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By Noah Patheja

Pete Wiggins and the Callaway Cavaliers previewed their season during the High School Football Media Days in Opelika Tuesday.

Wiggins was joined by seniors Sam Williams and Elijah Gunn.

“The state of Alabama means a great deal to me,” Wiggins said. “I coached for two years at Highland Home. I wouldn’t trade those two years in South Alabama for the world.”

This is Wiggins’ 18th year as the head coach of Callaway.

“Looking at this season, we lost a very talented group of seniors last year,” Wiggins said. “Over the years, there’s an expectation of success when we walk out on the field. We have 16 seniors who have done a great job leading our team.”

Callaway opens their season against Opelika High.

“This will be our fourth contest with Opelika,” Wiggins said. “They have one of the richest traditions in Alabama. We’ll play Troup then Cedartown. We’re a 2A school, and they’re a 4A school. Right out the gate, we have really stout opponents. Hopefully, playing those kinds of opponents will make us better.”

Wiggins also mentioned how productive the summer was for his team.

“We had multiple 7-on-7 competitions. We’ve worked really hard in the weight room,” Wiggins said. “I think the weight room brings on a camaraderie. There’s a lot of things that add up to success on the field.”

Wiggins talked mostly about his team’s difficult schedule.

“Through the years, scheduling becomes more difficult,” Wiggins said. “You have to play quality opponents if you want to reach high levels. The preparation for those schools is a year long thing. You want to grow through those games. The key to being successful is developing players who have that experience.”

He also mentioned how region and non-region schedules are almost like two different seasons.

“We always break our season up into several chapters,” Wiggins said. “Non-region is a chapter. The season pretty much starts over. When you start the region schedule, it doesn’t matter what your record is leading into that.”

Wiggins also mentioned how he relies on senior leadership.

Sam Williams also described the preparation for week one.

“It’s very intense going into the week,” Williams said. “The whole team knows that we have to prepare hard for this. The first couple of games are going to be very tough. Our focus will be very intense the whole week.”

Williams also described how his team builds camaraderie outside the weight room.

“If not for football, we just hang out as friends,” Williams said. “We just chill at local joints and have fun and talk about our old memories back in middle school. That’s how we bond as a team.”