South Florida, like Texas, is considered one of the hotbeds of high school football across the country. Astound Broadband Stadium will be the home for an intriguing interstate matchup when Midland High (3-1) hosts Lantana (Fla.) Santaluces (4-1) at 7 p.m. Friday. It’s the first time the MHS varsity football program has played an out-of-state school dating back to 1928. Santaluces has its share of future Division I Football Bowl Subdivision talent with a pair of N.C. State commits with wide receiver Jamar Browder and cornerback Caden Gordon. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Browder leads the Chiefs with 20 receptions and 358 receiving yards. Santaluces also has a receiver/defensive back with AnaTay Smith, who holds offers from Florida Atlantic, Massachusetts, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Western Kentucky and Western Michigan according to Rivals. Chiefs sophomore running back Kelsey Gerald, who has averaged 6.5 yards per carry, holds an offer from West Virginia. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity,” MHS head coach Thad Fortune said. “They’re extremely talented. They’ve got some really incredible athletes all over the field, so we’re going to have to do a really good job of preparing this week and do a good job of executing because they can score at any moment. Any one of their guys that touches the ball can score, so we’re really going to have to be ready to go.” Fortune said Santaluces runs a spread offense and will use both odd and even fronts on defense. The Chiefs’ most famous football alum is Vince Wilfork, who was a five-time Pro Bowler and first team All-Pro that won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and was a national champion with the University of Miami. “We’re going to have to get ready to go,” Fortune said. “It’s a big-time opportunity for us. It’s a really good program. They win a lot of games every year, so I’m excited about it. The kids are excited about it. They had a good open week, and we’ve got to prepare hard this week to get ready for these guys.” The Bulldogs will be in an unusual situation coming off an open week and will be the only District 2-6A team playing this week. District 2-6A play starts Oct. 11 for all six teams as MHS visits Wolfforth Frenship in its league opener. One of the reasons for the Bulldogs’ odd schedule is the University Interscholastic League made District 2-6A, along with two leagues in the Rio Grande Valley, the smallest Class 6A districts in the state with six teams each during February realignment. Doing that limited the playing options in fifth non-district games for District 2-6A teams as Legacy and Odessa Permian also played out-of-state teams with Ruston (La.) and Birmingham (Ala.) Carver, Frenship played a private school in Midland Christian and San Angelo Central and Odessa High went against Class 5A Division I programs last week. “There’s positives and negatives to it,” Fortune said. “When we open up district, we won’t be coming off a two-week break, which there are some positives to that. Hopefully, we’ll continue to stay healthy. You can spin it either way you need to spin it, and I think it’s important for us just to play the schedule in front of us and this how it worked out. We have to take advantage and hopefully get a little better every day.” BULLDOG BITES – Midland High grad and two-time Olympian Bryce Hoppel will toss the ceremonial coin toss at midfield prior to kickoff of the Bulldogs’ game against Santaluces on Friday. –Senior safety Julian Williams leads MHS with 40 tackles. Senior nose guard Darrion Mitchell is the team leader with seven tackles for loss. –Senior cornerback Blade Brandon is the Bulldogs’ team leader with three interceptions and five pass breakups. –The open week allowed the Bulldogs to heal up as they last played El Paso Montwood, a 69-13 victory, on Sept. 20. “Injury wise, we’ve been as good as we’ve been all year,” MHS head coach Thad Fortune said. “We have guys that obviously been out for a while now, but we’re getting as healthy as we’ve been all year.”...

The Legacy and Midland High tennis teams have set details for their first-round playoff matches. Legacy, the second-place team out of District 2-6A, will host El Paso Eastwood in the bi-district round of the Class 6A team tennis playoffs at 10 a.m. Oct. 8 at Bush Tennis Center. MHS, the third-place team in District 2-6A, will visit El Paso Coronado in the bi-district round at 10 a.m. CDT Oct. 8 at Coronado High School. The Rebels finished 4-1 and the Bulldogs were 3-2 in District 2-6A play behind league champion San Angelo Central (5-0). Eastwood is the No. 3 seed and Coronado is the No 2 seed out of District 1-6A....

Midland High is playing a high level of volleyball when it matters most. The Lady Bulldogs improved to 2-0 in District 2-6A play on Tuesday night with a 25-20, 25-17, 25-13 sweep of Odessa High at the MHS gym. MHS (20-14, 2-0) has yet to drop a set in District 2-6A play, which is the polar opposite of its start to league play in 2023 when it started 0-5. The Lady Bulldogs will meet crosstown rival Legacy (26-14, 2-0) in a showdown of 2-0 District 2-6A teams at 5 p.m. Friday at Chaparral Center. In Tuesday’s match against OHS, Ava Wilson led MHS with 10 kills, Lillian Earl had a double-double with 10 digs and 23 assists, Mabry Scharbauer tallied 19 digs, Zaylie King had 13 assists and Victoria Azarov notched four aces. “I knew when it came to district, they were going to turn it on a little more,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Audra Howard said. “Like I said before, we were just excited to get district going and especially being on our homecourt. It gives them an extra boost. They just feel the crowd. They come out and they take care of business when they’re supposed to. “They got better and better every set. I have to remind them constantly that they’re going to play back, so we’ve got to keep going and we’ve got to keep playing. Thankfully, the girls stepped it up. They’re playing good and hard right now.” The Lady Bronchos (17-12, 0-2), who took Legacy to five sets last Friday, looked poised early on to battle MHS as senior standout Clarissa Rodriguez had three consecutive kills to narrow Odessa’s deficit to 23-20 in the first set. But the Lady Dawgs’ play got stronger in the second and third sets. MHS turned the match’s momentum in the second set during a 7-0 run with Wilson providing three kills and Azarov serving six consecutive points including two aces during the string of points. MHS led 17-9 after the 7-0 run. “I think we’ve fully progressed, you can see that with the score,” Earl said. “We started to finally make a gap in each set. I feel like we started running faster plays and we started getting a faster offense and just being there for defense. I feel like it all comes together when everybody is putting in 100% effort and we have all have grit and resilience on the court. Yes, I feel like it was a good match.” The Lady Dawgs closed out the third set on a dominant 6-1 run with King getting an ace for match point. MHS took care of business on its homecourt by sweeping two home matches to start district against Odessa Permian and Odessa High. “We just got our locker room redone and on one of the walls, it says protect this house,” Howard said. “Obviously, they see that every day, so they know when they have a home game, no one should beat us at our home. That’s the mentality we have every day and hopefully that’s the mentality that we keep, and we don’t start slacking.” Andy Ham and Wilson each led MHS with three blocks, Madison Boehler had eight kills, Azarov tallied seven kills, and Emi Davenport and King each provided eight digs. MHS DEF. ODESSA HIGH 25-20, 25-17, 25-13 Midland High statistics Kills – Ava Wilson 10, Madison Boehler 8, Victoria Azarov 7, Lillian Earl 6, Andy Ham 5, Karlie Gist 3, Emi Davenport 1 Digs – Mabry Scharbauer 19, Earl 10, Davenport 8, Zaylie King 8, Gist 4, Azarov 3, Cady Lange 2, Boehler 2, Wilson 1 Assists – Earl 23, King 13, Scharbauer 2, Ham 1 Blocks – Ham 3, Wilson3, Earl 2, Azarov 1 Aces – Azarov 4, King 2, Earl 1...

AMARILLO – The Midland High Bulldogs made a business trip north Friday night, and when they returned home they had to consider it a success. The Bulldogs held off a suddenly potent Amarillo High offense in the second half, and ended up leaving Dick Bivins Stadium with a 32-27 victory. They’re now unbeaten at 3-0, a fact which is hard to argue. Just because the record is perfect, though, that doesn’t mean MHS coach Thad Fortune feels the same way about his team’s performance. “We started off good and we executed our plan early,” Fortune said. “Once (Amarillo) adjusted we didn’t do a good job adjusting to them and that starts with me. We didn’t play very good complementary football. The first half our defense played phenomenal but the second quarter the offense and special teams didn’t play well.” The Bulldogs used their typical ground-oriented offense in the first half to control the clock, and it seemed as if they could have been leading their hosts by more than the 19-7 halftime margin. Midland High scored on the first three possessions, as Elijah McCoy scored on a pair of long runs in the first quarter of 29 and 32 yards to give the Bulldogs a 13-0 lead. Amarillo High (1-2) answered after McCoy’s second score on an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Bryson Brown to cut it to 13-7. That was it for first half highlights for the Sandies, though. They managed only 25 yards of total offense and one first down in the first half. On the other hand, it was a prototypical night offensively for Midland High, which ran for 370 yards, and the Bulldogs didn’t punt once. McCoy led the way with 210 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries and ended the scoring on the night for the Bulldogs by catching a 3-yard touchdown pass from Tristan Love in the fourth quarter. “He works hard and gives a lot of credit to his offensive line as he should,” Fortune said of McCoy. “I’ve just been challenging him all year to be who he can be. He’s strong, he’s fast and that’s a recipe for a great high school running back. He put the team on his back.” The Bulldogs went up 19-7 on Tim Babino’s 7-yard run 45 seconds into the second quarter, but couldn’t generate any points the rest of the half, as one drive stalled on a missed 39-yard field goal by Levi Crowder. Midway through the third quarter, the Sandies finally got on the board with their offense. They held Midland on downs and then drove down the field, culminating on a 25-yard scoring pass from Jett Lopez to J.Q. Ervin to cut it to 19-14. While the Sandies scored on all three possessions in the second half, the Bulldogs answered back on two of them to provide a cushion, with McCoy scoring both touchdowns in the fourth quarter. After Love’s scoring pass to McCoy, Amarillo came back on a 3-yard run by Lopez to cut it to 32-27 with 1:38 left. However, Amarillo’s ensuing onside kick didn’t even go 10 yards, and the Bulldogs ran for a first down and extinguished the clock. “I can sit here and nitpick and we should but I’m real happy,” Fortune said. “The film session will be bloody, but at least we’re doing that from a 3-0 standpoint and that was ultimately was the goal tonight,” MIDLAND HIGH 32, AMARILLO HIGH 27 Midland High 13 6 0 13 – 32 Amarillo High 7 0 7 13 – 27 First Quarter MHS – Elijah McCoy 29 run (Levi Crowder kick), 9:36 MHS – McCoy 32 run (run failed), 5:52 AHS – Bryson Brown 80 kickoff return (Korbin Raef kick), 5:40 Second Quarter MHS – Tim Babino 7 run (run failed), 11:15 Third Quarter AHS – J.Q. Ervin 25 pass from Jett Lopez (Raef kick), 4:57 Fourth Quarter MHS – McCoy 2 run (Crowder kick), 11:29 AHS – Brown 4 run (kick failed), 9:12 MHS – McCoy 3 pass from Tristan Love (run failed), 4:24 AHS – Lopez 3 run (Raef kick), 1:38 MHS AHS First Downs 23 11 Rushing 370 103 Passing 27 121 Total yards 397 224 Comp.-Att.-Int. 3-3-0 9-21-2 Punts-Avg. 0-00.0 3-37.7 Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0 Penalties-yards 1-15 4-55 INDIVDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – Midland High, McCoy 28-210, Tristan Love 18-78, Anthony Kolb 7-46, Babino 3-15, Cornell Hunt 2-20, Augustine Varela 1-3, Alex Gonzales 1-(-2). Amarillo High, Pius Vokes 11-45, Lopez 6-18, Ervin 4-36, Brown 1-4. PASSING – Midland High, Love 3-3-0-27. Amarillo High, Lopez 9-21-2-121. RECEIVING – Midland High, Braeden Hall 2-24, McCoy 1-3. Amarillo, Rylan Leathers 3-29, Trey Warnsley 1-7, Ervin 3-57, Brown 1-23, Vokes 1-5. Written By Lee Passmore...

MHS OUTLASTS NO. 2 AMARILLO Midland High pulled out a thrilling five-set win over Class 5A power Amarillo High with a 26-24, 13-25, 26-24, 24-26, 15-8 win, Friday at the MHS gym. Amarillo was ranked No. 2 in Class 5A in the latest Texas Girls Coaches Association Poll. Lillian Earl led the Lady Bulldogs (22-8) with 15 kills, Mabry Scharbauer had 26 digs, Delaney Desparrois had a team-best 26 assists, Brooke Boehler had 12 kills, Ava Wilson recorded 12 kills and four blocks, Claire Sherrod added four blocks and Daniella Juarez notched 19 digs. MHS visits Fort Stockton at 6 p.m. Tuesday. MHS DEF. AMARILLO HIGH 26-24, 13-25, 26-24, 24-26, 15-8 Midland High statistics Kills – Lillian Earl 15, Brooke Boehler 12, Ava Wilson 12, Madison Boehler 8, Karlie Gist 4, Claire Sherrod 3 Digs – Mabry Scharbauer 26, Daniella Juarez 19, Abigail Gideon 8, Susana Salcedo 7, Delaney Desparrois 6, Hannah Gideon 4, B. Boehler 4, Wilson 4, Sherrod 2, Gist 2, Earl 2, M. Boehler 1 Assists – Desparrois 26, Salcedo 25, Scharbauer 2, B. Boehler 1 Blocks – Wilson 4, Sherrod 4, Gist 3, B. Boehler 3, Earl 1 Aces – A. Gideon 2, Desparrois 1, Juarez 1, Gist 1 Written By Christopher Hadorn Reach Christopher on Sports reporter for the Midland Reporter-Telegram....

LUBBOCK – With a couple of big touchdown plays early, it looked like the Lubbock Coronado football team was going to pick up against Midland High where it left off in last week’s game against Frenship. Turns out, those two plays simply masked the struggles that were to come for the Mustangs along the offensive and defensive lines. Midland’s running game gashed the Mustangs while the Bulldogs’ defense shook off the big plays to thwart the Coronado offense at every turn, leading to a 48-13 victory Friday night at PlainsCapital Park-Lowrey Field. Elijah McCoy rushed for 177 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries, and the Bulldogs (2-0) amassed 440 total yards offensively, all on the ground. “They started making plays, and our offensive line started struggling a little bit, we were just off tonight,” said senior receiver Surreal Garrett, whose 41-yard touchdown catch with just over a minute left in the first quarter gave Coronado (0-2) its last lead of the game at 13-7. “We game-planned for that exact defense all week and we should have executed it. We’ve just got to come back next week stronger, lock in.” The game was the exact opposite of last week’s loss to Frenship where the Mustangs started slowly but picked up their rhythm in the second half. Against Midland, however, the strong start could not be sustained. Midland took the lead for good midway through the second quarter when McCoy broke off around left end for a 48-yard touchdown, and the Bulldogs never looked back. Midland took complete control late in the second quarter on a short touchdown run by Anthony Kolb – the first of two for him on the night – then the Bulldogs turned an interception of Isaiah Vazquez into a 62-yard touchdown run on a keeper by quarterback Tristan Love with 31 seconds left, putting Midland up 29-13 at halftime. The Bulldogs’ running game was just unstoppable from the first quarter on. Love finished with 98 rushing yards on six carries, Tim Babino added 68 yards on eight carries and Kolb toted it eight times for 48 yards. “We came out smoking hot and just weren’t able to make the key adjustments we needed to make to keep it going,” Coronado head coach D.J. Mann said. “Tip my hat to Midland High, they came out and ran that option to perfection. It always starts up front and we’ve got to coach them up better. It’s on us to do a better job of getting those kids going.” While Midland was running the ball seemingly at will sometimes, Coronado struggled to find any consistency running or throwing. Vazquez did throw for 119 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 69 yards and a score. But he completed just 7 of 21 pass attempts, and he was held to minus-3 yards rushing after scoring on a 72-yard keeper on Coronado’s first drive of the game. The Mustangs were held to just 237 yards total offense, and only 26 yards and one offensive first down in the second half. Midland did a good job of bottling up Coronado running back Demarion Finch, who had just 10 rushing yards on 10 carries. “It’s definitely trying to get these young guys going in the same direction,” Mann said of what’s not clicking for the team at this point. “We need to get these young guys to be able to play a full four-quarter game. I think we’re up and down and we need to figure out how to stay even keeled. It’s a long season and we’re playing these tough teams for a reason, and once we do that we’ll be just fine.” MIDLAND 48, CORONADO 13 Midland 7 22 13 6 -- 48 Coronado 13 0 0 0 -- 13 First Quarter COR – Isaiah Vazquez 72 run (kick failed); 10:41 MID – Elijah McCoy 2 run (Levi Crowder kick); 4:28 COR – Surreal Garrett 41 pass from Vazquez (Christian Sanchez kick); 1:08 Second Quarter MID – McCoy 48 run (Crowder kick); 5:46 MID – Anthony Kolb 2 run (Crowder kick); 2:31 MID – Triston Love 62 run (Kolb run); :31 Third Quarter MID – FG Crowder 43; 6:41 MID – McCoy 12 run (Crowder kick); 3:45 MID – FG Crowder 42; 1:15 Fourth Quarter MID – Kolb 23 run (kick failed); 5:31 MID COR First downs 21 12 Rushes-yards 50-440 23-100 Passing yards 0 137 Comp.-att.-int 0-4-0 11-27-1 Punts-avg. 1-40.0 5-27.0 Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0 Penalties-yards 9-68 5-35 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Midland, Elijah McCoy 23-177, Tristan Love 6-98, Tim Babino 8-68, Anthony Kolb 8-48, Cornell Hunt 1-42, Jesus Jaquez 3-9, Sebastian Amesquita 1-(-3); Coronado, Isaiah Vazquez 9-69, Dom Parrish 2-20, Demarion Finch 10-10, Davian Lopez 1-1, Andre Flores 1-0. PASSING Midland, Love 0-4-0—0; Coronado, Vazquez 7-21-1—119, Parrish 4-6-0—18. RECEIVING Midland, None; Coronado, Surreal Garrett 2-50, Aaron Rodriguez 1-32, Parrish 1-26, Finch 3-11, Joe Castro 2-9, Major Vera 1-6, Martel Morre 1-3. Written By George Watson ...