Westlake has taken an impressive leap this 2019 season, when they score at least 30 points they are undefeated. Lake Travis is there lone loss during the season when they barely lost 26-25.
The Chaps are rolling this season otherwise. Kirkland Micheaux leading behind center has taken his team to dominant wins over Lehman, Del Valle, Akins, and Austin High. Standing at an impressive 6’5 the senior has played smart football throwing less than 5 interceptions so far in the middle of the season and has 14 touchdowns under his belt. A 73% completion rate at a little over 13 yards per completion it’s amazing to think that for every pass he gains a first down on every drive.
There are three receivers that have over 350 yards this season all averaging over 13 yards per catch. When you pass to Lindley, Greathouse, and Mangum you will get a first down. It’s nice to think that you have three receivers you can rely on to assist in moving the ball down the field against opposing defenses in the Central Texas area. They will be relied on heavily as the season goes along. Micheaux last season had a taste of playoff football before losing to the West Brook Bruins in the Semifinals. A game away from state, he has experienced the playoff atmosphere and is more than ready to lead them deeper in the playoffs this season. A state championship is ready for the taking, can they take that next step?
After loosing Senior QB Taylor Anderson last year to injury late in the season; Coach Todd Dodge has tried a different strategy in 2019. This year he has kept defenses on edge playing three Quarterbacks in the trio of Kirkland Michaux, Cade Klubnik and Drew Willoughby. Should any player go down then all three have had plenty of playing time this season and will be ready for NEXT MAN UP football Friday Nights in late November and December this year.
Micheaux carries his leadership from last season giving Westlake another hope of the prized State Championship in 2019. Coach Dodge has kept his program at an elite level for years reloading with players across the board. With just a few weeks before playoff time Kirkland Micheaux can’t lay off the intensity and therefore must give his team hope into the playoffs. Texas football takes it to another level when the playoffs start. Teams are either pretenders or contenders. This Chaps team along with their quarterback will contend come playoff time.
Westlake and
Cedar Park went toe-to-toe in a competitive scrimmage between two of
the area’s best teams Friday at John Gupton Stadium in Leander, TX.
Cedar Park scored more points with three touchdowns compared to
Westlake’s one touchdown and three field goals, but the Chaparrals
seemed to move the ball better, especially when the first-teamers were
on the field.
Westlake
split reps evenly between three quarterbacks who combined to complete
33-of-46 passes for 317 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Head coach Todd Dodge may very well continue the quarterback rotation
into the season as senior Kirkland Michaux (15-of-20, 196 yards, one
touchdown), senior Drew Willoughby (7-of-12, 133 yards, one
interception) and sophomore Cade Klubnik (11-of-14, 88 yards) all showed
strong command of the offense while sometimes leaving a bit to be
desired.
“We threw
the ball a bunch tonight and… I can’t wait to get to the video to look
at it,” Dodge said. “There’s going to be some really good things that
were done by all three of these kids, and obviously some mistakes that
were made. A lot of that has to do without getting out in front of
somebody for the first time. When you play the position of quarterback,
sometimes it feels like you’re in a blender, and for all of them it’s
about making things slow down.”
No matter
who’s throwing the ball, Westlake’s group of pass-catchers will make
them look good as Friday’s scrimmage showed just how deep the Chaps are
out wide. Westlake’s first six completions went to six different
receivers. Senior Mason Mangun led the way with five catches for 105
yards and a touchdown, but senior Ryan Lindley (10 catches, 100 yards)
and senior Jack Hoover (five catches, 101 yards) made it clear that
defenses can’t key too much on Mangum without getting burned somewhere
else.
“I was
really pleased with the receivers,” Dodge said. “That’s the strength (of
the offense). Our returning wide receivers and the depth that we have
there… that’s where we have the most experience, and from a receiver
standpoint, we want our offense to be a spread-the-wealth kind of
offense.”
Cedar Park
was able to contain Westlake’s offense, however, with some timely
defensive play. The Timberwolves forced three turnovers (while
committing zero) and held the Chaps to field goals on all three of their
trips to the red zone. The best defensive play came from junior safety
Joshua Bretz, who stripped and stole the ball from a Westlake receiver
to set the Timberwolves up with a short field from which they scored one
of their touchdowns.
“Defensively,
I thought we played outstanding,” said Cedar Park coach Carl Abseck.
“(Westlake is) huge up front, they got a phenomenal receiver core and
they made some plays, but we made some plays, too… and we were very
basic, so I really pleased with how we played with a very basic
gameplan… To see our defense stand in there and stop them inside the red
zone multiple times was fun and encouraging and give us a lot of
confidence going forward.”
It looked
like Westlake’s defense will pick up where it left off with its newly
found tradition on that side of the ball. Former defensive linemen
Braden Cassidy and David Neil helped fuel the Chaps to back-to-back
district titles that last two years, and on Friday it was 6-foot-5,
230-pound Bobby Duncem who led the way as Westlake registered nine-touch
sacks and regularly had the quarterbacks desperately running away on
pass plays that didn’t call for a quick release.
“The one
unit I said I’ll go ahead and praise right now without looking at the
video was the effort of our front on getting pressure,” Dodge said. “We
were running a lot of people in there, and I think before it’s all said
and done, we’re going to have some good depth on our defense line, and
that’s something we’ve been blessed with over the last three or four
years.”
Despite all
the pressure, junior quarterback Ryder Hernandez showed out well by
completing 14-of-24 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. An average
quarterback would’ve done a lot worse.
“He’s a competitor, and he’s a good athlete and that’s part of the game,” Abseck said. “You’re going to get pressured at times, and there’s going to be times where we hold in there better and just let him sit in the pocket, but him getting out of the pocket is a good things for us, too, because that opens up passing game gives people a little opportunity to get open sometimes.”
Two of Cedar Park’s three touchdowns came when Westlake had its second-team defense on the field.
AUSTIN
— The budding rivalry between Central Texas powerhouses Westlake and
Lake Travis is one that doesn’t need any additional fuel added to the
fire.
But
that didn’t stop former Cavalier Baker Mayfield from pouring a can of
gasoline onto the blaze back in June when he took a shot at former Chap
and current Longhorn Sam Ehlinger.
“He
couldn’t beat Lake Travis, so I don’t really care [about] his opinion
on winning,” Mayfield said. “Westlake is a great program, but the two
best quarterbacks to come out of there are Drew Brees and Nick Foles.
Sam can stay down there in Texas.
“That will stir the pot. He doesn’t like me, and I hope he knows I don’t like him either.”
To
fans and competitors on either side of the “Battle of the Lakes,” those
kind of feelings are nothing new — and they’re often mutual.
In
each of the past two seasons, the Chaps have earned bragging rights,
including last year’s surprisingly one-sided 44-14 drubbing at Chaparral
Stadium. Westlake’s 21-14 win in 2017 snapped a 10-game losing streak
to the Cavaliers, who still lead the overall series 10-4.
Last
year’s matchup decided the District 25-6A championship and pundits
expect the same stakes for this season’s meeting, although Lake Travis
is the early favorite to get back in the win column and claim the 25-6A
title this time around.
It’s
not difficult to see why. The Cavs bring back 15 starters from a team
that went 12-2 in 2018 and advanced to the Class 6A Division I state
semifinals.
Quarterback
Hudson Card, a Texas commit, is back to lead an explosive Lake Travis
passing attack, and despite the loss of all-everything receiver Garrett
Wilson, there are plenty of targets for Card to zero in on. Versatile
wideout Kyle Eaves leads the charge, and teammates Lake McRee and
Grayson Sandlin have the size to play either receiver or tight end.
Lake Travis QB Hudson Card targets his receiver in the Battle of the Lakes match-up in 2018 vs Westlake. Photo: Texas Sports Monthly- Stan Martin
Running
back Weston Stephens also returns, as do linebackers Maui Trevino and
Nick Villarreal. Meanwhile, sophomore defensive back Derrick Johnson
could become an impact performer right away.
The Chaps will look to replace graduate Taylor Anderson at QB and the heir apparent looks to be either Kirkland
Michaux or Drew Willoughby. Both got playing time in 2018 due to
injuries, and whoever wins the starting battle will likely rely on
weapons like WRs Mason Mangum and Jackson Coker.
Westlake, which was 13-2 last season and made it to the 6A DII state semifinals, also welcomes back standout defensive backs Sage Luther and Leo Lowin, defensive end Bobby Duncum and offensive tackle Connor Halverson. Running back Jax Crockett was lost to an injury during the 2018 postseason, but he appears poised to pick up where he left off as a sophomore. The 15th meeting all-time between Lake Travis and Westlake is set for Friday, Oct. 11 at Cavalier Stadium.
Westlake
coach Todd Dodge’s impassioned postgame speech said it all. After his
team’s season came to an end with a hard-fought 35-30 loss to Beaumont
West Brook in the Class 6A State Semifinals at Legacy Stadium in Katy,
TX, Dodge got emotional with his boys as he expressed the emotion he
felt about the heart and toughness they played with. Despite missing key
offensive starters and trailing by double-digits most the game, the
Chaps came back and had the ball with a chance to win before getting
stopped on fourth down at midfield in the final minute.
“They’re
just a blue-collar, hard-nosed bunch of kids that no matter what the
circumstances are don’t think they should lose,” Dodge said. “Just very,
very proud of this bunch. This one will hurt, but we’re not going to
let it take our joy away.”
West
Brook had shown a penchant for making big plays all season and that
didn’t stop against a Westlake defense that came into the game allowing
only 7.5 points per game. The Bruins scored three touchdowns of at least
66 yards to take a 25-10 lead into halftime. The first was by the
defense as junior defensive end Markel Clark and senior safety Darrel
Hawkins Jr. combined to force a fumble that was recovered by senior
safety Daniel Coleman and returned 70 yards for a touchdown.
Westlake
answered with a 29-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Kirkland
Michaux to senior wide receiver Penny Baker on the next drive. But
Bruin senior running back Robert McGrue broke free for a 68-yard score
on the second play of the second quarter, and a few minutes later,
senior quarterback La’Ravien Elia hit junior wide receiver Thaddeus
Johnson on a quick slant, and Johnson bounced off a tackler and darted
to the end zone for a 66-yard touchdown. The Elia-to-Johnson connection
was on all day, as Johnson hauled in eight passes for 205 yards.
“Tonight
for a three-hour window, we ran into a team that was better than us for
this three-hour window, to be honest with you,” Dodge said. “Hats off
to West Brook. They did what they needed to do. They put their athletes
on the field and made plays… What a great job they did. Tons of speed
and good luck in the state championship.”
Michaux,
who was making his first career start, struggled early on. He completed
just 5-of-15 passes for 88 yards while taking four sacks and losing the
fumble that was returned for a touchdown in the first half. But the
second half was a different story. Michaux went 8-for-13 for 138 yards
with two touchdowns (one rushing, one passing), no turnovers and just
one sack taken after the break. His top targets were Baker, who finished
with five catches for 96 yards including his first half score, and
junior Mason Mangum, who hauled in five balls for 105 yards and 38-yard
score near the end of the third quarter.
The
Bruins continued making big plays in the second half. They had three of
40 yards or more, including a trick play where senior wide receiver
Deonte Thompson got a lateral and launched a 46-yard touchdown to a wide
open McGrue to make it 35-17 late in third quarter. But Westlake put
the clamps on West Brook’s last two drives. The Chaps got a
three-and-out following Mangum’s 38-yard touchdown catch, and then
senior linebacker Jake Ehlinger checked in on offense and scored a
four-yard run to cap a nine-play, 67-yard drive that made it a
single-digit game for the first time since the opening moments of the
second quarter.
West
Brook got all the way to Westlake’s five on its final drive, but junior
defensive back Leo Lowin chased down junior Jakobi Holland for a
14-yard loss and Ehlinger made a nine-yard sack to knock the Bruins out
of field goal range. After a fourth down stop, Westlake got the ball and
drove to midfield before stalling out. When Michaux’s fourth down pass
fell incomplete, West Brook’s sideline and crowd roared with euphoria,
while the Chaps’ rampant energy whooshed away. Dodge, however, made sure
to pick their heads back up after the game. West Brook will play for
its first state title since 1982 Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
“We
settled down (after the first half),” Ehlinger said. “At first we got
caught off guard, got on our heels. But we stepped it up. We knew that
we had to leave all that we had on the field because it could’ve been
our last time and it was. We stepped it up and I feel content with how
we played in the second half… It just proves what type of team we are.
We’re a family. We told ourselves that we wouldn’t feel non-content
with ourselves. We knew we would leave it all out on the field and
that’s what we did. We have less points than they do at the end of the
day, but it is what it is.”
Westlake’s football tradition was built on prolific offenses led by legendary quarterbacks like Drew Brees, Nick Foles, and Sam Ehlinger. But for the last two years, the defense has taken over. That was never truer than on Saturday night in Alamodome, where Westlake held San Antonio Brandeis to just three first downs and 52 total yards in a 26-0 win for the Class 6A Div. II Region IV title in San Antonio.
“It’s
what we’ve become accustomed to,” said Westlake coach Todd Dodge. “You
don’t take it for granted, though. Our kids have played well all year.
Our defensive coordinator (Tony Salazar), I wouldn’t trade him for
anybody in the state of Texas. That’s our bell cow. They have been from
day one.”
The
defensive performance was more needed than at any point this season.
Westlake has suffered a rash of injuries on the offensive side of the
ball. Senior center Blake Webster, a 38-game starter, got hurt late in
the regular season. Senior running back Tripp Graham, who had rushed for
1,266 yards and 15 touchdowns, went down earlier in the playoffs. And
senior quarterback Taylor Anderson, who Dodge called “the heart and
soul” of the team, fell to the injury bug last week. All three won’t be
back.
“They now have to take an extra burden,” Dodge said. “We’re just finding ways to win and riding that defense.”
Westlake Todd Dodge coaches his team after winning the Class 6A Div. II Region IV title.
Westlake
used two quarterbacks in place of Anderson. Junior Drew Willoughby
started the game and threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to junior wide
receiver Mason Mangum on the Chaps’ second drive. He finished 4-of-8 for
54 yards with an interception. But junior quarterback Kirkland Michaux
got his chance in the second quarter and played at another level.
Michaux
can thank junior wide receiver Jackson Coker for his first touchdown
pass. Coker came down with a 36-yard bomb in triple coverage to put
Westlake up 14-0 with 8:19 left in the second quarter. But Michaux’s
ability to run the ball got the offense going and reminded everyone of
the fallen Anderson, who had 771 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing.
Michaux rushed for 141 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries while
totaling 99 yards through the air on 7-of-12 passing.
“I told (the quarterbacks) at the beginning of the week that if we’re going to do something special these last three weeks, it’s going to take both of them. The quarterback room is going to quarterback us to something special,” Dodge said. “There’s no ego with those kids. We went with Kirkland a little bit more because of his ability to run the football, obviously, and we got the ‘W.’”
Senior
Rhett Kelly and sophomore Jax Crockett were in charge of taking on
Graham’s workload. Crockett churned out 37 yards on nine carries before
injuring himself. Kelly totaled 62 yards on 16 carries while catching
four passes for 26 yards. Coker led all receivers with 59 yards on three
receptions. Mangum had two grabs for 38 yards. Senior Penny Baker and
sophomore Chapel Stewart hauled in one ball apiece, Baker for 19 yards
and Stewart for 11 yards.
Brandeis
didn’t pick up a first down until its seventh drive, and that
possession ended with junior safety Sage Luther picking off his fourth
pass of the season. Westlake’s defense got a safety late in the third
quarter when senior safety Drew Webster tackled a Brandeis player who
had just recovered his own fumble in the end zone for a 16-yard loss.
The Broncos’ only first down in the second half was immediately followed
by a 10-yard sack from junior defensive lineman Bobby Duncum. Westlake
finished the game with nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
“This
is what we expected,” Dodge said “This is a tough blue-collar team.
It’s all about next man up… No one is going to feel sorry for us… This
is a real special game. The tradition at Westlake High School long
before we ever got here was if you make it to the final four, your
picture gets on the wall (in the football offices). That’s a big deal.
This was wall week for us. These kids go on the wall.”
Q: You’re on the most respected coaches in the state. You could probably coach any school in any city but you choose to coach here at Westlake in Austin. What do you love most about coaching at Westlake and living in Austin?
A: My favorite part about coaching at Westlake is just the great tradition that this place has. I love being at places that have tremendous tradition. There have been a lot of great players and a lot of great coaches that have come before us. Just like we did when we were at our run at Southlake Carroll, we wanted to make sure that we honor what came before us by continuing to raise the bar and making sure that we’re keeping this program in the very top five to ten teams in the state of Texas year-in, year-out. It’s not just a team very year. It’s a program that people have built around here and we want to continue to do that.
Q: One of my favorite parts about covering you last year was seeing the extra respect you paid to your opponents after games. After the Niceville (Fla.) game, you brought all the Niceville kids together and thanked them for coming to Texas. After the Lake Travis game, you went up to (Lake Travis quarterback) Matthew Baldwin and gave him a few extra words of encouragement. Why do you go out of your way to do that and how do you feel about the state of sportsmanship today>
A: One of the things is we want our players always to absolutely respect our opponents. We’re going to prepare extremely hard over the course of the week. We’re going to study them. We’re going to know everything that we can about them. One thing that I think is the biggest form of flattery is that you respect your opponent, and you prepare as hard as you possibly can. The one thing that we want to always make sure that never happens is we don’t get beat because we disrespected someone. As far as the stuff after the games, I take a lot of pride in being in the brotherhood of high school football in the state of Texas. This is something very special. Just because you’re not on the same team doesn’t mean your not in the same brotherhood, and so when the game is over with I want our players, I want our coaches to show respect to the people that we played against. I’ve always got something to say. We’ve been watching them all week long and want to encourage those guys for the rest of the year and let them know what we think about them, that they did a good job, and that’s just something that hopefully will permeate through our entire team.
Q: How you do feel senior quarterback Taylor Anderson has grown since he was first thrust into the starting role as a young sophomore?
A: Taylor is a veteran now. Taylor has started 22 games for us. Probably no one ever expected him to start seven games as a sophomore but we were 6-1 in the starts that he had as a sophomore. Obviously, last year, led us to a 14-1 season. It’s not even close. He is truly an outstanding leader because of his toughness and the one thing about Taylor, Taylor is a guy willing to do whatever it takes for his football team. I think the epitome of mental toughness was in last year’s Lake Travis game. He had a really bad first half as far as production. He threw three interceptions in the first half, and a lot of guys could’ve gone in the tank right there. He comes in at halftime and tells his teammates, ‘hey guys, y’all keep playing. I’m going to be alright. I’m going to get my stuff together.’ He rushed for about 125 yards, a couple touchdowns in the second half, led us to a victory. So that’s who he is. There are a lot of dual-threat quarterbacks in the state of Texas right now. He’s one of them. He’s a guy who rushed for 1,100 and threw for 3,000 (yards) last year and he accounted for about almost 50 touchdowns.
Westlake at Pflugerville 2017
Q: What do you think makes Tony Salazar such a special defensive coordinator?
A: He comes from a great lineage of defensive coaches. He learned under Pete Fredenburg and the guys at Mary Hardin-Baylor that play tremendous defense. He’s very intelligent, very passionate. He’s a guy that’s a tremendous teacher of the game. A lot of times people don’t equate coaches as teachers. We’re all teachers. It’s just our classroom when we’re coaching football is a little bit different. It’s out here in the open. It’s here between the white lines. But Tony is (somebody) I wouldn’t trade for anybody in the world.
Q: Name one player that lot of guys might not know but you think has had a great preseason camp and could potentially turn some heads this season?
A: A guy that a lot of people probably haven’t heard of yet or is not a household name is Drew Webster. Drew played a bunch of football for us last year but he wasn’t a starter at safety. He played enough to almost be a starter. So on the defensive side of the ball, it’s him. On the offensive side of the ball, I think that Tripp Graham – our running back – is going to surprise a lot of people in the replacing of Nakia Watson.
