It will be a rematch of epic proportions Friday night inside the Alamodome to determine a regional champion.
Calallen (12-1) will meet Port Lavaca (10-3) in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A Division II playoffs.
The last time these two teams met was on Nov. 9 in a game that turned out to be an instant classic.
The stakes were high the first time with the district championship up for grabs.
Calallen led for most of the game before the Sandcrabs, playing without starting quarterback Conner Kestler, rallied to tie the game.
But the Wildcats got a game-winning 31-yard field goal from Jaoa Trinidad with 4 seconds left to provide a 23-20 triumph. The clutch kick capping an amazing drive that consumed 7 minutes, 55 seconds and featured a pair of clutch fourth-down conversions.
Now, much higher stakes are to be played for Friday night in San Antonio.
The Wildcats must once again find a way to stop Port Lavaca’s seldom-seen veer offense.
And yes, Kestler is back and he’s healthy, too.
Senior defensive back Rivers Roy is excited about the challenge of stopping Port Lavaca’s running game.
“With the triple option, there’s a lot of people to cover,” Roy said. “It’s kind of a numbers game. You gotta be on your man and don’t second-guess anything. Be fast to the ball and gang tackle.”
Excitement about the rematch has charged senior running back A.J. Brown, who doesn’t take any false confidence after the earlier victory.
“We are looking forward to the game. I am looking forward to the game,” Brown said. “I feel like we didn’t really win that game.
“We didn’t play well, but we can’t come out high headed about winning the last game because they are going to be ready to play us and they are going to want revenge for (us) winning.”
Veteran Calallen coach Phil Danaher said his team will be more prepared for the Sandcrabs’ unique offensive attack the second time.
“You don’t see the veer very often,” Danaher said. “It was the first time we had seen it when we played them last time. First time we had seen it in several years. The last time we saw it was when we played them. So our kids have a second shot at it.”
The same will go for the Sandcrabs.
“But vice versa, they get a second look at our offense,” Danaher said. “So it’s going to be an interesting matchup.”
It will be a very interesting game, indeed. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
