CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — If there's one kicker teams should trust in South Texas it's Calallen's Ian Perez. The senior kicker drilled a 22 yard on field goad as time expired against district rival Tuloso-Midway to win 30-27. That's why Perez is our week 8 Game Changer of the Week.
"It's a lot of mental stuff too. Kicking is 80 percent mental, 20 percent physical," Perez said. "You know I know the coaches had all of the trust in me. If not they wouldn't have put me in this situation in the first place," Perez said. "I just told myself it was another ordinary kick. Same old thing, and just do what I've been trained to do."
Perez drilled the 22 yard game-winning field goal in the final seconds, giving Calallen the UIL 4A-DI District 16 lead. He made two other field goals from 29 yards out, plus three extra points.
"My offense put me in that situation in the first place," Perez said. "My snapper had a great snap, my holder had a great hold and I just had to finish off the job."
The 4-star kicker, rated by Kohl's Showcase Camp, has made 8 field goals. That's the second most in a single-season in Calallen history. Plus, the 5-foot-7 senior has broken all of the school's game records and 4-of-5 career records.
"What he does as a punter, what he does as our kickoff guy, can be able to spray the ball around the field and put it in different places," said Calallen football head coach Charlie Reeve. "Some of that stuff doesn't always shot up on the stat book, but it really is critical to what we do on special teams."
This year, Perez is going the distance by raising money to kick away childhood cancer. So far he's raised over $1,500 and has scored 60 points through 8 games. You can donate by clicking here.
"Someone in my family, I wasn't born yet, I found out that they battled leukemia when they were 8. Beat it and then got it back when they were 10. Ended up passing away," Perez said. "I know that really hurt my family, so I just wanted to do something to give back."
Perez' first passion was soccer. He began playing at 4-years-old.
"I never played football a day in my life until my freshman year, which was my first game playing actual football and being able to do what I do," Perez said. "It's just a really big blessing to be able to do this."
Perez also works hard in the classroom. He has a 4.1 GPA.
In week 9 of the Texas high school football season, Calallen travels down south to Zapata on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
IAN PEREZ'S CALALLEN RECORDS as of 10-17-2025
GAME
-Extra Point Attempt (1st):11
-Extra Point Made (1st): 11
-Field Goal Attempted (1st): 3
-Field Goal Made (1st): 3
-Total Points Scored Kick (1st): 13
SEASON
-Extra Point Made (8th): 55
-Field Goal Attempted (4th): 9
-Field Goal Made (2nd): 8
-Total Points Scored Kick (9th): 61
CAREER
-Extra Point Attempt (1st):176
-Extra Point Made (1st): 171
-Field Goal Attempted (2nd): 18
-Field Goal Made (1st): 13
-Total Points Scored Kick (1st): 210
Thank you to Thomas J. Henry for supporting Coastal Bend athletes.
