Westlake (7-1, 5-1) faced an undefeated Hays team (7-1, 5-1) for the second year in a row, so it knew how to force the Rebels' first loss of the season. The Chaparrals jumped on the home team's early miscues in the third-to-last 25-6A district game of 2019, which allowed them to take the early lead and never look back in a 65-7 victory at Hays CISD's Bob Shelton Stadium.
VYPE Player of the Game Kirkland Michaux recorded four passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the first half, so he played a major role in the win.
"Going into this, wasn't anything special," Michaux said of the game plan. "We're going to run plays we've been running since middle school, and we're just going to execute, and that's what we went out here and did, so it ended up going good."
Hays was forced to punt on its first two offensive possessions, but wasn't able to push back its opponent's starting field position. Jackson Coker blocked a punt to allow the Chaparrals to start their first drive on the Rebels' six-yard line, and set up Michaux's first touchdown pass to Mason Mangum and an early 7-0 lead at the 9:35 mark of the opening quarter.
On Hays' second drive, the Rebels picked up a key first down on a fourth-and-one attempt, but a high punt snap ended the possession, and resulted in both a safety and a 9-0 Westlake advantage with 6:06 left in the period.
"Our defense is kinda our strength." said Michaux. "We trust them a bunch. We know they're going to make stops for us [and] they know we're going to execute for them, so it's a really good thing we got going."
Westlake's offensive unit finally got an opportunity to test itself on a full drive, and scored on every possession in the first, second and third quarters. Michaux connected with Mangum on a second touchdown pass, as well as Ryan Lindley on his third and Jaden Greathouse on his fourth. Zane Minors then scored from 20 yards out, and Michaux quarterback sneaked into the end zone for his team's sixth score of the half.
Hays' only answer was a Durand Hill touchdown run, and Minors helped Westlake finish what it started. He added a pair of rushing scores in the third quarter, including the second being set up by Austin McClendon's late interception.
The Chaps' other score in the third came from Cade Klubnik's touchdown pass to Luke Nicklos. Klubnik and Drew Willoughby have earned notable snaps at quarterback this season, and were thrown into action on Friday after Michaux's performance.
"I think in the Lake Travis game, the first half, he led some really nice drives [and] in the second half he played really well until he was injured," Westlake coach Todd Dodge said of Michaux's gradual progression to QB1. "Have tremendous confidence in Cade and in Drew. It's a unique deal, but, as we continue to go through, it's kinda settling in to Kirkland as our starter."
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Bradley Collier
