North Dakota family switches from Bison football to Incarnate Word this week – InForum

FARGO These are memorable days for the grandfather of the Incarnate Word football player, who doesn’t have to go very far this week to see the San Antonio, Texas team play. All Wayne Latham has to do is drive 75 miles from Grand Forks to Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.

Sam Latham is the defensive end for the Cardinals, who will face North Dakota State in Friday’s Division I FCS semifinals. A few years ago, Wayne said his grandson, then a freshman, predicted UIW would play in the dome one day.

He said, grandpa, they’re at a conference where they were going to play there one day, Wayne said.

The Waynes’ granddaughter Rebecca Latham, who played volleyball at the University of Denver, played at the University of North Dakota and NDSU, has been another grandparent-watching experience. He currently plays professionally in Athens, Greece.

Sam and Rebecca are the children of Jeff Latham, the Waynes’ son. Siblings are not small. Rebecca is a 6-foot hitter and Sam is 6-7, 260 pounds.

The Cardinals advanced to the semifinals after a dramatic 66-63 win over No. 2 seed Sacramento State last weekend. The Latham crowd expected at the dome on Friday night is about 15 tickets, which Sam is organizing thanks to free player tickets.

“A lot of them don’t have relatives here,” Wayne said with a laugh.

Wayne is a Texan who lost his first wife and remarried into a North Dakota family with 16 grandchildren. Rebecca met some of them for the first time while playing volleyball with the Pioneers.

A career Army officer who has lived around the world, he also traveled extensively as a business executive after his military career.

So living in Grand Forks is no big deal compared to Texas weather.

I have learned to adapt, he said. I love North Dakota despite the severe winters we had. I’ve lived in other places where I also lived in seriously cold weather.

The weather hit the state hard this week as a winter storm on Wednesday shut down all state highways. Incarnate Word is expected to fly to Fargo on Thursday, and the hope for both teams’ out-of-town fans is that the highways are cleared well enough Friday to drive to the game.

The North Dakota Lathams have been NDSU fans for years, but that changed this week.

Sam said he would play yall, Wayne said. I said, Sam, you don’t play, you played them. Blood is thicker than fan loyalty. Maybe some of your new aunts, uncles, and cousins ​​are traveling incognito so they don’t offend some of their next-door neighbors.

Sam is Incarnate Words’ seventh leading tackler with 39 tackles, nine of which are for lost yards. He is second on the team in quarterback hurries with four and has four quarterback sacks.

He was an all-region player at McNeil High School in Austin, Texas. Wayne spent a couple of days with Sam and family last summer in Texas.

I’m really excited for Sam, she said. He is a good athlete and a good young man. It is one of those things, you are proud of your children, your friends and your relatives. I’m excited that they’re in the playoffs because they’re a relatively new football program.