LANTANA – If looked at from afar, some would think Santaluces’ run to a 6-2 record and Class 8A-District 11 championship would be surprising.

However, this was something head coach Brian Coe has worked towards for the past three years.

For reaching his goal, Santaluces is a co-winner with Cardinal Newman as our Team of Week 10.

Since taking over a team that went winless (0-10) in 2016, Coe practically exceeded expectations in 2017, leading the Chiefs to a 2-9 record.

Then in 2018, the Chiefs turned some heads in Palm Beach County, going 6-4 but missing out on a playoff spot.

That was the foundation for this season, where Santaluces has carried the success into a playoff spot for the first time since 2009.

Although the Chiefs began the season with a 40-32 loss to Forest Hill (6-3), they rattled off five straight wins, including a 28-7 win over Cardinal Newman and district wins over John I. Leonard and Lake Worth.

The district wins set up a game with rival Park Vista to decide the district championship.

Although Santaluces (No. 6; New Era Prep Top 10) had not defeated Park Vista in a decade, it carried a strong defense and the running talent of senior Val Carnegie to a 22-17 win, clinching its first win over Park Vista and first district title since 2009.

“When I got here three years ago, his sophomore year, he got baptized by fire. He was getting drilled every play, we were inexperienced,” Coe said about Carnegie earlier this year, when the Chiefs defeated Spanish River. “He stayed with it and I told him, ‘Val, this is your team’ and he stepped up to the challenge and got in the weight room this year.”

The Chiefs, who have already clinched a playoff spot, will finish off their season tonight (Oct. 30) with a home game against Olympic Heights (2-7). They comfortably handled the Lions in a 39-14 win last season.

Following the game, the Chiefs will turn their attention to the Class 8A playoffs, where they will host their first round opponent. If the season ended today, the Chiefs would play host to Treasure Coast (7-1), a powerful team that has defeated Cardinal Newman (6-2) and Centennial (4-4) but lost to Vero Beach (8-0) by just one point.

Even if the Chiefs were to lose in the first round, their district championship will go down as the next step in the program’s growth process.