SHERIDAN — Sheridan senior Justin Vela began putting together a highlight tape prior to the start of the 2020 football season. Encouraged by a meeting with the Black Hills State University football coach who showed interest in the lineman in the fall, Vela finished his highlight reel the same day. 

As Vela published the video on social media and sent it to the area’s university coaches, the coaching staff at Dickinson State University expressed their interest in having the 275-pound, 6’4” lineman who’s always been “Big Red,” sign a letter of intent to play for the Blue Hawks. 

After Vela and his family visited Dickinson, North Dakota, heard more about the football program’s culture and saw the athletic facilities, he knew he wanted to be a Blue Hawk for the next four years. The fact that Vela’s older brother had been good friends with current Dickinson quarterback and Sheridan graduate Drew Boedecker and that fellow senior Kyle Meinecke signed his letter of intent in December helped Vela make the decision. 

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