Lewisville High School won the Texas big-school state football championship in 1996, back when Rodrick Williams, Scott Ekpe and Hendrick Ekpe were still toddlers. By the time Hendrick Ekpe was 7, and the other two were 8, they were playing pee wee football together and living in the same Lewisville neighborhood. They dreamed of one day playing under the Friday night lights at the high school's 10,000-seat stadium. Little did they know, they would one day play college football together for Minnesota, too.

In 2010, they all made the Lewisville varsity, but there was little glory. The Fighting Farmers went 3-7. And the next year, when Williams and Scott Ekpe were seniors and Hendrick Ekpe was a junior, Lewisville went 2-8.

"We weren't very good," said Dick Olin, who coached those two teams. "Well, we were good, but in that league it was tough."

Lewisville was a big school in the northern Dallas suburbs with about 3,900 students (grades 9-12), but it faced the likes of Plano East (5,300), Plano (5,400) and Plano West (5,500).

The Fighting Farmers also suffered annual beat downs against Allen, a school of about 6,000 students that opened a new stadium three years ago that seats 18,000 and cost $59.6 million.

"I think we had one of the hardest schedules in the whole country," Scott Ekpe said.

Their high school coach said Hendrick Ekpe, from left, and Rodrick Williams shared a brain while Scott Ekpe was “ serious.”

"Some of the guys we played in high school are some of the best dudes you'll ever see play football," Williams added. "Half of them didn't make it to college for whatever reason, but everybody on the field could play."

Those experiences helped shape the Lewisville trio into the players they are today for the Gophers. All three are projected starters for the Sept. 3 season opener against Texas Christian.

Williams is a senior who spent the past two years in David Cobb's shadow, waiting for this chance to be the team's No. 1 running back.

Scott Ekpe is a junior defensive tackle who played every game for two seasons before tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in last year's season opener, leading to a medical redshirt.

And Hendrick Ekpe is a junior defensive end who was limited with a sinus infection last season but appears poised for a breakout year.

"He's a freak of nature," coach Jerry Kill said of the younger Ekpe this spring. "He's playing three times [better] than he did a year ago. The light bulb's come on, just like David Cobb. There's not many guys his size [6-5, 243 pounds] who can run a legitimate 4.6 [seconds in the 40-yard dash]. If he keeps working, he'll play a lot of ball on Sundays."

Back in Lewisville, Olin saw big potential in all three future Gophers. He knew talent, having coached Baytown Lee to the Texas state playoffs 11 times before going to Lewisville. His stepson, Drew Tate, was a first-team All-Big Ten quarterback for Iowa in 2004.

Scott Ekpe committed to the Gophers in June 2011, when Williams was still undecided.

"I told everybody from Iowa, 'I have a Big Ten running back playing for us at Lewisville. He is a downhill guy,' " Olin said. "Their running backs coach said, 'I need to see more tape.'

"I said, 'I sent you Drew Tate and Charles Godfrey, who's playing [in the NFL] for Atlanta.'

"[The coach] said, 'I need to see more tape.'

"I said, 'You'll see all the tape you need to see on him next year, when he goes to Minnesota.' "

Williams committed to the Gophers that July, and Hendrick Ekpe did the same after his senior season, in November 2012. Olin has fond memories coaching each of them, even though Lewisville struggled as a team.

"Scott's very quiet, very serious," Olin said. "Hank's more freewheeling, and Rodrick is Rodrick. He's a great kid. What a character. He and Hank — we told them they shared the same brain. We didn't know who had it on certain days."

Olin will be in Iowa City, when the Gophers visit Nov. 7, and he will be cheering for Minnesota.

"Hell yes," he said. "I want to rub it in."