ROCK SPRINGS — Santiago Cruz is continuing Rock Springs’ growing pipeline to Bismarck State College, signing to play football and becoming the third Tiger this year to join the program’s reinstated football program.
Cruz joins former teammates Declan Henderson and Cammeron Blake in heading to North Dakota, giving the Mystics a trio of players already familiar with one another as they help build the foundation of a program returning after a roughly 40-year absence.
“That’s a pretty cool opportunity- to play with some of my teammates there,” Cruz said. “I’m pretty stoked to go and experience something new.”
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Cruz said he is expected to begin his college career at cornerback, though he understands that role could evolve over time.
Like the rest of Bismarck State’s incoming class, Cruz will be part of a unique first year in which the team will practice and scrimmage before officially competing in 2027. The structure, he said, played a role in his decision.
“I’m looking forward to the new coaches,” Cruz said. “They were really good to my family and me when we were down there. Just the whole situation makes me feel a little bit better about this decision, because it’ll give everyone, and especially all the new people, time to come in and really learn what college football is about. We won’t be brand new when our first playing season starts.”
Cruz said he is also eager to experience a new environment after visiting campus.
“I just know that it’s a lot bigger than Rock Springs is, and there’s a lot more to do over there,” he said. “It is cold but when we are down there, we really liked it.”
A multi-sport athlete, Cruz said he seriously considered both football and wrestling before ultimately deciding to continue his football career.
“I was kind of just split between. I loved both equally, but football… I just knew I wasn’t done,” he said.
Cruz plans to study sports education, with an eye toward a future in training or sports medicine.
“I’ll be going to sports education,” he said. “I have an interest in becoming a personal trainer or anything in sports medicine.”
Looking back on his time in Rock Springs, Cruz said the relationships and the team’s underdog mentality stand out the most.
“Definitely just being part of like this family,” he said. “Even though this school hasn’t been that sought out of and people say we’ve regressed, but I don’t feel like that’s true. I love being the underdog, being the underdog in my life.”
He pointed to close games against Sheridan as defining moments.
“Two years in a row, we have held on close to a 15-0 team,” Cruz said. “It’s just awesome, and to do that with the people I played football with my whole life is just something else.”
For younger athletes, Cruz encouraged patience and commitment when making decisions about their future.
“Definitely think about what you want to do and not rush and scramble, because that’ll really affect what your decision is in the long run,” he said. “I kind of made that mistake but I decided that football was just gonna be the thing that I couldn’t let go of, and if you really love something, you really need to take it in and go all-in and just commit to it.”
