When people outside of Texas think of the state, they think of warm weather, country music, BBQ and football. When college football coaches and recruiters come to DFW, they tend to only think of the latter, searching the fertile grounds of the metroplex for top high school talent.

Laying hidden in the middle of it all is North Side High School, located in Fort Worth. In past years, recruiters wouldn’t think to check out what this 5A school had to offer.

That all changed this year.

Graduating in the class of 2021, WR Da’Wain Lofton achieved something at North Side that hadn’t been done since 1979: earn the status of a Division I prospect.

“He was a staple of the progress that the North Side High School football program has made the past two or three years,” said Joseph Turner, North Side High School head coach and athletic coordinator.

After receiving 24 Division I offers, Lofton selected Virginia Tech. As an early enrollee, Lofton moved to Blacksburg in January. Already getting reps with the first-team offense, Lofton has the potential to be an impact freshman.

When asked which aspect of Lofton’s game needed to be improved before college ball, Turner was stumped for nearly a minute, not being able to find any criticism of his former WR.

“The only thing that I can jokingly say he needed to get better at was his passing as a quarterback, but he threw for four touchdowns, and he played wide receiver,” Turner said. “So yeah, he was Mr. Everything for us. He [also] was our return specialist.”

Finally, after nearly a minute, Turner settled on top-end speed as his suggested room for improvement for the former Steer wideout.

Strengths of Lofton’s game were much easier for Coach Turner to come up with. Lofton runs a 4.48 40-yard dash, and his game is considered very versatile, being able to play multiple positions on both sides of the ball.

“I really wonder what he could have done if he would’ve played defense,” Turner said.

However, Lofton’s biggest advantage as a football player may not be located in his arms or legs but instead in between the ears.

“He's super smart when it comes to football,” Turner said. “I've said many times, I've put him across the field in different positions all over the place and done a lot of different things with him. And he's just been able to take all that installation in and go out there and do it on the field and do it effectively.”

All of these attributes helped Lofton achieve the unexpected at North Side High School. While his talent coupled with hard-work will be showcased at Virginia Tech, the impact he leaves on North Side permeates throughout its football team.

“Having those coaches come recruit him… [the players] want to have those scholarship offers,” Turner said. “It's like hey, I can make it to the tip top from North Side High School. So, kids actually want to play ball, and they want to get better at football. They work their tails off when they see these recruiters coming in.”

Aside from the gridiron, Lofton excels academically. He graduated high school with a 3.7 and has already completed his first semester at Virginia Tech. According to Turner, Lofton remains the model student-athlete, with his character never being in question.

“He's gonna get up. He's gonna come to school. He's gonna do his work. He's gonna go to practice. He's gonna lift weights. He's gonna play in games on the weekends. He's gonna go work out with some guys that are gonna help him get his routes together,” Turner said. “He’s dialed in.”

“He's a high character kid. He's never been in trouble. He has a set of friends, but he sticks to himself. You can call him on the weekends and ask him what he's doing, and he says ‘coach, I’m doing some work.’”

Lofton looks to earn a spot on the field in Tech’s season opener against ACC Coastal foe North Carolina.

As for Turner, he believes Lofton has a future playing football on not just Saturdays, but Sundays as well.

“He's going to represent us very, very well,” Turner said. “I’ll see Da’Wain on T.V. one day playing in the pros.”