El Campo head coach Travis Reeve and his Ricebirds (6-4) will get yet another crack at his brother Charlie Reeve’s Calallen Wildcats (8-2) this Friday night as the two teams square off yet again in the bi-district round of the Class 4A, Division 1 playoffs.

The brothers flipped for home and home with Charlie winning, so the game will take place at Phil Danaher Stadium, located a 4001 Wildcat Dr. in Corpus Christi. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

The Wildcats made off with a 35-14 victory last season over the Ricebirds before falling to Bay City, 28-21, in the regional quarterfinals to finish the season at 10-3.

This year’s ‘Cats head into the playoffs for the 41st consecutive year with an 8-2 record, having gone 4-0 in District 16-4A, Division 1. The only losses by Calallen have come to Gregory- Portland in the season opener, 4921, and in the final non-district game to Sinton, 32-10.

Gregory-Portland and Sinton both head into the playoffs with 9-1 records. G-P’s only loss has came to Sinton (38-28) while Sinton’s only loss has came to Cuero (56-55).

Calallen has defeated Alice (21-6), Monteverde, Mexico (66-29), Corpus Christi Carroll (26-21) and Rockport-

(See ‘BIRDS, Page 8) Fulton (43-36) in non-district and in league play, they defeated Valley View (77-0), Tuloso-Midway (2027), Zapata (27-3) and Hidalgo Early College (62-0).

Quarterback Carson Klostermann heads up the Wildcat offense. The junior has completed 70-of-131 passes for 1,161 yards and 13 touchdowns with five interceptions. He has also ran for 403 yards and 10 touchdowns on 60 carries.

The top ball carrier for the ‘Cats this season has been senior Ricardo Rodriguez, who has 153 carries for 729 yards and 12 touchdowns. Freshman back Jimmy Tipton has also chipped in 574 yards rushing and five scores on 77 carries.

Key receivers for Calallen this season have been seniors Reese Rusher and Drayson Gamez. Rusher has 31 receptions for 588 yards and eight scores while Gamez has reeled in 28 passes for 426 yards and five touchdowns.

The top tackler for the Wildcats this season is junior linebacker Josh Norval with 98 tackles.

Rusher heads up the ‘Cat defensive backfield with four interceptions on the season while junior Chris Durham has picked off three passes.

The winner of the El Campo – Calallen game will advance to the area round to face the winner between Canyon Lake (7-3) and Taylor (5-5).

La Vernia rallies for 25-21 win over Ricebirds in district finale

For three quarters, the El Campo Ricebirds had the district champion La Vernia Bears on the ropes. But the host Bears held the ‘Birds scoreless in the second half while getting two touchdowns themselves to capture a 25-21 victory.

“I was really proud of how our kids came out. We jumped on them early,” said Ricebird head coach Travis Reeve. “We traveled down there with the intention to win and we gave ourselves chances, but we just came up short.”

Besides the 18-point loss to Bay City two weeks ago, the Ricebirds other three losses have been by a combined nine points— a one-point overtime loss to Needville (36-35) and back-to-back four-point losses to Calhoun (35-31) and La Vernia (25-21).

“We’re right there. We just gotta continue to put ourselves in a position to win and you know, we’re gunna get a win and the playoffs would be a great time to get those wins,” said Reeve.

The Ricebirds had the ball with just over three minutes left in the game and worked the ball into La Vernia territory before a 4th-and-5 slant pass fell incomplete giving the Bears the eventual win.

A 50-yard touchdown pass from Colt Reeve to Andy Russell and extra point by Landon Smith gave El Campo a 7-0 lead with 7:59 left in the first quarter.

Vlad Garcia then capped a five-play, 36-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run with 3:49 left in the first quarter as Smith’s extra point put the ‘Birds up 14-0.

La Vernia got it’s first score of the game with 2:12 left in the opening frame on a 48-yard run by quarterback Cooper Null as El Campo led 14-7 after the first quarter.

The Bears then kicked a 23-yard field goal with 6:49 left in the second quarter before Reeve connected with Kylon Taylor on a 27-yard touchdown pass as the Ricebirds took a 21-10 lead into the half after Smith’s extra point.

With 2:22 left in the third quarter, the Bears hit paydirt on a one-yard run by Null and got the two-point conversion on a run by Null to cut El Campo’s lead down to 21-18 and with 7:04 left in the game, got the eventual winning touchdown on another one-yard run by Null.

C. Reeve completed 7-of-13 passes in the game for 106 yards and the two touchdowns with no interceptions.

Russell, Taylor and Luke Rod each caught two passes in the game.

Taylor rushed for 80 yards on 10 carries with Garcia getting 51 yards on 19 carries.

Will Rod paced the Ricebird defense with 19 tackles, Mason Cortez tallied 12 tackles, including four for a loss, and Taylor finished with nine tackles.

RUSHING LEADER: El Campo junior runningback Vlad Garcia (1) heads into the playoffs having rushed for 1,201 yards on the season with 16 touchdowns. He has also caught six passes for 125 yards and two scores. As a team, the Ricebirds are averaging 329.9 yards per game with 252.8 yards per game coming on the ground. L-J Photo by Michael S. McCracken