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After trailing early, No. 4 Westlake roars back for 67-14 win over upset-minded Anderson
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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Eyebrows had to have been raised by statewide scoreboard watchers and fans at Nelson Field after Anderson took a 14-13 lead over Westlake with 3:14 left in the first quarter Thursday.
Then, the Chaps came alive.
Westlake used a pair of defensive touchdowns to help jumpstart their scoring and the Chaps rolled up 54 unanswered points to turn a competitive ballgame into a 67-14 blowout victory in 6A-District 26 play.
"We've had our battles in the first half with these guys throughout the years," Westlake head coach Tony Salazar said. "Coach (Donald) Hatcher has those guys playing really good with a talented offense, and I'm glad we settled down, got rid of the penalties and then we played Westlake football." Westlake had five penalties for 55 yards in the first quarter.
Anderson scored twice on pass plays to Zayden Sharp from Brady Gephart in the first quarter, but then the big plays came for the Chaps.
Elliott Schaper returned an interception 36 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Then, after Anderson hit a big play to get down to the Westlake 5-yard line, Payton Luther forced a fumble and Wyatt Williams scooped it up and rumbled 86 yards the other way to flip the script and give Westlake a 32-14 lead.
From there, the Westlake offense took over. Grady Bartlett scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half and Heath McRee hauled in three touchdowns catches and Brody Wilhelm had a pair of touchdown receptions. Jack Kayser surpassed the 3,000-yard barrier for his career on a 30-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Westlake (6-0, 4-0) will play for first place in the district Oct. 13 against Dripping Springs at Chaparral Stadium. Anderson (3-4, 2-3) takes on Lake Travis at Cavalier Stadium on Oct. 13.
Game log
Final: Westlake 67, Anderson 14. It was close for a little while, but Westlake made a couple big plays on defense to jolt the Chaps to life.
10:12 4Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE: Bartlett scores for a second time on a 15-yard run straight up the gut as he bowls over a couple of Anderson defenders. PAT good. Chaps 67, Trojans 14
End 3Q: Westlake 60, Anderson 14.
7:31 3Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE: After the Westlake defense forced a turnover on downs, Grady Bartlett took a handoff on the first play of the drive and raced 48 yards for a score. Chaps 60, Trojans 14
10:02 3Q: Westlake's drive fizzles out thanks to a penalty and they have to punt. Anderson takes over on its own 20-yard line
End 2Q: Westlake 53, Anderson 14. That first half was bonkers. Anderson held a 14-13 lead briefly early on, but then the Chaparrals scored twice on defense and hit some big plays on offense to roll up 40 unanswered points.
0:11 2Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE: McRee goes WAY up high to haul in his third touchdown of the game on a 10-yard pass from Wise. McRee did an incredible job to get a foot down in the back of the end zone before tumbling to the ground. PAT good. Chaps 53, Trojans 14
3:47 2Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE: McRee gets behind the Anderson secondary and Wise hits him in the back of the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown. PAT good. Chaps 46, Trojans 14
6:33 2Q: Anderson tries to go deep on 4th-and-8, but Small can't quite jockey into position well enough to haul it in. Westlake takes over on its own 33-yard line
8:58 2Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE: Jack Kayser springs loose, breaks a couple of tackles scores from 30 yards out. Kayser moves over the 3,000-yard barrier in career rushing yards, and he has plenty of football left in him. PAT good. Chaps 39, Trojans 14
10:30 2Q: SCOOP AND SCORE WESTLAKE: Immediately following the Anderson big play, Westlake's defense makes one of its own. Payton Luther strips the ball away from Gephart and Wyatt Williams gobbles it up and rumbles 86 yards for his first career touchdown. This game is nuts. PAT no good. Chaps 32, Trojans 14
10:54 2Q: Gephart airs it out deep to Ed Small, and Ed certainly doesn't play small. A gain of 56 yards puts the Trojans at the Westlake 5-yard line. Small split a pair of Westlake defenders and almost carried them into the end zone.
11:50 2Q: PICK-SIX WESTLAKE: On the first play of the second quarter, Westlake linebacker Elliot Schaper makes a huge play and picks off Gephart, then returns it 36 yards for the score. PAT good. Chaps 26, Trojans 14
End 1Q: Westlake 19, Anderson 14. That was fun. The Trojans have the ball on second down to start the second quarter. Let's see if this game turns into full track meet status.
1:00 1Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE: It's Wise to Wilhelm again for a 27-yard touchdown. Wilhelm earned some tough yards after the catch by breaking two tackles and dragging another defender into the end zone. PAT no good, Joey Bravo hooked it left. Chaps 19, Trojans 14
1:13 1Q: Westlake already has 55 yards in penalties and they are killing them. A block in the back on a long Kayser run backs them up to 2nd and 20
3:14 1Q: TOUCHDOWN ANDERSON: After a 15-yard face masking penalty on Westlake, Gephart drops a perfect ball into the hands of Sharp and he sprints the rest of the 50 yards for a score. PAT good, and now the Trojans are in the lead. Trojans 14, Chaps 13
4:10 1Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE: Heath McRee is very fast. On 3rd-and-4, Wise hits McRee on a route over the middle, and then McRee's track speed takes over and he burns down the field for a 51-yard touchdown. It's his first touchdown of the season. PAT is blocked by Anderson's Jack Middleton. Chaps 13, Trojans 7
6:20 1Q: TOUCHDOWN ANDERSON: The Trojans cash in the big defensive play by Haines and Brady Gephart hits Zayden Sharp for a 15-yard touchdown. PAT good. We're all tied up. Chaps 7, Trojans 7
7:28 1Q: Anderson's Colin Haines lays out and makes an interception to get the ball back for the Trojans at their own 46-yard line
7:55 1Q: Nothing doing for the Trojans on their second drive and they have to punt again. Westlake takes over just barely on their side of the 50-yard line
9:39 1Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE: Rees Wise hits Brody Wilhelm in the back of the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown. Wilhelm went over the top of Anderson's Jett Joseph to haul it in and finish a short 2-play drive. PAT good. Chaps 7, Trojans 0
10:01 1Q: Westlake forces the Trojans to punt on their opening drive and Heath McRee makes a nice return to set up the Chaps at the Anderson 38-yard line
12:00 1Q: Anderson won the opening toss and the Trojans elected to receive.
Pregame: Defensive back Denim Collins is a late scratch and won't play tonight for Westlake. Rees Wise will start at QB for Westlake.