Desert Mountain's Santana Wilson learning from father, former Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson

Adrian Wilson has conversations with his son about what it takes to play football at an elite level, the hours of work, being level headed, studying film, not getting too ahead of himself.

"My thing with him in high school is all about growth and maturity," Wilson said. "We'll watch film of the team he's playing. Wrap his head around what he sees. Athletically, he's got it. He can run with anybody and do all those things. Mentally, for him, he just needs to get his head wrapped around it. It's the same as the pros."

Santana Wilson is just scratching the surface of what he hopes to become some day. Like his dad. Play for an NFL team. Maybe play in a Super Bowl. Make All-Pro.

A sophomore starting cornerback on Scottsdale Desert Mountain's 5A semifinal football team, Wilson is too young to remember seeing his dad play safety for the Arizona Cardinals in 2008, the Super Bowl season, when the Cardinals lost a heart breaker to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But he remembers being on the field with his dad in 2015 when he entered the Cardinals' Ring of Honor, and, the following year, his dad being inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame.

"I always wanted to follow in his footsteps," Santana said. "I try to make him proud."

There is no pressure for Santana to be like his dad. That's a lot to live up to. But Santana carries himself confidently at 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, still waiting to hit that growth spurt, knowing he's grown up in his first season on varsity, becoming a big part of a Wolves team shocking everybody with a mix of youth and seniors.

His dad played at 6-3, 230 for the Cardinals, a five-time Pro Bowl player and first-team All-Pro in 2009, part of the 25 sacks/25 interceptions club in his NFL career.

"I definitely have goals like that," Santana said, talking about his dad's impressive NFL resume.

Last week, in a 17-8 win over defending 5A champion Peoria Sunrise Mountain in the quarterfinals, he had four tackles, returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown, and blocked a field-goal try and returned that 75 yards for a score.

Coach Conrad Hamilton got summer help from Adrian Wilson working with the players, especially this special group of sophomores.

"He's very supportive," Hamilton said. "He stays out of my way, too. I bark at him. He lets me challenge him."

Santana Wilson is one of two sophomores starting in the secondary on a defense that has really been the catalyst to the Wolves' rise to the semifinals. They play at top-seed Horizon on Friday night at 7. Desert Mountain has never reached the championship game.

Dylan Tapley, a 6-4, 185-pound sophomore safety and wide receiver, also has had big moments this season, along with his brother Drew, a junior, who was thrust into moving from receiver to quarterback early in the season with the top two quarterbacks injured.

"It's been amazing because he's played receiver since the spring, but both of our quarterbacks went down, and he stepped up big time," Dylan said.

Drew Tapley has passed for 1,902 yards and 22 TDs, throwing only two interceptions, and completing 69% of his passes.

"I’ve never played the position, but the coaches have really helped me a ton making the switch, and making it easy," Drew said. "Getting to throw to my brother has been awesome. We’ve played together our whole lives but I’ve never gotten to throw to him before."

Sophomore quarterback Brady McDonough has a bright future and could wind up as good as Kyle Allen was during his stellar career at Desert Mountain. But for now, the Tapley brothers, with Wilson, are getting the job done, along with senior defensive end Porter Sweet, who got medically cleared this week by his doctor after missing the first two playoff games.

Sweet will be needed against a talented and explosive Horizon offense.

"It means every thing to me, the most important game of my life so far, so I'm excited," said Sweet, 6-4, 220 pounds, who has 36 tackles for losses and 13 sacks. "We got a lot of good senior leaders, but a lot of younger sophomores and juniors on the team. It's been awesome to be able to coach them up and take over the program and get starting roles."

They're not afraid of the stage.

Not after getting this far.

Santana Wilson is embracing it.

"We have a really good coaching staff to learn from and help us get experience," he said.

Adrian Wilson, now a vice president of scouting for the Cardinals, watched a lot of of the players as youth go through Pop Warner together and knew they were going to be good in high school.

He feels Hamilton, a former NFL defensive back, is the perfect coach for his son, drawing the most out of him.

And there are those father-son, heart-to-hearts that keep Santana on solid ground.

"I'm proud of him," said Adrian, who played in college at North Carolina State. "We have had conversations the past couple of years on just what does he want out of football, what route does he want to take. Ultimately, he wants to play at a Power 5 school. Pretty much what all kids want to do. Go to a big-time program and start. I just let him know talent is found everywhere. It doesn't matter what school."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Desert Mountain DB Santana Wilson takes after father on football field