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Tag: Coach Dodge

Cavs win Battle of the Lakes

Written by Steven Ryan on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

The Battle of the Lakes played out like a true rivalry between two great teams as Westlake and Lake Travis traded blows in a heavyweight bout that went down to the wire. In the end, the Cavaliers came out barely ahead in a 26-25 triumph Friday at Cavalier Stadium in Lakeway, TX

“We would answer, then they would answer,” said Lake Travis senior quarterback Hudson Card. “Those are the games that we look forward to. Being a rivalry and a one-point game, it’s crazy. I’m just happy with the way we fought and came out victorious.”

Card passed, ran, caught and kicked his team to victory in an all-around performance for the ages. He completed 20-of-31 passes for 224 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against a Westlake defense that wasn’t making it easy on him. 

He also led the Cavs in rushing, caught a key third-down pass on Lake Travis’s game-winning touchdown drive, and pinned a punt inside the five, which was followed by a game-changing safety.

The play everyone will remember, however, is the go-ahead touchdown pass to Grayson Sandlin. Facing 2nd & goal from the 9, Card threw a fade on an option route to the 6-foor-4 Sandlin, and Sandlin (11 catches, 99 yards) came down with it even as Westlake all-district cornerback Leo Lowin was all over him.

“I just knew the way he was playing me all game, I knew Hudson would put it where I needed it. That’s all it took,” Sandlin said. “It’s incredible… It’s the best feeling in the world, honestly.”

After getting dominated in the trenches last year, Lake Travis matched Westlake’s physicality and shut down the Chaps’ offense in a first half that had few fireworks beside a 30-yard touchdown pass from Card to senior Kyle Eaves (five catches, 89 yards, two touchdowns). Card rolled right, got the entire Chap defense to move with him, and then launched a ball downfield to a wide-open Eaves on the opposite side of the field.

“We just installed a lot of stuff early in the week to stop their run and it was working,” said senior Lake Travis linebacker Maui Traveino. “They told us to be physical and do that and it was working… Last year we definitely were not being physical enough and this year the seniors really stepped up.”

Westlake made some key halftime adjustments, however, and opened the second half with back-to-back touchdown marches to take a 17-10 lead. The Cavs picked back up some momentum when Raleigh Erwin and Trey Wright met at the quarterback on a zero blitz for a safety. Eaves got behind the Westlake defense on a play-action pass the next possession to put Lake Travis back ahead 19-17.

The Chaps got a third second-half touchdown when sophomore Cade Klubnik hit senior Jackson Coker over the middle for a 20-yard score, but with all the chips on the table in the final minutes, came up short on a 43-yard field goal.

“We finished the half with a lot of momentum and then they took the third quarter and owned it,” said Lake Travis coach Hank Carter. “In the fourth quarter we got it going a little bit and luckily were able to finish with the win.”

Westlake QB Kirkland Michaux on the 2019 season.

Written by Daniel Jones on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

“This year, something special is going to happen.”

Kirkland Michaux is staring at the throne, the starting quarterback position for Westlake High School’s varsity football team. It’s his senior year, and although college seems like a lifetime away, time is creeping on in. Football season is here. And if the end of last season proved anything at all, it showed how Michaux was ready when the grill got hot. Let’s go back to the fourth round of last year’s state championship quarterfinals against Vela, and Westlake senior starting quarterback Taylor Anderson gets hurt pretty bad in the fourth quarter. Michaux, then a junior and the team’s backup quarterback, took to the opportunity in the same way a relief pitcher in baseball might come in late to finish out a game for a struggling or tired starting pitcher. Michaux entered that particular game once Anderson labored off the field, and then lead the Chaps to a 28-0 victory. “Taylor and I were super-close, and we always prepared together,” Michaux said, who added that being a pitcher for Westlake’s baseball teams helps him get into games so efficiently and “get going where we left off. But, honestly, I love the pressure. If you want to be a starting quarterback in 6A football, you better love pressure.” 

He went to lead the Chaparrals two more games into the state championship quarterfinals, before losing to West Brook 35-30 in mid-December and falling out of the tournament. Westlake’s final record was 13-2 (8-0 in 25-6A). “The biggest thing I learned was to be patient. That’s probably the biggest thing that helped me along the way, to be patient and trust my line, and be able to put the ball to people.”

Michaux looks to read option the ball in the 2018 State Playoff match against Beaumont Westbrook. The Bruins defeated the Chaps 35-30 @ Legacy Stadium last December in the “2018 Football State Championships – 2018 Football Conference 6A D2” tournament.

The ability to meet the pressure head-on may certainly be a theme in the young man’s football career thus far. In week three of the 2016 season, Westlake head coach Todd Dodge first brought up the young freshman Michaux from JV to be the varsity’s backup quarterback and he got some playing time. “That helped me so much, because I got to run the offense at such a young age. I think it really helped my development.” His sophomore year, he played quarterback in eight games for Westlake, some of which were starts, but Anderson ultimately had the starting position. That is, until Anderson got hurt late last December. So “I had to step it up. And those were the two most-fun games I’ve ever played in,” Michaux said. “I threw a touchdown, and that gave me some confidence going into the quarterfinals. We just got outplayed in the semifinals.” 

His next chapter is still a question for Michaux, now a senior with a 3.6 GPA. He wants to play either baseball or football in college, perhaps even both, and he’s been in talks with Rice, Colorado State and few other schools. But right now he’s undecided on where to attend college. And yet the starting quarterback position is still up for grabs. Westlake head coach Todd Dodge said he will play various players at quarterback the first few weeks of the season to see who fits. 

Michaux will surely be working hard to earn the position. Coach Dodge said he feels confident in any player who takes on that role and can lead the team offensively. Yet all that matters to Michaux right now is Westlake getting ready for a strong season where the goal is always the same, coming from such an esteemed program. “Our goal is always to win States. That’s what it’s been for a long time. And the goal doesn’t change,” Michaux said. “We have some guys coming in who don’t have a ton of varsity experience, but they’re learning really well. And we’ve all been playing together since Pop Warner, and I just feel like, this year, something special is going to happen.”

Coach Dodge Reloads Chaps 2018

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL. 1 Comment on Coach Dodge Reloads Chaps 2018

TSM: I know as a coach, you all like taking it one game at a time, but how sweet would it be to bring Westlake its first state championship since Drew Brees was quarterbacking back in 1996?
Coach Dodge: Oh gosh, it would be awesome. It would be something that obviously this entire student body would carry for the rest of their lives, not only the football team. We were basically 15 seconds away two years ago and that was a heartbreaker. To miss a field goal to win it with about 15 seconds left in the game, that’s how close we were to getting the second one. But now you got to start all over again. But it absolutely would be a thrill and something we’re always striving for. Our goals our to win a district championship, and then to be playing Thanksgiving. That means you made it to the final 16 in the state, and once you get there, you can really just let everything fly and see if you can’t go make a run at it.
What can you say about the job Eanes Independent School District does in giving you the resources you need to run a successful high school football program?
I think that we get everything that we need, between our budget from our school district and obviously the great facilities that we have. Our school district has really dedicated itself to turf fields. That’s a big plus. We have four 100-yard turf fields on campus, so that’s a real benefit to us, all of our sports. And then we got a tremendous booster club, a lot of hard-working parents that really support us. I’m very, very pleased.
Rivalries are one of the funnest aspects of sports. Y’all got a pretty good one with this Westlake/Lake Travis deal, which many consider the biggest game in Central Texas. What are the benefits of having a rival like Lake Travis?
Oh, I just think it’s just special for high school football players in schools. It’s part of the whole high school experience. I mean, I think everybody can remember back to their high school days what the big rival was. It’s just part of the great history of Texas High School football. There’s always a lot of memories that are surrounding those, so I think it’s really good for the kids.
How do you feel about what y’all return on offense going into the season?
Well, right now I have a lot of confidence in our four returning starters on our offensive line, so we got some guys up there, and that’s not the norm. You usually don’t have that many coming back in an offensive line, and then, obviously, our running back, Nakia Watson, those are the proven factors in our offense. Everybody else, all the other skill position people, I’ve really been pleased and excited about what this group can be. We’re just really, really young and inexperienced in a lot of places. We’re not alone. There’s a whole lot of people who are like that, but I’m very, very optimistic about our young receiving core.
How do you feel about the state of the defense with the season-opener right around the corner?
That’s got to be the strength of our team right now, is our defense, because of all of the veterans that we have on that side of the ball. We got seven bonafide returning starters. We got probably four or five other guys that have played quite a bit. So that’s really, really going to have to be our strength. We expect our defense to play well. We’ve played really good defense since we’ve been here, and we expect for it to continue.
If you could challenge Coach Carter to a game of anything not football-related for a charity of your choice, what game would you choose and what charity would you like the funds donated to?
I would challenge him to a game of washers. Either washers or horseshoes, either one. The charity that I would send the money to would be the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Austin, that organization. I think that’s awesome to be mentors for young kids.