Coming off a dominant 54-13 win last Friday night in Temple vs the Wildcats, the Varsity Football Team welcomed the Trojans of Euless Trinity High School to Chaparral Stadium Friday for their home opener of the 2021-22 season.

The Chaps came out of gates firing, marching down the field within the first two minutes, capping off a potent drive with a 24-yard touchdown strike from quarterback senior Cade Klubnik to wide receiver senior Pierce Turner to give the Chaps an early 7-0 lead. Euless swiftly moved down the field as well, until a 42 yard kick from kicker senior Kelson Cotner sailed wide left to preserve Westlake’s seven point advantage. With a pair of kicker senior Charlie Barnett field goals and a couple more defensive stands from the Chaps, they had a 13-0 lead at the end of quarter one.

Euless started the second quarter with the ball, but both teams traded punts until Klubnik made a phenomenal play with his legs, scrambling to the corner of the end zone for a five yard touchdown to extend the Chaps advantage to 20. The Westlake defense continued to impress throughout the second quarter, forcing 4 Euless punts in the quarter. Westlake marched down the field just before the half, capping it off with another athletic play by Klubnik, rolling out and punching it in from 5 yards out with 13 seconds left to play, sending the Chaps to the locker room with a 27 point advantage. 

Euless received the kickoff from Barnett and the second half began with a slow drive for the Trojans, which resulted in yet another punt. Westlake took over around their 30 yard line, and once again drove down the field with efficiency. The Chaps punched in yet another score, on a 1 yard touchdown run by senior running back Hunter Henault, giving Westlake a 34-0 lead. However, the highlight of the drive was a 32 yard pitch and catch between Klubnik and WR junior Keaton Kubecka to put the Chaps in scoring position. Euless answered however, scoring their first touchdown of the night on a 40 yard run by RB senior Ollie Gordon to cut the Westlake lead to 27 right before the end of the quarter. 

The Chaps punted the ball away to start the quarter, and the Trojans moved down the field quickly backed by a couple of impressive runs. But defensive back junior Will Magids put a stop to the momentum, hauling in a wayward Trinity pass and gave the Chaps offense the ball once again, but they were forced to boot the ball back soon after. However, this time the Trojans took advantage, completing a 61 yard pass to put them in scoring position, and fullback senior David Langi punched it in for the Trojans, cutting the Chaps’ lead down to 20. Westlake was able to munch the clock down and eventually take home a 34-14 win. 

Westlake looked impressive on both sides of the ball, displaying once again how complete of a squad they are. The Chaps dazzled in the first half behind Klubnik’s pair of touchdown runs and a stellar defensive performance by defensive coordinator Tony Salazar’s unit. The Chaps took their foot off the gas a bit in the second half but maintained a strong performance and cruised to a 20 point victory, improving their record to 2-0 on the young season. The Chaps take on the Mansfield Summit High School Jaguars next Friday night in a neutral site game at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor’s Crusader stadium in Belton. The Chaps next home game will be Friday, Oct. 1 vs San Marcos.