, American Fork
- 2024 — Lewis Knecht, American Fork
- 2023 — Tyler Klein, Orem
- 2022 — Stockton Short, Weber
- 2021 — Austin Wallace, Skyridge
- 2019 — Alex Fankhauser, Brighton
- 2018 — Carter Johnson, Herriman
- 2017 — Kaden Amano, Layton
- 2016 — Aidan Dayton, Maple Mountain
- 2015 — Christian Bain, Alta
- 2014 — Lucas Cawley, Viewmont
- 2013 — Matt Coffey, Brighton
- 2012 — Tyler Murdock, Weber
- 2011 — Derek Boggs, Alta
- 2010 — Casey Black, Davis
- 2009 — Josh Hernandez, Davis
- 2008 — Colton Cook, Viewmont