Westlake thumps Johnson, brings urgency into Texas high school football playoffs: 'There is no tomorrow'
KYLE, TEXAS - Winning football games in November takes winning in all three phases.
The Chapparals (10-0, 8-0) showed just that with a dominant showing from their defense and special teams units in a 34-0 victory Thursday night over the Buda Johnson Jaguars to close the regular season.
"We talk about it taking all three phases in spring ball," said 2024 defensive back Ty Ingram-Eiser. "We go against each other for four weeks, it is a lot of offense and defense. Special teams is that unifying thing and that is something that Westlake preaches; Coach [Blake] Dunham does a great job at making sure we are the best scheme team in the state."
The Chaparrals entered Thursday with the District 26-6A, Region IV championship wrapped up entering the final week of the season.
"There is no tomorrow, we have to practice with a sense of urgency." said Westlake head coach Tony Salazar. "We can not have any missed days of practice in the playoffs and every single day has to be better than the last one. We are going to bring up some young guys in our program to develop and for them to experience playoff football. Everyone on board and going to work."
Westlake entered Friday as the No. 4 ranked team in Texas and No. 19 team in the nation in the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national rankings.
The Chaps turned defense to offense to put the first points on the board. Senior safety Ty Ingram-Eiser logged two interceptions in the first quarter.
"We came out flat, the energy was not all there, and on a night like this when there is not a lot of students in the stands like in the playoffs at these away games there are not a lot of students," Ingram-Eiser said. "It really is about us, we have to get the team going. Our team slogan is, 'bring your own juice. Just fire us up from inside."
Class of 2026 quarterback Rees Wise got the offense rolling late in the first quarter on a 47-yard touchdown pass to three-star Houston commit Heath McRee to go up 7-0 with 1:20 remaining in the first.
After the Chaps touchdown drive, Ingram-Eiser snagged the second of his two picks as senior running back Jack Kayser punched in the first of two rushing touchdowns in the half.
The Jaguar offense continued to struggle, as the Westlake defense did not allow it to pass the 50 yard line.
Half way through the second quarter, McRee broke off a 44-yard punt return setting up Westlake's third touchdown of the half.
Kayser pounded it in from two yards out to put the Chaps up 20-0 halftime lead.
"The offensive line tonight played amazing, they always play amazing," Kayser said. "Honestly, I felt I needed to run better. It was awesome I got those two touchdowns, but all thanks to the o-line and the coaches who put me in great positions."
Westlake came out firing on all offensive cylinders using their run game to move right down the field before Wise found junior wide receiver Cal Livengood for the six-yard touchdown pass.
The Chaparrals will move onto the TX-6A bi-district round next week against district 25-6A on their quest for another state championship.
For the game, the Westlake defense held the Jaguar offense to just 62 total yards for the game forcing three turnovers and wreaking havoc for Johnson junior quarterback Garrett Hall sacking him three times and racking up seven tackles for loss.
"My hat is off and I do not give enough credit to defensive coordinator Jason Jones as this was their fifth shutout of the year," Salazar said. "When you have this many shutouts you are doing a lot of things right. Every single week he prepares our kids and has a great gameplan."
"I said to the team at halftime, 'we have a game and a half left that we are guaranteed and if want more than we need to go out there and start playing," Salazar said.
The future Black Knight running back said the offense needed to definitely play better than it did in the first half, and he led those efforts with two consecutive touchdown drives to start the second half.
"Everyone in the program knows what our goal is and what we want to achieve and that is state," Kayser said. "We have to go one game at a time and keep putting in the work. We win on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday's at practice."
The sophomore QB finished the night with three passing touchdowns, helping pace the offense to a balanced 379 total yards — 200 passing and 179 rushing.
After capturing the district championship, Westlake's next goals are to be practicing on Thanksgiving Day, and then again in December for a state championship.
"In order to do this, we have to pick up a couple victories in the playoffs coming up," Salazar said. "Our kids understand what is at stake. The level of preparation will start to pick up and I think we have another gear, and we need to play a cleaner game next week if we want to be successful."
The Chaparrals last won the TX-6A state championship in 2021, and there were eight seniors on that team that are now senior leaders on this year's squad.
"We will need leadership from those guys, and we really need to just buckle down," said Ingram-Eiser. "We need to have everyone else just follow us. We are ready, I can promise you that."
Salazar mimicked his senior defensive back's words about the leadership it will take for Westlake to get back to the state title in Arlington.
"We are to the point in our program that our football team is a player-led program," Salazar said. "They all know that I want to win, they all know our coaches want to win. But, it is all up to those players and knowing the importance of preparation and staying the course."
-- Ryan Childers | @sblivetx
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