Long before he was celebrating with his “Moonlight” team for winning an Academy Award Sunday night, Trevante Rhodes was a key part of a different successful unit—the Little Elm High School (Texas) football team.

Rhodes cracked the school’s varsity roster as a junior and continued in the program as a senior, playing alongside future Dallas Cowboys standout wide receiver Cole Beasley.

As a junior, Rhodes rushed for 398 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 8.0 yards per carry. During his senior season, Rhodes played in just one game before tearing his ACL.

However, he battled back to make a return to his other team—the Little Elm track team—in time for the spring season. He earned a scholarship to run at Texas, where he enjoyed a distinguished career.

Rhodes aspired to be an Olympic runner as a boy, and his mother made it clear to him that to achieve that level of success as an athlete, it would require immense passion and dedication.

“That’s something that’s stuck with me,” Rhodes told the Hollywood Reporter. “Everything I want, I do it like it’s the last thing.”

Rhodes’ devotion to his craft, which was first formed during his time as an athlete, paid off in a big way on Sunday night, when Moonlight took home the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Photo: Austin Statesman