Westlake bests Reagan in Texas high school football playoffs
SEGUIN, TEXAS - Westlake looks to be built for the Texas high school football playoffs.
Jack Kayser took 34 carries for 168 yards and three touchdowns and the nationally ranked Chaparrals (12-0) held off District 28-6A champion Reagan (11-1), 45-28, in a battle between the top team in San Antonio and the top team in Austin.
Even that wasn't enough for the Army commit, or his teammates.
"I think I could have honestly played better tonight," Kayser said. "The o-line just dominated up front tonight. I get the stats and recognition, but the coaching and the blocking of the o-line gets overlooked, so I respect them."
>> Austin Westlake beats San Antonio Reagan: Live updates recap
"I am super, super proud of these kids, we had four really good days of practice this week to get ready for this game," Westlake head coach Tony Salazar said. "We watched a ton of film to see how we can and need to stop these guys because they are so talented. It was a tremendous way to start the game tonight and a heck of a first half to start."
Coming into the area round matchup with Reagan, Westlake was certain to see one of its stiffest tests facing one of the top teams in the San Antonio area.
The Chaparrals started fast and never let their foot off the gas, building a 31-7 halftime lead.
Westlake quickly cracked the scoring column open with the first of Kayser's three scores from one-yard out to make it 7-0.
"We do what we do, we put the ball into No. 33's hands," Salazar said of Kayser. "We played really great, physical defense, and that is the calling card of Westlake football."
The Rattlers struggled to hold onto the ball in the first half as they punted on their first four drives. Meanwhile, the Chaparrals offense scored on all five of its first half drives.
2025 running back Grady Bartlett added a four-yard scamper and Wise picked up a five-yard rushing score with his feet to pad the Westlake lead.
After three-straight drives ending in a rushing touchdown, Wise got the passing game going. The sophomore tossed a 26-yard TD to 2025 wide receiver Brody Wilhelm to extend the lead to 28-0.
The Rattlers finally was able to solve the Chapparals defense getting down the field before 2024 quarterback Brad Jackson tossed an 11 yard score over the top to Michael Yzaguirre to cut the lead to 28-7.
The Chapparals were not done scoring in the first half. They drove the field to set up a 20-yard field goal by 2024 Colorado State commit Spencer Barnett to take into halftime with a 31-7 advantage.
Westlake produced 450 total offensive yards - 253 of those were from their rushing attack and held Reagan to 359 total yards.
"All year long, the big guys up front do all the dirty work and do not get enough love," Salazar said. "We love those guys. Our success starts with them and hats off to our offensive line coach Brandon Murdock and offensive coordinator Kirk Rogers.
Into the second half, the Rattlers came out swinging bound to make it a ball game as they were able to force back-to-back punts by Westlake.
Reagan scored first in the third quarter as Jackson connected with Yzaguirre on a 17-yard touchdown pass to make it 31-14.
The Chapparals defense and 2024 defensive back Denim Collins picked off an errant pass for the game's first turnover. Then, Kayser punched in his second touchdown of the game to extend the lead to 38-14.
"We had a tremendous gameplan tonight on the defensive side once again," Salazar said. "We were treading some water there in the third quarter after they scored once, and had the ball again. Denim's interception came at a big time when we needed a huge turnover, so we could score and close out this game with a comfortable lead."
The Rattlers were able to score another third quarter touchdown as time expired as Jackson tossed a 17 yard dart to Yzaguirre, and found 2024 receiver Caleb Cappuccio for the two-point conversion to make it 38-22 to start the final quarter.
"When you play a team like Reagan, they do not quit," Kayser said. "They fought hard. Obviously, they are going to score a bit, but our defense bowed up when they had to tonight."
Into the fourth quarter, after Kayser added his third trip to the endzone to clinch the berth into the next round of the playoffs, the senior Rattler quarterback threw his third touchdown of the night to Cappuccio.
For the Rattlers, Jackson finished 225 total passing yards, three touchdowns in the air and one with his feet to lead Reagan on the night.
Outside of the big night by Kayser, the Chaps got a big night from their junior running back in Bartlett who had 75 total yards from scrimmage.
"The o-line did great and everything starts up front," Bartlett said. "Kayser ran great, and on my touchdown run, I saw that they squeezed the ends down, so I popped it outside and made my way to the end zone."
THE WESTLAKE WAY
As the Chapparals move onto the third round of the playoffs next week, one thing is clear is the entire team is bought into the 'Westlake Culture' of outworking everyone and getting better every single day.
"We are going to work harder than everyone in the state, you can not be complacent and work hard," Kayser said. "We treat every week the same. We practice just as hard for the worst team in our district as we did for this team this week and we just have to keep getting better.
Westlake returns to the regional semifinals, where it will face the winner of Laredo United and San Benito, which kicks on Saturday at 1 p.m.
"It is a pretty awesome week to be able to just focus on football during the week of Thanksgiving to get ready for the next game," Kayser said.
-- Ryan Childers | @sblivetx
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