Though knocked out in earlier rounds this year, Cedar Park and especially Liberty Hill have repeatedly reached the semifinals in recent years. And let’s not forget Regents as the Knights seem virtually guaranteed to reach at least the TAPPS state semis every season.
Westlake and/or Lake Travis and sometimes both have been the most consistent Capital City representatives in recent years, at least when they’re not too busy knocking each other out of the playoffs.
Westlake will be back in the Final Four yet again in Division 1, joined this year by the newest Austin powerhouse, Vandegrift, in Division 2.
The Chaparrals of Westlake found themselves bumped back up to Division 1 when Austin High upended Bowie to snare the final playoff spot out of District 26-6A as a Division 2 qualifier. The Chaps, who ran the table at 16-0 to win the state title in 2021, are on track to repeat thus far. Following a 9-1 regular season, Westlake (13-1) has eliminated Vista Ridge 46-17, SA Brennan 24-7, Buda Johnson 52-14 and district arch-rival Lake Travis for a second time 24-17 last week in the “Battle of the Lakes II.”
Head Coach Tony Salazar’s Chaps hope the third time will be the charm when they face off against the North Shore Mustangs in a 6A D1 state semifinal Saturday afternoon (12/14) at Katy’s Legacy Stadium. North Shore has ended the Chaps’ title dreams in this exact round the past two seasons, downing Westlake 49-34 in 2022 and again, 23-14 last season.
It won’t be any easier for Westlake this time, as North Shore (14-0) remains, well, North Shore. At 14-0, the Mustangs have already notched impressive wins over pedigreed programs such as South Oak Cliff, Katy and Summer Creek, (the latter of which squares off against Vandegrift Saturday night.) And let’s not forget that the Mustangs have defeated Atascocita twice this season, once in district play and again in the playoffs. The Eagles had snapped Westlake’s 44-game regular season win streak earlier this fall.
Suffice it to say, North Shore will be a tough out for Westlake, but it should be a great game.
It looked for a while like Vandegrift, making their third appearance in the state semifinals, might get another crack at Westlake. Instead, the aforementioned Austin High win elevated Westlake to Division 1 where Lake Travis was already firmly ensconced. Thus denied the chance for payback against either squad – Westlake had wiped out Vandegrift in the 2021 state quarterfinals at DKR Memorial Stadium and Lake Travis somewhat controversially edged the Vipers 13-10 on a late field goal in last year’s Bi-district round -- the Vipers have gone on a post-season tear.
Following a 9-1 regular season, marred only by a double-overtime road loss to Cedar Park, Vandegrift (13-1) has blasted Austin High 56-14, blanked SA Sotomayor 51-0, fought off determined Cibolo Steele 49-35, and put away SA Harlan 47-14 to set up their first ever meeting with Humble Summer Creek. A Vandegrift victory would return the Vipers, state runner-up to DeSoto in 2022, to AT&T Stadium for the second time in three seasons
The Bulldogs will present the toughest test to-date by far for Coach Drew Sanders’ Vipers. A quick glance shows Summer Creek (12-2) has two losses. For that they can thank a brutal district that has them lumped in with both North Shore and Atascocita, whose exploits have been discussed above. The Dawgs hung in in both those contests, falling to North Shore 35-10 and nearly knocking off Atascocita 42-39.
Summer Creek has rolled their four playoff opponents by a rough average score of 55-10 and has allowed more than 7 post-season points just once – 20, to Katy Jordan. That ain’t bad.
A virtual unknown when they faced vaunted Katy in the 2022 semifinals, Vandegrift looks to surprise Summer Creek in a 6A D2 state semifinal clash Saturday night (12/14) at Baylor’s McLane Stadium.
A fast-growing metroplex in its own right, Austin is still a small city when compared to DFW and Houston. Austin-area high school football fans can only hope that the city’s two Final Four representatives, Westlake and Vandegrift, will embody this writer’s high school’s motto: “Small is the number; mighty the deed.”
