Westlake knocked out of playoffs by Lake Travis
The 2016 football season didn’t end the way that the Chap varsity football team would have hoped, as they fell to rival Lake Travis 3-51 on Dec. 2 at the Kelley Reeves Athletic Complex. The loss dropped the Chaps’ record to 11-3 on the year and it was their largest margin of defeat this season. Although the Chaps came into the game with high hopes and on a hot streak with six straight victories and a 7-1 record in District, their expectations took a large dent when senior starting quarterback Sam Ehlinger re-injured his wrist for the second time this season during the week before the game.
“It has been an amazing season and I am proud to say that I got to spend four years playing for the Chaparrals,” defensive end senior Evan Smith said. “We gave it our all this season, it’s going to be hard to accept that I will never get to play Westlake football again. I got to have a lot of great memories out on that field and I hope that the next group of seniors follows the example we set for always playing hard and never giving up.”
The Chaps were able to move the ball past the Lake Travis 50-yard-line multiple times during the first half including their first, but were unable to capitalize with any points. Lake Travis was though, and scored on all but one of their possessions in the first half. The second quarter ended with Lake Travis on top 30-0 in the game.
“The first half was really rough,” linebacker senior Brian Beasley said. “We dug ourselves a big hole with mistakes, and we were unable to get out of it.”
The second half was much of the same for the Chaps and Lake Travis was able to control the game until the final whistle the Chaps’ only score was a field goal in the third quarter, and Lake Travis ended the game on top by 48.
“It really wasn’t the way that I wanted to end my football career,” Evan said. “This is a special program and a special place to play, I loved every second that I got to wear the Red and Blue, and I know that there are great things that will come to this school. In the end, our best efforts just weren’t enough, and we came up short.”
