Last week, the Santaluces Chiefs Varsity Football team took a trip to Texas for an amazing once-in-a lifetime experience. The Chiefs were blessed with the opportunity to fly to Texas and play a football game. Here’s how it went down.
The Chiefs had a very early 6 a.m. flight out of Fort Lauderdale to Dallas, Texas. After arriving at the airport, a charter bus picked up the players, coaches, and managers, which drove them to Southern Methodist University to check out their facilities and were able to watch some of their non-padded practice as they were preparing to go and face off against Louisville. SMU is a program that is well on the rise. With this being their first year playing in the ACC and being a Power 5 program, the Mustangs have a record of 5-1 and beat both Florida State and Louisville within the past 2 weeks. Sophomore running back Kelsey Gerald received a scholarship offer from SMU while the Chiefs were there also.
After leaving SMU, the Chiefs hopped back on the charter bus and drove for an hour to Denton, Texas, where they would go visit the University of North Texas along with have lunch in their cafeteria as well. The Chiefs were able to see their facilities and learn more about their football program. Kelly Gerald received a scholarship offer from them as well.
Once the Chiefs left North Texas, they had a four-hour bus ride to Midland, Texas, where the game was going to be played. Once everyone arrived at the hotel, the players were assigned to rooms, and it was time for dinner. Everyone was given their own pizza box along with water to stay hydrated. After dinner, the players were inside their rooms for the rest of the night.
The next morning, the Chiefs had to attend a mandatory team breakfast down stairs of the hotel at 8 a.m.. Here, Coach Hector discussed our plans for the day and everything we needed to do in preparation for the game that night.
After breakfast, all the players and coaches went outside for one last walk-through to prepare mentally for the game. The purpose of this was to make sure our players knew what was going on and that they knew their responsibilities. After doing our last walkthrough, the Chiefs loaded onto the bus once again and were able to visit the stadium where the movie “Friday Night Lights” was shot. The experience was great, and everyone loved the field and scenery.
Once the Chiefs were done taking pictures and observing the field, everyone headed back onto the bus, and the Chiefs were able to visit the University of Texas Permian Basin, which is a very nice Division 2 school. This university was amazing; they had great facilities and great equipment, and they had a lot of great things that a lot of people wouldn’t expect to see from a school that’s not on the Division 1 level.
The Chiefs headed back to the hotel to get ready for the game. The Chiefs had another mandatory pregame meal at the hotel, and once that was over, it was game time. The bus came back to take everyone over to the stadium, which was about 25 minutes away from the hotel. The game was packed; everything in the city of Midland was shut down that night just to watch this game. People were tailgating and treating this game like a college game. The Chiefs did unfortunately lose this game 56-31, but a few guys on the team were able to show that they were able to compete at a very high level. 3 star wide receiver Jamar Browder had an insane performance, recording 12 receptions for 208 yards and 3 touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Israel Marion was able to haul in 106 receiving yards as well. Defensively, senior linebacker Tre Robinson logged 14 tackles on the night, and senior defensive back Landon Earl had 8 tackles, a forced fumble, and scored a pick-6 for the Chiefs.
Despite the game, it was an overall great experience and opportunity that will be remembered forever.
