By Weston Allenback, GoThunderWolves.com Insider

Wednesday, the CSU-Pueblo football team's 2013 roster debuted to coincide with National Signing Day as the ThunderWolves announced 26 new additions to its program.  Fans with a keen eye will notice something strange - CSU-Pueblo's main high school pipeline isn't where many would think.

It isn't any of the Pueblo schools (Pueblo East High School has the most in the city with five ThunderWolves), or Colorado Springs (title goes to Widefield High School with four).  

In fact, the ThunderWolves' top high school pipeline doesn't even lie in the Mountain Time Zone.

Two thousand miles away, in a small school outside of Palm Beach, lies the high school that boasts the most ThunderWolves in the country.  It's here that the Santaluces High School Chiefs pump out Pack football players left and right, its latest being 2013 National Letter of Intent signee, Rico Jean-Louis (Fr., Boynton Beach, Fla.).

An unlikely connection

In 2012, standout sophomore defensive backs, C.J. Roberts (So., Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Jarrod Lacy (So., Boynton Beach, Fla.) caused their share of headaches for opposing quarterbacks.  Both played their ways into the starting lineup this season, and Roberts ended 2012 with an All-American honor, helping lead the Pack to its second straight RMAC championship.

However, the way these two ventured all the way to Pueblo is the real story, and strangely, it goes right through Alamosa, Colo., home of the rival Adams State Grizzlies.

Roberts and Lacy, both from Santaluces, came in contact with the Pack football program through CSU-Pueblo Associate Athletic Director for Athletic Development, Jeremy Capo.

Capo, formerly the Director of Compliance at Adams State College before joining the CSU-Pueblo team in 2007, became friends with a number of Grizzly football players at Adams State, one of which moved on to coach at Santaluces High. Daryl Drinkwater now heads the football team at Santaluces and is responsible for churning out talent like Roberts and Lacy.

"The same time I was leaving Adams was the same time Mike and Daryl were leaving for Florida to coach," said Capo. "I knew what good people they were and when we started our football program up I gave them a call to see if they could help us out."

"I knew they would give us good kids, not only on the football field, but in the classroom and in the community."

Take away the nine combined interceptions both Lacy and Roberts have accounted for last season - nearly half of the total picks the ThunderWolf defense forced - and the Pack's success may not have been possible without the connection between CSU-Pueblo and the Florida high school.

Not only are the Pack getting production from starters right now, they are eyeing future recruits through the same pipeline which landed them the two defensive backs, evidenced by Jean-Louis and possibly more down the road.

"When I first made the call to CSU-Pueblo, I knew these guys had the ability to dominate in the RMAC," said Daryl Drinkwater. "Now everyone that walks around (Santaluces) knows they want to play for Pueblo."

"Some of the kids that are not quite good enough to play at the Florida States and Miamis have a good chance to play for CSU-Pueblo."

The relationship between Capo and Drinkwater was started much before plans of building a football program at CSU-Pueblo was on the radar. While playing at Adams State, the two found common interest such as golf and faith.

"We are pretty good buddies," said Drinkwater. "When we were both still at Adams, we were around the same age, so we started hanging out and we have always kept in contact."

Looking to the future

Heading into next season, CSU-Pueblo's six Santaluces alums promise to continue to play large roles.  Not only will half the secondary have the Santaluces connection, but junior Ben Estica (Jr., Boynton Beach, Fla.) will be given an opportunity to start at linebacker.  Former Santaluces quarterback and defensive back Mannie Rathell (Jr., Boynton Beach, Fla.) took the junior college route via Mt. San Jacinto College in California, sitting out the 2012 season and looking to crack into the lineup in 2013.  And finally, there's Fradlet Dort (RFr., Boynton Beach, Fla.), who is the brother of the first Santaluces alum to complete his eligibility at CSU-Pueblo, Franex Dort.  Fradlet is a running back and defensive back.

No matter what lies ahead for these former Santaluces Chiefs, five of them are sporting jewelry for the 2012 RMAC Championship and have designs of filling up their other fingers with rings, as well.