AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The dream of many high school athletes is to play at the Division One level. Darien Lewis and Vern Blair accomplished that goal and more: they get to play together at UNLV in the fall.
Lewis and Blair began as middle school rivals before becoming teammates for the past four years at Palo Duro.
“Funny story, 7th grade year, I was really small...I was playing running back and I ran up the middle and KJ Barnes and Darien both hit me and I sat out the rest of that game,” Blair said as both laughed.
The two players will continue wearing the same jerseys at the collegiate level, though that almost didn’t happen.
Lewis originally committed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but flipped his commitment on National Signing Day to join Blair and the Rebels at UNLV.
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“I had a constant reminder, you know, UNLV’s home, man, come home,” said Lewis from Blair. “So it was hard being at school every day and Vern just talking about his school. It definitely made me happy to go to that school with my brother.”
After completing one of the best seasons in Palo Duro football history, the two players are looking to build on their legacy at the next level.
They plan to carry forward the four core values of the Dons’ team: discipline, dedication, development and domination.
“I want to show that we actually have a lot of talent out of here at the 806...I want to be able to just show out and put my people at [Palo Duro] on notice so we could get more exposure over here,” Blair said.
Lewis expressed his excitement about continuing to play alongside Blair.
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“I couldn’t be more happy to have this guy on my side,” he said. “He’s a great person, he’s a great brother...he’ll look out for me, I’ll look out for him. I think we both got the same goals.”
The Dons finished the season with a 10-2 overall record, as well as outright district champions for the first time in 20 years and becoming bi-district champions.
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