Will Childers has gone to sleep thinking about the Class 6A state championship game each night since it happened on May 19.
He and Conway dueled Springdale for the top spot in the state's top classification, eventually winning 3-2 to claim their second state championship in a row.
With four state championships and six Gatorade Player of the Year honorees, the Conway boys soccer program is among Arkansas' most decorated.
But if you ask Coach Matthew Page who the best player to come through the Wampus Cats program during his time is, well, that's an easy answer -- it's senior forward Will Childers.
"I wouldn't even just put Will at the top of players this year. I've coached three Gatorade players of the year, and I would put them at the top of that list as well."
Childers, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Boys Soccer Player of the Year, scored a program-record 35 goals and assisted 14.
In the final against Springdale, Childers put together the kind of performance most players could only dream of -- a hat-trick in his final game as a high school player.
"Scoring three goals in a state championship, in a one-goal game is just, I mean, the competitiveness, momentum switches, it's a great game to play and I still think about it every single day," Childers said.
What was Childers' favorite moment from that day, the one that keeps replaying each night in his head?
"As I heard the crowd counting down the seconds until we won," Childers said. "It was kind of like 'Holy crap, we actually did it.' "
For a team that was the defending champion, returning its All-State goalscorer and goalkeeper, Jackson Tucker, among others, the Wampus Cats' start to the season didn't exactly instill confidence that a repeat was in the cards.
Conway lost its first game 4-2 to Fayetteville. Five days later, another loss -- this time to Class 5A defending state champion Russellville, 5-3.
"That's when I started thinking I was like, okay, well, we might win a few games this year. We'll be alright," Childers said. "But after those two games, I had no idea that we'd go on to win the state championship."
After that, Conway went on a tear, winning 17 of the final 18 regular season games. The Wampus Cats outscored their opponents 70-18 during that stretch.
To open the playoffs, Conway needed two overtime periods to defeat Rogers, 4-3, and reclaim the belief a repeat was possible.
"I think after the Rogers game, we fought and came back and won in double overtime. I think that kind of woke us up and showed us that we were good enough," Childers said. "We had what it took to win, and we just had to go out there and play."
Childers, a Ouachita Baptist commitment, has amassed an impressive resume over the past two years as a full-time starter. He has been selected to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Boys Soccer first-team twice, All-State twice, he is a two-time state champion and was voted the game MVP in both finals, scoring five total goals.
Page said the secret to Childers' success, particularly in big games, is a mix of a few things: his high soccer IQ, a unique swagger and similarities to Dennis Rodman.
"He manages the game super well," Page said. "He knows when to give effort when not to give effort. When it comes to those scoring opportunities, he's always around the ball. He doesn't score the 40-yard shot upper 90. That's not him. ... He's kind of like Dennis Rodman with rebounding, he's just there. He knows when the ball is going to come off wrong or give it a chance to come off and to score. So, he's just that guy.
"Will has a different swagger about him. You get these kids, and I call them generational talents, I've been very lucky to have some of those guys come through our program as of late. It's just tough to pinpoint what exactly that is for each guy, but for Will, confidence is it .He is the most confident kid I've ever had. And it's a good confidence. It's a confidence you want on your team and you would hate to go against."
Childers' confidence can be seen as bordering on cocky or having too big of an ego, but for him, it's all about doing whatever it takes to win.
"I'm kind of conscious of it," Childers said. "Everybody on the team tells me I have a big head and I'm cocky and all that kind of stuff, but that's just the way I play. I like to get inside my opponent's head, make them second-guess [themselves]. I'm very confident in the way I play. I can turn to understand the game and understand a player and figure out what I need to do to beat him. It may not be what I do best, but it may be what I need to do to beat him in that situation."
Childers totaled 19 goals and four assists last season to lead the Wampus Cats to their first state championship since 2008.
Coming into his senior season, Childers said he had a new mindset -- one that led to nearly doubling his scoring output.
"I was confident last year, I had a bunch of people around me," Childers said. "I had some seniors that were top dogs, and they knew it. I was working my way up to that, but I wasn't necessarily there yet. Last year, I scored 19 goals, and this year when I started to get in the groove, I knew that I was going to have to be the one to score a bunch to try to carry this team."