CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Calallen is home to the UIL 4A-DI No. 14 ranked Wildcats. A program that is known for having a lot of success, but fans have a lot to be excited about. Not only do the Wildcats have a lot of talent, but they also have a lot of returning varsity starters. They're ready to kick it up a notch.
"Whenever you have those guys with experience you're able to share that with the rest of the team and I think we're a really tight knit group," said Calallen senior safety and fullback Ryder Reeve. "I think we're ready to go out and ball out."
Calallen's varsity team is advanced in the play-calling, but now it comes down to execution.
"We're not so tolerant to not meeting the standard anymore, and so it's no longer knowing what to do," said Calallen football head coach Charlie Reeve. "It's technique, effort and the little things that we're really focused on."
The Wildcats offense returns starting dual-threat 6-foot-3 quarterback Connor Klostermann. He's confident with the experience surrounding him.
"Yeah we have a lot of physicality on the outside with the receivers," Klostermann said. "All of them can make plays. Running backs especially can run down hill and hit somebody."
The defense had a few missing pieces to fill, but overall veteran leaders like Ryder Reeve, an Army University commit, believe in the next man-up mentality.
"Up front our d-line is looking really good. I think we reloaded really well," Ryder Reeve said. "Our secondary looks really good. We're having to replace a few guys, but those guys have experience in a game. Our linebackers are really good. Overall our defense has reloaded really well."
Calallen's new UIL 4A-DI District 15 provides a good challenge for playoffs. The district opponents are Tuloso-Midway, Beeville, Miller, King, Moody and Port Lavaca Calhoun.
"You know whoever comes out in the top four I think is going to be battle-tested and ready to make a run in the playoffs, but we're excited," Charlie Reeve said. "I know our community is excited that it's all local now and we're looking forward to it."
Calallen kicks off their season with a road trip to Javelina Stadium to face the H.M. King Brahmas on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m.
UIL 4A-DI District 15
Beeville Jones
Calallen
Tuloso-Midway
Corpus Christi King
Corpus Christi Miller
Corpus Christi Moody
Port Lavaca Calhoun
Hydration is not the only thing coaches have to worry about at football practice now days. They have to worry about temperature, wind speed and in particular Wet Bulb Globe Temperature.
KRIS 6 Sports Anchor Larissa Liska got to see that in action at Calallen's midday practice, moving the players indoors to keep them safe. The high readings were monitored by athletic trainer Lauren Dillon.
"Check it all the time and we hit the red zone which means you have to take your helmets and shoulder pads off," Dillon said. "We fortunately have an indoor, so just came inside and got to finish."
The Wet Bulb Globe Temperature is not measured like your normal thermometer. Instead it factors multiple measurements and typically does not get as hot as a dry-bulb reading.
"We use Perry Weather here at Calallen, so we have it all on our phones and we all get text messages," Dillon said.
This is the first year that UIL has made it mandatory for outdoor activities to monitor these readings, but Calallen has followed these protocols since UIL suggested it a few years ago.
"It's not new to anybody around here, so that helps that we've been doing it for a few years now," Dillon said. "Then the UIL made it a mandate this year, so we didn't have to change too much."
