RAYTOWN, Mo. — Raytown High School's 6 foot, 8 inches tall and 360 pound left tackle Logan Reichert, has a very fitting nickname.
"Yeti!" smiled teammate and running back Zahmari Gary.
Makes sense. Yetis are big, albeit mythical. And Reichert towers over the competition.
But there's something else.
"I love the cold," Reichert said.
Even better. Although, it's warm-weather powerhouses that are offering him: Florida State, Florida, Georgia and Arkansas to name a few.
"Before I got into football, it was basketball that I wanted to go try to do," Reichert said. "But whenever I came over here (to Raytown), I wanted to go to the NFL."
Raytown head coach Logan Minnick knows all about his lineman's hoop dreams.
"When he was kind of coming up here, I went and watched a 7th grade basketball game," Minnick said. "And he got a technical for dunking in pregame as a 7th grader."
Before college and professional football, Reichert still has two seasons paving the way for the Bluejays.
"It's good," said Gary. "I kind of just like hide behind him and just pop up and go whatever way I want to go."
Reichert was one of 10 sophomores who started last season on an 8-4 Raytown team.
"Some of the old coaches say you lose a game for every sophomore you have out there playing," Minnick said. "So, going into the season I was a little nervous. We've got nine or 10 out there. I hope we can find a way to win one."
Now, it's an experienced Bluejay squad.
"My expectation is to take it all the way," linebacker Derrick Buycks said. "It's my senior year. I'm trying to make it happen."
Yeah, "Yeti" isn't the only big thing in Raytown. The expectations are big too.
"I feel this team is one of the best teams we've had in a couple years," Reichert said.