Senior running back Elijah Clark received a reverse on a kick return at the Westlake 30-yard-line and turned upfield, running down the left sideline on the first play of the game. Clark completely flipped the field, setting the Chaps up at the Akins 30-yard-line.
“I was coming off,” Clark said. “I saw a little hole, but then I saw a down block, and I tried to make a move and do what I could do to get yards on the team.”
Westlake (4-1, 1-0 District 26-6A) made plays like that one all night Oct. 3, routing Akins (3-3, 0-1 District 26-6A) 70-0 at Chaparral Stadium. The Chaps moved to 19-0 against the Eagles all time.
The Chaps started the scoring with a 17-yard rushing TD from senior running back Grady Bartlett followed up by a 35-yard passing touchdown from Rees Wise to senior captain wideout Cal Livengood. The Chaps led 14-0 in under six minutes.
The Chaps kept putting up points and never looked back. They tacked on two more touchdowns courtesy of a touchdown pass to Bartlett and a rushing touchdown from Livengood, making it 28-0 for Westlake before the end of the first quarter.
“So anytime the offense starts… We’re right there on the front porch, just scoring touchdowns,” head coach Tony Salazar said.
Clark forced in his first of three touchdowns from three yards out to put the Chaps up 35-0. A tipped punt courtesy of the Westlake special teams posted Westlake at the Akins 47. Junior quarterback Austin Knox then threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Justice Johnson that added to the Westlake lead by setting the score at 42-0.
Senior defensive back Brayden Cusack got in on the action by recovering an Akins fumble. With three minutes left in the first half, Westlake drove down into the red zone where Clark punched in another touchdown from 14 yards out, putting the Chaps up 49-0 at half.
Clark rumbled into the end zone for his third and final touchdown of the night from 13 yards out in the third quarter.
“Obviously [Clark] brings a dynamic of speed that not all of our kids possess,” Salazar said. “…He’s doing a good job of taking that coaching and continuing to evolve and develop into a great role player for us on our football team.”
A three-and-out by the Chaps’ defense set up a Akins punt from deep in their own territory where the ball would be tipped at the line, putting junior quarterback Austin Knox and the Chaps’ offense near the Akins goal line. Knox punched the ball in on a 10-yard quarterback sneak to put Westlake up 63-0 with two minutes left in the third quarter.
To end the night of scoring by the Chaps’ offense, sophomore wideout Braden Riddell took a punt 61 yards to the house.
“Then we return one for a touchdown there at the end.” Salazar said. “I think our punt return game was spot on today, really helped our field position, and obviously put the points on the board.”
From then on out, the Westlake offense stalled out on multiple drives including one where the Chaps’ turned it over on downs near the end of the ballgame. Nevertheless, the Chaps’ defense stood stout and allowed nothing for the rest of the game.
The Chaps’ offense produced 389 total yards compared to the Eagles offense putting up only 72 total yards and punting on all of their offensive drives.Since losing to Atascosita, the Chaps are 2-0 and put up a combined 111 points versus the 16 they’ve allowed.
“We’re really so focused on the week of preparation, the process of winning games, instead of the game at the end of the week, we worried on the stuff that leads up to the game,” Salazar said. “I think our kids really, really got a good grasp on what it’s going to take now for us to keep getting better every week.”
The Chaps look to continue their win streak against Austin High Oct. 10 at House Park Stadium. Westlake took down the Maroons the last time they met, 65-14, making Austin High 0-5 against Westlake since joining class 6A in 2018.
“I feel great,” Clark said. “[Austin High] should be a great, great game for us.”
