Eastwood High School Football Team Shine In The Face Of Tragedies

On August 3, 2019, a man walked into the Walmart in the Cielo Vista neighborhood and opened fire. He killed 22 people, wounded 27 others, and shoved our safe city into the lineup of places that had the headline "Mass Shooting" attached to it.

In weeks that followed, El Pasoans helped families bury their loved ones, donated money to help those who were killed and those who were wounded, and tried to get back to some semblance of a normal life. The start of the school year brought the welcome relief of high school football, but for Eastwood High School, it brought more headlines.

The high school that the killer attended pulled the plug on a scheduled game with the Troopers because they said they had safety concerns. When the Dallas Cowboys stepped up and offered their practice facility, all the concerns over safety issues magically disappeared and the game was played.

As if that weren't enough to deal with, the Eastwood Troopers football team suffered a huge loss when a former teammate drowned in Bill Evans Lake near Silver City, New Mexico. Eddie Cruz had graduated from Eastwood just last year. The Troopers were reeling from both tragedies when they made the trip to Plano where they ultimately lost their football game, but in the video above, they show how they gained something much more.

We're very proud of you and your team, Coach Julio Lopez. You are El Paso's best and brightest.