Montana Western’s defensive playbook just expanded, because Highland cornerback Angel Chavez signed his National Letter of Intent Feb. 7 at Highland High School to play football for the Bulldogs.

    Chavez, a first-team all-conference defensive back his junior and senior year, registered 37 tackles and two interceptions his final season for the Rams. At 5 foot 11, the lengthy speedster can provide favorable matchups for the Bulldogs’ defensive staff.

    “He’s a tall kid for a corner,” said Highland head coach Gino Mariani. “Being around 6-foot tall and being able to run with kids and as physical as he is, he’s just a type of kid that in a couple of years could be what you would call a shutdown corner. And that makes defenses pretty good.”

    Chavez anchored a defensive backfield that helped Highland reach the 5A state championship game. Competing for the state title, Chavez says, was the moment he’ll remember most about wearing the black and red.

    “That’s the reason why most of us came here,” Chavez said. “That was pretty cool.”

    Chavez garnered interested from both Montana Western and Dixie State. The community and the coaches at Montana Western caused Chavez to lean that way. When the Bulldogs offered Chavez a scholarship, his mind was set.

    “The coach said he liked how physical I was,” Chavez said. “Once I got offered from Montana Western, it was pretty cool. So I decided I wanted to go play football.”

    An aggressive and instinctual cornerback, Chavez would typically put opposing receivers on an island, blanketing that side of the field. With Chavez on one side and Highland cornerback Greg Gwinn locking down the other, the options for the opponent were limited and the Rams’ defense reveled.

    “Defensively you can do a lot of things with that,” Mariani said. “If you can get two corners that can do that, you can almost do anything you want defensively, and we were fortunate enough to have that this year with Greg (Gwinn) and Angel.”

    But Montana Western, located three hours north of Pocatello in Dillon, Mont., isn’t just getting someone whose character shows on the football field.

    “Angel does a great job in the classroom,” Mariani said. “He’s going to work hard, and It think this is a great motivation for him to make his family proud, and they’re proud of him getting this offer. Hopefully he’ll go up there and do a great job as a student and as a player.”

    The accomplishment Chavez felt didn’t hit him until the morning of the signing, but he’s happy to have achieved the goal he set out for since middle school.

    “Since the sixth grade I’ve always said I wanted to play college football,” Chavez said. “It’s a dream come true.”