DES MOINES - The Xavier Saints were all lined up for a team picture and smiling for the cameras Saturday when suddenly a spry 47-year-old man ran up from behind and jumped on top of the players.

It was Xavier Coach Amir Hadzic, delighted with the seventh state soccer title in school history and finally able to breathe after a tense battle against DeWitt Central.

The Saints topped the Sabers, 1-0, in double overtime on a goal by sophomore Luke Duball to claim the Class 2A title and the seventh crown in the past 12 years.

"It's lucky 7," said Hadzic, beaming. "To keep a program like this consistently in contention is a big job. It's not just coaches kind of taking the glory. It's volunteers, parents, administrators.

"Everything needs to click in order to achieve something like this. We are really proud of our program and our school and we'll try to keep winning them in the future as well."

Duball finally clicked for the Saints with 7:58 left in the second 10-minute overtime. Until then, DeWitt Central had stopped the Saints by employing a slew of defenders in front of their own goal as human barriers.

"It seemed like from the start of the game they kind of had a defensive mindset, because we're a really good possession team and we're good at keeping the ball away from them," said senior Connor Ramlo, who was named the captain of the all-tournament team.

"They wanted to keep us from scoring and they did it for 80 minutes and then some."

It took 92 minutes and 2 seconds, but Duball finally solved the puzzle and began the celebration.

"I got the ball at my feet and I turned and I saw I had one-on-one and I knew I could take him," said Duball, "so I just put it on my right foot and faked the shot and put it back on my left foot.

"I was right in front of the goal and I just lifted it right over the goalie, right down the middle. I wasn't going to miss it this time."

It was another tough match for the Saints, who won all three of their games at the state tournament by a single goal, including the last two games in overtime.

"This was one of the toughest games I have coached in a long time," Hadzic said. "Two evenly matched teams, two different styles. Sometimes it's difficult when you have a team that defends with eight and nine guys in the box."

DeWitt Central appeared to take a 1-0 lead with 17:33 left in the first half, but the Sabers were called for being off-sides and the goal was wiped away. Xavier senior Stephen Jones was injured on the play when he was elbowed in the ribs by a DeWitt player.

Jones, a team captain and star defender, missed the rest of the contest. He sat on the bench, an ice pack on the ride side of his upper body.

"It's hard, because this is going to be last soccer game I ever played," he said during the post-game celebration. "Honestly, it was just great to sit back and watch the team. It's a great win."

Sophomore Maliki Wilson subbed for Jones on defense and Luke Koechner handled the corner kicks for the Saints with Jones on the bench. The game kept going and going, the tension building.

"I think both teams were pretty exhausted by the end of the match," said Ramlo. "The third game in three days. We were battling, we were knocking on the door all game, it seemed like, and we were finally able to sneak one away."

DeWitt Central succeeded in slowing them down, but the Saints finally got the opening they needed.

"It is frustrating," said Ramlo, "because you're right around the goal all game and you feel like you're right on the doorstep of a goal and it doesn't come. But eventually we got one and I couldn't be happier."

Ramlo had a good look at Duball's decisive shot.

"I saw him weaving in and I saw him beat a couple of guys and my eyes kind of got wide," said Ramlo. "I saw him get an opening and he put it in the back of the net.

"The rest is history, I guess."

It was Duball's 11th goal of the season.

"Luke Duball is the best when he's unpredictable," said Hadzic. "I always tell him that. When he makes those fakes he has the ability to cut in short spaces.

"A couple of times he was predictable in our counters and I was telling him in overtime, 'Be unpredictable, be who you are.' He kind of made one fake, a second fake and then everything opened up for him to score a goal."

Xavier has won its state titles in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015. Iowa City West has won eight boys state soccer titles, the only school with more than Xavier.

Duball, Koechner and Will Hanigan joined Ramlo on the all-tournament team.