Plain and simple, Wauconda’s Caleb Apodaca is a football player.
The senior lineman is on the field for virtually every play and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Having Apodaca help anchor both lines might seem like a no-brainer, given his stature physically and within the program, but that wasn’t always the case.
“I was pretty small as a sophomore and didn’t play a lot that year, even on the freshman team,” he said. “I didn’t get to experience much. But during the offseason after my sophomore year, I put a lot of work in.”
That may be an understatement. Once a 5-foot-11, 150-pound backup, Apodaca has grown to 6-2 and 240, and he has 24 tackles, including five for loss, for the Bulldogs (4-2) this season.
Apodaca’s additional height and some of the weight would have come anyway. But he didn’t leave anything to chance, committing himself to getting bigger and stronger so he could fulfill his true potential.
“I was in the weight room a lot, and by junior year, I was able to get physical with others,” he said. “And I ate almost anything I could get a hold of: pasta, rice, chicken, steak, pizza.”
Anyone watching a Wauconda game for the first time since 2021 wouldn’t recognize him.
“He was a lineman in a wide receiver’s body who took some lumps early,” Wauconda coach Chris Prostka said. “It was a longer process for him, and it hasn’t been easy. In the end, though, it was pretty simple. He had to work at it.”
Apodaca has become a two-way stalwart at defensive tackle and left tackle, and he often exceeds the physicality of the player across the line of scrimmage. Size alone doesn’t account for Apodaca’s success, however. Prostka said Apodaca has superior technique and is very coachable.
“He’s been told a couple of times coming off the field by other teams that they were running away from him,” Prostka said. “That’s a pretty good compliment.”
Those come his way from inside the program too. Apodaca and longtime friend Matthew Lee, a senior lineman, are frequent lifting partners, and Lee said he wouldn’t have predicted Apodaca developing like he did.
“I didn’t really know he took football this seriously when he was younger, but he proved me wrong,” Lee said. “When junior year came, that man was unrecognizable. He’s always willing to put in three more reps when other kids are stopping.
“He took it personally and deserves all the credit. He’s a beast.”
Apodaca also works hard at his craft. He said playing both ways helps him understand an opponent’s tactics. On offense, that means occasionally dialing back the intensity and waiting to counter with the right move, especially in pass protection.
“Sometimes I can read what they’re trying to do by the way they’re set up or how they’ve been playing,” Apodaca said. “It can be pretty predictable, and I almost try to bait them into making an aggressive move that I can take advantage of.”
On defense, which Apodaca said he prefers, his strength plays more of a role. He also enjoys the freedom that comes with trying to track down runners.
“I’ve done a lot of work on my hands, which helps control the lineman,” he said. “Hitting the running back is fun. Anytime I make a tackle, that’s the feeling of why I love defense.”
The early struggles Apodaca experienced in the game are never far from his mind and still motivate him.
“I love this sport so much, and being on the sidelines really fuels me to this day,” Apodaca said. “It’s what’s made me the player that I am today.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
