MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Columbus High School students were among those who were expressing their pride on Monday in Miami-Dade County after Fernando Mendoza’s Heisman Trophy win.

Mendoza, a quarterback for the Indiana Hoosiers, graduated in 2022 from the private Catholic college-preparatory high school in Westchester.

To show their gratitude, students were making donations to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s “Mendoza Brothers’ Fight Against MS” fundraiser in honor of their mother.

The students, faculty, and staff also marked “He Is Mendoza Monday” by wearing IU red.

At Miami International Airport, Miami-Dade County officials put up a banner to celebrate. Mendoza’s cousin Adriana Alonso was moved to tears.

“It means everything to me and my family to see him accomplish one of his biggest dreams,” Alonso said.

Fernando Mendoza, the mercurial quarterback of No. 1 Indiana, won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, becoming the first Hoosier to win college football’s most prestigious award since its inception in 1935.

Mendoza received 2,362 first-place votes after guiding the Hoosiers to the top of the 12-team College Football bracket after transferring from California.

Medoza, a junior, is set to play on Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal game.

Columbus High School students celebrate Fernando Mendoza’s Heisman Trophy

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Gabrielle Arzola