Football players like to refer to their team as a family. Scottsdale Saguaro quarterback Tim Ruben can make a better case than most.

It was hard not to bump into a Ruben at Saturday’s Class 4A Division I state football championship at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

Saguaro repeats as 4A-I football champ

SLIDESHOW: View photos from the game

Tim was running the offense.

Ruben’s father, Frank, was up in the press box calling plays for the Sabercats’ defense.

Mother Katy was videotaping the game from the upper deck.

Brother Ted, a freshman, got the chance to dress for the game, and uncle Jeff flew in from Los Angeles to roam the sidelines, just as he did at last year’s title-game win over Tucson Sabino.

“It’s been like that for 10, 11 years,” Frank Ruben said. “As soon as Tim started playing football, those became our family outings.

“That’s just who we are.”

The Rubens may need a new activity after Saguaro rallied past Tucson Canyon del Oro, 23-21, to win its second straight title, and the last of Tim Ruben’s career.

But at least they enjoyed a memorable gathering.

Down 21-20 with three minutes to play, Ruben engineered a 14-play, 67-yard drive, including a pair of fourth-down conversions, to set up Steve Chiappetti’s game-winning 30-yard field goal with two seconds left.

With the win, Saguaro became the only 11-man football team in Arizona to complete the 2007 season undefeated (14-0).

“We kept our composure even when things got scary and we made plays when we had to,” Tim Ruben said. “It’s been a wild ride and I’m just happy we were able to win out and be state champs.”

The on-field scene after Saturday’s win was predictable pandemonium.

Ruben hugged a pair of cheerleaders, chest-bumped tight end Max Smith, sprinted around the field with the state championship trophy and paused for a dozen or so interviews with sweat streaming from his face.

It was difficult keeping track of him in the bobbing sea of Sabercats players, fans and media members.

But as he jumped onto the Saguaro bench to sing the school fight song with his teammates, Ted, Jeff, Katy and Frank were all there to take it in one last time.

Frank tried to express that snapshot in words, but broke off several times to fight back the tears.

“Ten, 15 years from now,” he said, “I can sit down with my boys Alex, Tim and Teddy, and say, 'Remember when we did this?’”