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.
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