Bellevue players can thank their past for their immediate future, and their matchup this Saturday with the Katy Tigers, the No. 4 high school football team in the nation as ranked by ESPN Rise.

Katy, in an agreement with Titus Sports Marketing of Texas, was slated to host Cyprus Bay High School of Florida again this season after defeating the team 31-6 in 2008. After taking the defeat in Texas, Cyprus Bay, expecting to rebuild this season, expressed a desire not to return and face a Katy squad that looked even better than the previous year, when they had won a second-straight Texas 5A state championship.

That left Titus looking for a program with enough of a national reputation to make this “Clash of the Champions II” truly compelling.

Enter Bellevue.

The Wolverines, defending 3A Washington state champions, were looking for a game after a scheduling change in the Herbstreit Classic in Ohio left the team unable to make the showcase in the final days of August.

“We were aware of what Bellevue did a few years ago, taking down De La Salle’s streak,” said Doug Stephenson, President of Titus Sports Marketing, referencing Bellevue’s 2005 victory that snapped the Concord, Calif., dynasty’s 151-game win streak. “They were on our radar as a possibility.”

Stephenson took the possibility of Bellevue to Katy Independent School District Athletic Director Rusty Dowling, who took the idea straight to Katy head coach Gary Joseph.

Joseph said Katy would love to play Bellevue, and Titus began working on negotiations to bring the Wolverines, winners of six 3A state titles in the past eight years, to Katy, home of the Tigers and their five state titles since 1997.

“These are probably two of the most respected teams West of the Mississippi,” Stephenson said. “Katy is probably the team of the decade in Texas; Bellevue is probably one of the top teams on the West Coast in this decade. It’s a great matchup.”

As part of the agreement with Titus, Bellevue won’t pay for anything but airfare, and that will be paid by the players families themselves, as Bellevue School District rules prohibit the use of district funds for such events.

“We’ve outlined a goal to have unique opportunities for our kids every year, and to play the best teams we can,” said Bellevue Athletic Director Brian Hercules. “We want it to be a great experience and have the kids leave with something they’ll remember.”

The Saturday game matches up two of the most elite high school programs in recent memory.

Bellevue is 105-9 under Goncharoff and is coming off a 14-0 season and another 3A state title, its sixth of the decade.

Katy has made the playoffs in 21 of the past 23 years, including every year since 1991. Since Joseph took over as head coach in 2004, Katy has a 68-7 record, four district titles, two state titles and another title game appearance.

“Both programs are established, traditional powerhouse programs,” Dowling said. “There’s a lot of great high school football in the Pacific Northwest. I know the folks down here are certainly mindful of the quality of football Bellevue will bring down.”

Kickoff is scheduled at 7 p.m. at Rhodes Stadium in Katy, where the Tigers packed in 13,000 fans for its opening game Aug. 30, a 9-7 win against North Shore High School.

Katy suffered its first non-district loss since 2001 at Rhodes on Sept. 4, falling 31-27 to rival high school The Woodlands to even their record at 1-1 heading into Saturday’s clash against Bellevue.

“It’s going to be a new experience,” Goncharoff said. “I’m excited.”

The play of past Wolverines and their success against high-profile rivals helped to get them the Katy game.

But players say they’re not happy just riding the coattails of Wolverines past.

“We wouldn’t be playing Katy if it wasn’t for our past players working so hard to beat De La Salle and Long Beach Poly,” said senior offensive lineman Hank Thayer. “We have to get our own tradition going. We don’t want to live off what everyone else has done.”

With a win over Katy, Thayer just might get his wish.