Longhorns Country

Texas Longhorns Five-Star QB Commit Leads Team to Improbable Comeback Victory

One of the Texas Longhorns' top commits of the 2026 recruiting class leads their high school team to a big-time comeback in their season opener.
Ylver Deleon-Rios|
American Heritage Patriots quarterback Dia Bell (3) scrambles in the backfield during the first quarter
American Heritage Patriots quarterback Dia Bell (3) scrambles in the backfield during the first quarter | Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Texas Longhorns

With the return of college football finally arriving this weekend, and the Texas Longhorns returning to the field next week, as the Longhorns will take on a heavy challenge with the Ohio State Buckeyes on Aug 30. High school football is in full gear across the country, with one of the Longhorns' top commits of their 2026 class leading their squad to a huge victory on Friday.

As Longhorn's five-star commit, quarterback Dia Bell led American Heritage (F.L.) to a 28-point comeback over St. Joseph's Prep (PA) in their first game of the season. Bell finished the game, completing 20 of his 34 pass attempts for 231 yards and one touchdown. The Longhorns' commit is touted as the No. 1 quarterback in the country and player in the state of Florida, while ranked as the fourth-best player in the nation for the 2026 class per 247Sports Composite Rankings.

"It was quiet for sure at first, but you know everybody had to pick up their energy," Bell said postgame. "We came out real sloppy, so we knew we had to pick up the energy, and we knew we were always a second-half team, so we had to come out and play our best ball in the second half, and that's exactly what we did."

Dia Bell's Performance was a tale of two Halves

Texas Longhorns commit quarterback Dia Bell
Recruits Dia Bell and Byron Louis watch Ohio State warm up before playing Penn State | Lori Schmidt / Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Bell struggled throughout the first three quarters of the game on Friday. As the game headed into the fourth quarter, Bell had completed just 6 of his 13 pass attempts for only 36 yards and had lost two fumbles. The score line was getting away from Bell as American Heritage was down 21-0 at halftime and down 28-14 with 6:55 minutes left in the fourth quarter following a pair of rushing touchdowns from running back Jonathan Bueno Jr. at the end of the third quarter.

A deep 30-yard touchdown pass from Bell on third and long inched American Heritage closer, cutting the deficit to just a single score, 28-21. Another rushing touchdown from Bueno Jr. with about two and a half minutes left in the game tied the game up late in the fourth quarter, giving all of the momentum to Bell's squad late in the game.

One costly mistake from St. Joseph Prep's special teams unit cost them the game, as their punter kicked the ball into his own teammate, allowing American Heritage to recover the ball deep in St. Joseph Prep's territory with 55 seconds remaining.

Shortly after American Heritage's kicker sealed the comeback, hitting a 40-yard game-winning field goal with just four seconds remaining to win the game 31-28. The Longhorns' five-star quarterback prospect led his offense to 31 unanswered points for a huge comeback victory to begin his senior season.

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Ylver Deleon-Rios
YLVER DELEON-RIOS

Ylver Deleon-Rios is an English major and Journalism and Media minor at the University of Texas at Austin. His experience in sports journalism includes writing for The Daily Texan, where he has worked on the soccer and softball beats. A native Houstonian, he roots for the Astros and the Rockets while also rooting for the Dallas Cowboys.

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