BELTON — Senior linebacker Elliot Schaper blasted through the offensive line and drilled Prosper quarterback Braeden Imhoff in the first quarter, finishing the second Westlake defensive drive with an emphatic sack. The Chaps’ defensive line impressed all night, dominating a Prosper offensive line that fields five division-one recruits.
“In that particular defense, I’m a quarterback hunter,” Schaper said. “I saw him roll out, so I went after him and made a play.”
No. 4 Westlake (1-0) kicked off the Texas high school football season by taking down the No. 15-ranked Prosper Eagles (0-1), 35-14, at a neutral site, Crusader Stadium, Aug. 29. With 100’s of students from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor watching on from the student union building and stands, the Chaps scored 22 unanswered points in the second half to run away with the win.
Both defenses took control in the first quarter, and neither offense could get into a rhythm. Senior edge
Cullen Devine and Connor Vasek collapsed the pocket on numerous plays, and Schaper took advantage. He finished with a game-high three sacks. Junior safety Thompson Bennett and senior safety Payton Luther blanketed the Eagles wideouts, besides a back-shoulder completion from Imhoff in a drive that ended in a blocked field goal.
“This is a very good defense,” head coach Tony Salazar said. “These guys are going to win a lot of football games this year. I’m so proud of our defense for holding up against such a talented offensive line.”
Westlake took the momentum at the start of the second quarter, making a huge stop on 4th-and-inches on the 50-yard line. The Chaps turned defensive momentum into offensive efficiency with junior quarterback Rees Wise making a connection down the sideline to junior wide receiver Lawson Grimes for the first score of the game.
“Westlake football lives on complementary football,” Wise said. “When both sides of the ball work together, nobody can stop us”
After being pinned deep, the Eagles were able to run the ball through the Chaparral defense down into their side of the field. After a roughing-the-kicker penalty on Devine, Prosper evened the game up on a seven-yard pass. The drive contributed to the Chaps’ five penalties for 59 yards in the first half, an uncharacteristic stat.
“We’ll get there,” Salazar said. “I’m just happy that, when things got gritty, our team responded really well.”
The offense couldn’t respond, as their next drive ended with the ball still in the Chaps side of the field. Prosper struck again on a 39-yard touchdown pass, grabbing their first lead of the game. The Chaps had the ball with 47 seconds and two timeouts left in the first half, and they marched right down the field. Wise found senior wide receiver Brody Wilhelm from eight yards out to bring the Chaps to within a point. It stayed that way after junior kicker Nolan Bartley’s extra point got blocked.
“No. 6 [Wilhelm], No.1 [Grimes], there were so many guys that played great,” Salazar said. “Obviously six made some big catches in the red zone. Especially on our offense, we had a lot of rookies that got their feet wet out there, so it’s great to get that out of the way.”
After a short Westlake drive, the Eagles immediately began driving, but Schaper and junior defensive lineman Maddox Flint combined for a big tackle for a seven-yard loss. On the next Chaps drive, a fake field goal wound up unsuccessful. The defense came up big again to force a three-and-out, and a bad snap on the punt left Westlake a short field.
“It starts with great leaders,” Schaper said. “We have four great leaders on defense. We had some new people starting, so we brought them with us. Especially in the second half, we really came together to get some key stops.”
A screen to senior wide receiver Chase Bowen propelled the Chaps down the field, and Wise found Wilhelm again from 15 yards out to give them the lead. A two-point conversion made the score 21-14 at the end of the third. A stop right after it, and a beautiful throw from Wise to Grimes left them on the one. Senior running back Justice Johnson punched it in, and Westlake had their biggest lead of the night at 35-14.
“We finally got some consecutive drives together,” Salazar said. “Good stops on defense followed by touchdown drives on offense. Stacking together those consecutive drives and getting some positive production was how we pulled away.”
Wilhelm grabbed his third touchdown catch in the fourth quarter from Wise. Wise had one of the best games of his young high school career, completing 22-of-28 passes for 357 yards and four touchdowns.
Schaper and the Chaps defense locked down the Prosper offense, stalling out many drives that got into the Westlake side of the field. Schaper had 13 tackles, five for a loss.
“Our approach never changes as we get down the field,” Schaper said. “It’s just something that happens, we all buckle our chin straps and get to work.”
The Chaps will have to carry that mentality into an unusually hard schedule. Not only do they have to take on district foes Lake Travis and Dripping Springs, but two other top-25 ranked opponents in Atascocita and Steele.
“Our mentality is you don’t have to be here, you get to be here,” Wise said. “So when it comes time for film or practice, the team is locked and giving it their 100%. We will face much harder opponents which is why we need to be on our ‘A’ game the entire season so we are getting better everyday.”
Westlake takes on San Benito in their home opener Friday night. The last the two teams met was in the 2022 state playoff, where the Chaps prevailed 44-7 en route to an eventual state championship. The Greyhounds fell in their opening game 22-42 against Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North.
