Chaps rally in fourth quarter to beat Temple (photos by Shelby Westbrook)
Westlake quarterback senior Jordan Severt passed for 348 yards and three touchdowns, including a 10-yard strike to receiver senior Patrick Elliott that put Westlake on top with just over a minute left, as the Chaps came back from a 18-point deficit to beat Temple 45-41 at their first home game Sept. 6.
Westlake trailed 17-35 after a seven-yard scamper by Temple junior Marques Hatcher early in the third quarter, but Wildcat fumbles on back-to-back drives led to two Chap touchdowns; the first one coming on a five-yard pass from Jordan to fullback senior Brian Keeney and the second on a 37-yard pass from Jordan to Patrick.
Temple quarterback junior Chad President scored on a seven-yard run on the following possession, putting Westlake down 30-41 heading into the final quarter. Chad, a Baylor commit, had 281 total yards and accounted for three touchdowns. However, he threw two costly interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by cornerback senior Rhodes Legg.
“President is a good runner,” linebacker junior Hudson Hall said, “but we knew he was going to be good considering he is committed to Baylor.”
It was all Westlake in the fourth quarter. First, Jordan found running back senior Ben Slaughter, who raced down the sideline to pull the Chaps within 3 with just over seven minutes to go. Following a defensive stop, Jordan again marched the Chaps on a drive down the field, culminating in a 10-yard pass to Patrick with exactly a minute remaining.
“Jordan played well,” receiver junior Sean Rollings said. “It was his best game by far. He was very clutch.”
Temple still had some fight in them. Starting at their own 18-yard line and needing a touchdown to win, Chad led his team down to the Westlake 17, where on the final play of the game, his pass was broken up in the end zone by Rhodes.
“Our defense kept stepping up when they needed to,” head coach Darren Allman said. “I’m very proud of them.”
Westlake’s defense, missing four defensive starters, among them three of their starting linebackers, gave up 490 yards to the Wildcats, but held firm when the game was on the line, surrendering only 13 second-half points and shutting out Temple in the final quarter.
Westlake faces off against A&M Consolidated at home this Friday. Last year, Westlake played the Tigers twice, losing 17-35 in a regular season matchup in College Station and shocking the Tigers in the Area round of the State Playoffs 45-2. A&M comes into the game at 2-0, with a pair of 44-41 wins over Waco Midway and Copperas Cove. Against Copperas Cove, they won on the last play of the game following an improbable kickoff return that included several laterals and was featured on ESPN.
It should be another tough game for the Chaparrals, but they are confident that they can succeed.
“We all really came together last game for the first time this season,” Hudson said. “We are way stronger because of this game.”
