The Midland High football team proved that the success from the 2023 season wasn’t an anomaly. The Bulldogs returned to the playoffs for the second year in a row with their third-place District 2-6A finish in 2024.

Head Coach Thad Fortune and the squad put together another strong non-district slate, opening the season with a 4-1 record. The only loss came against perennial powerhouse Southlake Carroll in Week 1, 48-24. The Tall City team then stacked four straight wins headed into district play, capped off with a 56-31 win over Santaluces from Florida. 

MHS was challenged early in the District 2-6A gauntlet with a narrow, one-point loss to the eventual district champion Frenship, 48-47. The highlight of the league slate for Midland High came in the 21-18 win over Permian. This was the first time in the Coach Fortune era that the Bulldogs knocked off the Panthers. Star running back Elijah McCoy was named the 6A Greater Ford Player of the Week for his 67 yards and a touchdown. 

Midland High wrapped up the regular season with a third-place finish in district, a ticket to the playoffs, and 10 1st Team All-District nods. Darion Mitchell, Jeremiah Loudd, Agustin Varela, Julian Williams, Blade Brandon, Stroman Bridges, Cutter Lange, Jett Garcia, Gio Meza, and Jovanni Allen all made the list.

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MHS hosted El Paso Pebble Hills in the first round of the playoffs, a rematch of the Week 2 matchup where the Bulldogs defeated the Spartans 28-23. The Midland squad earned the season sweep with the 42-14 win to claim the Bi-District Championship. Midland squared off against Crowley in the Area Round the following week. Coach Fortune and company narrowly fell 26-21 and closed its season with an 8-4 record. 

The triple option was the staple of the Midland High offense again this season, highlighting the strength of the rushing attack. Featured back McCoy averaged nearly 190 yards per game on the ground with 31 rushing touchdowns. This led to the UTEP signee making school history as the single-season rushing yard record holder, recording 2,074 on the year. The record-breaking season led to the senior earning Co-Offensive MVP for the district. 

The other half of the one-two punch on the attack was quarterback Bridges. The Army signee averaged over 100 rushing yards per game and notched 13 touchdowns on the ground. The signal caller also wrote his name in the Bulldog football record books, notching a school-best 1,268 rushing yards in a season as a QB. 

On the defensive side of the ball, a group of seniors led the way. Williams recorded a team-best 11.2 tackles per game. Tahj Harris racked up a team-leading seven sacks on the year. Brandon tied the team-high of four interceptions with junior Jojo Lievens on the back end.

Midland High is set to kick off the 2025 campaign at Astound Broadband Stadium against Southlake Carroll on August 29th at 7 pm.