After Bellevue finalized a deal to travel to Texas to face off with perennial powerhouse Katy High School, Wolverines coach Butch Goncharoff began to get phone calls from other coaches.

“I asked them what they thought,” Goncharoff said, “and they all said, ‘don’t go into Texas.’”

Regardless of the advice, the Wolverines, owners of six 3A state titles since 2001, will face off with Katy, the two-time defending 5A state champions on Saturday at 7 p.m.

It’s a matchup that has had the Wolverines focused since spring football, the players say.

“We’ve been preparing for so long,” said senior quarterback Joe Joe Connor, “that it’s almost surreal that its so close.”

For some, its been more than preparation. Senior offensive lineman Hank Thayer, for example, has found that his thoughts on facing the Tigers go beyond the field and the film room.

“I don’t know if I can really explain it….I dream about playing Katy,” Thayer said. “I wake up in the morning from dreams about this game. It’s all I think about.”

Players say since the moment they found out about the game, the focus has been on getting as strong as possible by week two in time to face off with Katy, who began the season by knocking off North Shore 9-7 before losing to rival high school The Woodlands 31-27 in its first non-district loss at Rhodes Stadium since 2001.

In other words, Katy will be plenty motivated come Saturday.

“We’ve prepared for this game for five months now,” said senior lineman Jake Hiller. “It’s a big deal for us and we have big expectations this year.”

The Wolverines continued their usual tradition of preparing themselves in lieu of preparing for an opponent. Instead of focusing on exactly what Katy does, Bellevue players focused on what they do.

“Linemen were doing sleds, running backs were doing fakes, that’s what we’ve been doing all summer,” Thayer said. “We put in a lot of work knowing we’d be playing Katy…and needed to be in midseason form by the second week.”

The players know what they’re about to face. Katy is a team that has made the playoffs 21 of the past 23 years, including every year since 1991. They’ve won five 5A state titles since 1997 and boast three players with Division-I scholarship offers: tight end Zach Swanson (Stanford), defensive back Sam Holl (Baylor) and offensive lineman Shep Klinke (Texas A&M).

“I want to see if Texas football is all its made up to be,” Hiller said. “I know they’re not taking us lightly, but I want to prove that Northwest football is not light out here.”

One things for sure – the fans will flock to Katy’s Rhodes Stadium, the site of the game. The Tigers first game attracted 13,000 fans to the stadium.

“I’m ready to go,” said safety Nick Moyer, son of former Seahawks defensive back Paul Moyer. “I can’t wait. Everybody thinks about it every day. There can’t be a day that goes by that people don’t think about the Texas game.”

The Wolverines fly out Thursday morning for the game and will have a walk-through Friday at the Stadium. Saturday’s game is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff.