Orozco, Labra led Blackfoot to another trophy, earning EIS Co-Players of the Year

BLACKFOOT — The Blackfoot Broncos, according to head coach Liam Pope, were like a knife as they sliced their way to a 2025 consolation championship.

And while every part of that knife, from tip to tang, was integral, none of Blackfoot’s players were more critical than the senior duo of Fernando Orozco and Gio Labra.

Orozco, whom Pope called the knife’s cutting edge, led the team in goals with 14, while Labra, the handle, was at the Bronco’s centerpiece on both the offensive and defensive ends.

“You ask yourself, what’s the key to the tool, is it the sharp blade or the handle you push the sharp blade with? I don’t know which one is more important,” Pope said.

Due to their equal importance to Blackfoot’s season, which ended with the Broncos hoisting a consolation championship trophy, Labra and “Fer” Orozco are the East Idaho Sports boys’ soccer Co-Players of the Year.

Pope, asked to be the deciding vote between the two, called picking one or the other a “Sophie’s choice.”

“Both of them have won accolades, quite deservedly so won accolades,” he said.

Orozco finished the season with five assists, to go along with his 14 goals, earning a First-Team All-State selection. Labra recoded seven goals and five assists, also earning a spot on the All-State First-Team roster.

Orozco, though, would likely have had an argument for All-State Player of the Year, had he not started the season alongside Labra in the midfield.

After starting the season with a 1-2-4 record and looking for a way to spark more offense, Pope moved Orozco to the front line. Following the move, the Broncos finished the season winning nine of 11, including a conference tournament victory over Idaho Falls to claim a spot in the state tournament.

“When we put Fer up front, it changed the dynamic of the season, because now we could stretch the field,” Pope said. “But Fer is an unselfish player. He was happy to play midfield. If I’d have put him in goal, he would have been like, ‘Are you sure? OK, where are the gloves?'”

And while Orozco handled the bulk of the scoring, Labra was the linchpin to everything Blackfoot did, both on offense and defense.

When the Broncos beat Pocatello 1-0 in the second round of the state tournament, the captain was conducting the defensive posture while moving the ball through the attack.

“Gio was the heartbeat at midfield,” Pope said.

Labra finished his high school soccer career with back-to-back First-Team All-State selections, and, like Orozco, was part of Blackfoot teams that claimed trophies at the conclusion of their junior and senior seasons.