AUSTIN (KXAN) — No. 4 Westlake left no doubt in its home opener Friday, thumping San Benito 63-7 to move to 2-0 and set up a big matchup with No. 9 Atascocita next week.
The Chaparrals rolled up a 35-7 lead at halftime and kept the pedal down for the rest of the night.
"The message for this win has been one we've talked about all week," Chaps head coach Tony Salazar said. "It's about coming to work to get better every single day. No matter who the opponent is, as long as we learn that we get to play football every week, that we get to practice every week, once our kids understand that, we'll stack on good days and become a better football team."
Cal Livengood rushed for a pair of touchdowns for the Chaps, the first rushing scores of his career, as did Justice Johnson. Quarterback Rees Wise threw for two touchdowns in the first half, one to Lawson Grimes and the other to Chase Bowen. The scoring pass to Bowen was the opening marker of the game from 47 yards out.
The Greyhounds' lone score came on the biggest play of the game, a 71-yard run around the right end by Gabriel Covarrubias in the first half. The PAT made the score 14-7, but then the Chaps put the hammer down.
Westlake's Brandon Clark made a big defensive play with his first career interception to stop the Greyhounds after they moved the ball just outside the Westlake red zone in the first half.
Elijah Clark scored his first career rushing touchdown for the Chaps in the second half. Austin Knox and Hudson Riley connected for the first touchdowns of their varsity careers with a 10-yard pass while Jack Newhouse hauled in a 5-yard scoring pass from Boone Lackey for his first career touchdown.
Westlake (2-0) will host Atascocita (2-0) in a big Week 3 matchup between top 10 teams. Atascocita beat Katy 41-24 in their Week 2 game. San Benito (0-2) hosts Loredo United in Week 3.
Those in the Austin area can watch the game in the video player above or on KXAN.com/Westlake. Folks outside of the Austin DMA can watch the game through the NFHS Network, but there's a subscription fee associated with that.
