Southside Saints Go Marchin' In

By Darren Brown, News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Sometimes it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of fight in the dog, or in this case, the soccer team.

Santa Fe South High School has been the "dog" in many athletic contests over its 8-year history.  The girls basketball team once lost a game by 99 points, and the football team has never really gotten solid footing.

In fact the most recognition the school usually gets is when folks confuse it with Edmond Santa Fe, a school some 17 miles to the north.

But the similarity is in name only.

"They're about 10 times our size," said Wes Furley, Santa Fe South soccer coach.  "The demographic that we serve compared to the demographic that they serve, 100 percent different."

Except for the passion both schools share for the game of soccer.

To say that Santa Fe South has a good team is an understatement.  Most of the players have had a soccer ball in their hands (and feet) for as long as they can remember.  The team even made it to the state finals four years ago.

Just getting to the finals could be considered a major hurdle, but for the Saints' soccer team, those hurdles seem to last all season long.

"We're always criticized 'cause we're on the southside--that we're a bunch of bad kids and a bunch of gangsters," said Jorge Guzman, the team's goalie.  "It's not really like that."

Daniel Gallegos, who graduated this year, remembers the trash talk as well.

"We'll be playing, and they'll be like 'Go back to Mexico,you don't belong here,'" said Gallegos. 

But the Saints used those insults as motivation, all the way to the class 4A state finals, where they took on 3-time defending champion Cascia Hall.

And even though they trailed at halftime, the Santa Fe South Saints pulled it out to become Oklahoma state champs in 4A soccer, the first ever championship for their small school.

And immediately after the game, Furley began brainstorming ways to pay for championship rings for the team. The best deal he could find was $5200, a far cry from the $200 in the team's fund.

Furley passed out flyers and tried to drum up financial support from anyone who would listen, but it was a newspaper article that pushed donations over the top.

The community responded in a big way.

"The rings are on their way, they'll be here in 6 or 7 weeks," said Furley.  "We're totally stoked about that."

And for Guzman, who's coming back next year to defend his team's title, the ring is hopefully the first of many.

"We just started a new history for our school, " said Guzman.  "It feels good, y'know?"