Klisters enjoying a special year at Wrightstown
Steve Klister has called countless plays for the Wrightstown football team during his career.
The ones the WFCA Hall of Fame coach has made this year have been a little more special.
That’s because when Klister pats the quarterback on the back to send him into the huddle this season the name on the back of that jersey is a familiar one.
Wrightstown senior quarterback Douglas Klister has enjoyed those moments with his father as well on the sideline.
“That’s custom each year, no matter who it is,” Douglas Klister said about the pat on the back, “But it’s special sharing that bond when he puts his arm around the quarterback and tells you the play to run into the huddle. It’s just a little bit different with me obviously being his son. That’s pretty cool. It’s really a special bond we can share there.”
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The Tigers have certainly been a special team over the years. The program is in the midst of its 24th consecutive WIAA playoff appearance, the longest active streak among any team in the Green Bay area.
Steve Klister has been the head or co-head coach for 19 of those years while serving as an assistant during the others. The tenure has included three WIAA state titles in addition to plenty of time spent at practices and games for Douglas as a ball boy growing up.
Douglas is the youngest of four children in the Klister family. He’s also the only boy, so his senior season has made for one of the most unique ones for his father, who joined the Wrightstown coaching staff in 1989 and was inducted into the WFAC Hall of Fame in March.
“I would go to practices with him,” Douglas said. “After school I would go over there and wait for him to bring me home. It’s pretty special when you’re a little guy like that, that the older guys would throw the ball around with you.”
Douglas Klister has thrown for 1,198 yards and 12 touchdowns this year.
However, the quarterback position isn’t necessarily a glamorous one in Wrightstown’s ground-and-pound offense, which features a full-house backfield and plenty of handoffs. The Tigers have rushed for over 2,000 yards and 29 touchdowns this year.
“When he first started playing tackle football in fifth grade he said he would rather play running back,” Coach Klister said. “He didn’t want to play quarterback because he knew the style of offense we ran.”
The middle school coaches tabbed Douglas as a quarterback due to his leadership qualities.
Those have translated well to the varsity level this year, as the Tigers have committed only two false start or illegal motion penalties on offense.
“We’re really discipline,” Douglas said. “We know we just have to stick to our roots and do what we do best. We know that running the ball, and getting four or five yards a crack, that’s what’s going to win us football games.”
After ending the regular season with back-to-back losses, Wrightstown has produced two impressive victories by topping Appleton Xavier, 49-18, and Winneconne, 54-27, to advance to the WIAA Division 4 state quarterfinals.
Both of those opponents ran spread offenses and had a pension for throwing the football. The Tigers faced 71 pass attempts in the two wins.
Douglas Klister stepped into leading the defensive film session before the Xavier matchup after the coaches were unable to make the meeting. He then got the opportunity to play some defense last week when the team needed to use a scheme featuring an extra defensive back.
“It’s great to get out there on defense and help the team in whatever way I can,” said Klister, who maintains a GPA above a 4.0. “I loved to get out there and hit somebody for a change instead of being on the opposite end of that.”
The Tigers (9-2) will be hoping to produce a different result this week at Little Chute (11-0) after falling to the undefeated Mustangs 38-28 in the regular-season finale on Oct. 12.
Little Chute was 11-for-12 in converting on third downs, while Wrightstown managed only 66 rushing yards in the first meeting against the North Eastern Conference champion.
Klister completed 16 of 25 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns in the loss. The senior quarterback would rather see his pass attempts go down in the rematch and see the ground game flourish to control the clock as the Tigers try to extend their season.
Regardless of how long Wrightstown is able to play into November, the Klisters have certainly made the most of their time together on the football field.
“He’s been around high school football a long time,” Coach Klister said about his son. “To see him step up and have a really good senior year this year it’s really rewarding as a father and as a coach.
“Everybody I talk to as far as teachers go says he’s a great kid, a great leader. That part as a father probably means more to me than what he does on the football field.”
