Shane Reilly is that rare bird in college football: the player who never played a single down in high school.

Basketball was Reilly’s sport during his days at Soquel High. He was pretty good at it, too: The 6-foot-5 Reilly earned All-Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League first-team honors as a senior with the Knights and had planned on continuing his hoops career at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Now that Reilly’s a senior defensive end for the football team at Midland University, an NAIA school in eastern Nebraska, however, Reilly’s basketball days are behind him. As much as he loved and still loves basketball, he’s very happy he made the switch.“Football is one of the best sports created,” Reilly said.

The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out what would have been Reilly’s freshman basketball season at Santa Rosa. When he returned to school in the fall of 2021, he decided to make his unplanned break from basketball permanent.

“I didn’t really have the right mindset to continue playing,” Reilly said. “I didn’t realize I could take some time away and come back. Stepping away seemed like my only option.”

Still, Reilly wasn’t ready to step away from sports entirely. His father had long encouraged him to give football a try, and when a classmate at Santa Rosa invited him to try out for the Bear Cubs’ squad, that’s exactly what Reilly did.

Dante DePaola, the defensive coordinator at Santa Rosa, took one look at Reilly and saw a football player in the making.

“Anytime you see a guy who’s 6-5 and athletic-looking, the hair on the back of your neck sticks up,” DePaola said. “You can’t teach those things.”

Some of Reilly’s basketball skills have transferred well to football, according to DePaola. In particular, Reilly has the ability to move well laterally and take advantage of his sizable wingspan when blocking opponents, forcing fumbles, or pursuing quarterbacks.

“With big guys like that, you don’t know how well they’re going to be able to change direction or what their speed is going to be,” DePaola said. “He was able to become acclimated very quickly because he was willing to put in the work.”

Other skills, Reilly had to learn. He also had to bulk up a bit: DePaola estimated that Reilly has added 35 pounds to his tall frame, going from roughly 220 pounds to his current listed playing weight of 255.

“Basketball has a physical component, but it’s not as physical as far as body-to-body contact,” DePaola said. “He needed to learn how to get leverage, get down under another guy’s pads and that sort of thing.”

Ultimately, Reilly got the hang of it — well enough to earn a scholarship to play at Midland.

“He’s got a physical aggression that’s hard to teach,” DePaola said. “If you don’t have it, you don’t have it.

“He’s got some fight in him — he doesn’t like losing. That’s the thing you want in a guy on defense.”

In two years at Midland, Reilly has racked up 26 tackles — 18 of them this season. The senior also recorded his first career sack on Oct. 12 in the Warriors’ 45-30 victory over Briar Cliff University of Iowa.

“It’s exhilarating,” Reilly said of taking down an opposing quarterback. “It’s hard to get that feeling anywhere else. …

“Once you’ve done it, you want to continue going out and making plays again. It’s a great feeling.”

Reilly isn’t the only local player on Midland’s roster: Matthew Flores, a 5-foot-11, 235-pound linebacker out of Watsonville High and Cabrillo College, also suits up for the Warriors. Flores hasn’t seen much action, but Reilly is thrilled to have someone from home as a teammate.

“I always love seeing kids from our community continue their athletic journey,” Reilly said.

A business and sports management major, Reilly is on track to graduate in December. Once he does, he’s planning to return to Santa Cruz County and become a teacher and coach.

“I want to give back to the community and give kids the best possible opportunity for success,” he said.

For now, though, his focus is on preparing for what could be his final college football game this coming Saturday against Concordia University of Nebraska.

“I’m definitely going to miss hanging out with the guys,” Reilly said. “I won’t have that opportunity again.

“But I’m also cherishing the days I have left with my brothers being able to play football.”