On Saturday night, Westlake met North Crowley for the last game in the 2024 Texas high school football season in the 6A D1 Texas State Championship. The Panthers took home the win in decisive fashion by a score of 50-21 for their first title since 2003 where they beat Bay City 20-6 to claim the 4A D1 State Championship. These five factors really killed the Chaps in Arlington.
- Speed Kills
North Crowley was fast and Westlake wasn’t able to stop that or the explosive plays. It started with a 75 yard flea-flicker on the very first play of the game. Two 44-yard passing touchdowns from North Texas commit and senior quarterback Chris Jimerson Jr. added to the explosive plays. Senior running back and UNLV commit Cornelius Warren tacked on a 75 yard rushing touchdown as well. Plays like these where you have to chase down fast runners from the Panthers wear down a defense quick. These long plays were ultimately the straw that broke the camel’s back for the Chaps because they simply couldn’t keep up.
- Quentin Gibson Couldn’t be Stopped
North Crowley senior wideout and Colorado commit Quentin Gibson couldn’t be stopped tonight. He led the Panthers in every receiving stat with seven receptions for 181 yards and three touchdowns. Those three touchdowns tie the 6A championship game record for most receiving touchdowns in a game and breaks the DFW record for touchdown catches in a single season with 36, passing Jaxon Smith-Njigba who had 35 with Rockwall. His speed really prevented the Chaps defense from stopping him and therefore was a huge piece for the Panthers en route to a state championship. This man will be special for Coach Prime at Colorado in the years to come.
- North Crowley Converted on Third Down Too Much
Even if the Chaps defense stuffed the Panthers on first and second down, it didn’t stifle the North Crowley offense as they were 12/15 on third down. When you can’t get the offense off the field on third down, the offense gets closer to the endzone with every play and you lose valuable time with the ball in your team’s hands. This constant conversion crushed the Chaps defense and really demoralized the unit early in the game.
- Westlake was Never Really Able to Pass the Ball
Yes, senior quarterback Rees Wise did pass the ball with a solid efficiency, but it wasn’t ever close to how Jimerson did it. Wise was 10/23 and averaged 15.5 yards per pass but Jimerson was 14/23 and averaged 21.4 yards per pass for a grand total of 299 yards passing and four touchdowns. My main point is that the Chaps weren’t explosive with the passing game compared to a team that was exclusively explosive in the passing game. When you face a team who is a very explosive team and you aren’t, you will fall behind and that is what happened. Last week against North Shore the Chaps picked up three touchdowns through the air. North Crowley eliminated that for the most part and it showed in the final score.
- Yard Disparities
The Chaps were simply outgained. The Panthers almost doubled the total amount of yards that the Chaps offense gained with 640 to Westlake’s 342. Yards are the most basic thing an offense needs to get and Westlake did that but North Crowley did it to another level by just being the really explosive and fast team they have shown that they are all year long.
