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WACO, Texas — In what was billed as one of the top matchups of the 2021 Texas high school football season between the state’s two defending Class 6A champions, Austin Westlake didn’t take long to catch fire.

Westlake pounced quickly and led 7-0 with Katy facing a third-and-long situation early in a showdown between two of the top teams in the country, both of which entered the postseason as top 10 teams in SBLive’s Power 25 national rankings.

The Chaparrals defense snuffed out a play-action pass as junior defensive end Colton Vasek forced a turnover near midfield on a strip-sack recovered by junior linebacker Byers Petty.

Three plays later, facing a third-and-long of their own, Chaps’ senior quarterback Cade Klubnik rifled a deep throw to junior wide receiver Pierce Turner, who highpointed the ball for a 37-yard touchdown reception.

That score marked the first of five touchdown passes for Klubnik, a Clemson commit, as Austin Westlake’s gunslinger helped lead the charge in the Chaparrals’ dominant 45-14 victory over previously unbeaten Katy in the Class 6A Division II state semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Baylor’s McLane Stadium.

The win propels Westlake to its third consecutive state championship game appearance and extends its school-record 39-game winning streak, while the 31-point loss represents the most lopsided defeat in Katy’s lengthy program history.

“I’m just so proud of this team overall,” Klubnik said. “It wasn’t just one part of the team, it was the whole team from the offense to our O-line, D-line and corners. Everybody balled out and that was awesome.”

“It was physicality. That’s been the name of the game for us this year: physicality,” Westlake senior left tackle and Indiana commit Bray Lynch said. “We’ve been more physical than the other teams (we’ve faced) and more willing to put our noses into two guys if we have to. We’re just giving it everything we’ve got for our team and the cause to go win another one.”

The Chaparrals put their physicality during a dominant first half on both sides of the ball.

Klubnik and the Chaps’ offense put points on the board on each of their first five drives during the first two quarters, including four trips to the end zone.

Sophomore running back Jack Kayser got the team on the board first with a 48-yard touchdown run to cap off a five-play, 76-yard opening drive for Austin Westlake.

Westlake added a short field goal and two more touchdowns on crisp passes from Klubnik.

He connected with junior tight end Jaden Greathouse and junior receiver Keaton Kubecka for a pair of 18-yard TDs to give himself three first-half touchdown passes and Westlake a 31-0 halftime advantage, which also marked Katy’s largest deficit at any point this season.

“I’ve grown up with Jaden. I’ve been playing football with him since 5th grade,” he said. 

“We were talking last night about how today is not going to be our last game together. It’s definitely pretty bittersweet that next week will be our last football game playing together. I’ve been playing football with him more than anybody else.”

Klubnik added two more touchdown throws on 6- and 2-yard scoring passes to Greathouse and Kubecka, respectively, on Austin Westlake’s first pair of third-quarter drives.

The Chaps’ senior quarterback finished with 313 yards and five touchdowns through the air on 20-of-27 passing. Kayser also turned in an impressive performance on the ground too with 140 yards and a rushing score on 20 carries.

Turner led the way for Westlake’s receivers with five catches for 103 yards and a touchdown, while Greathouse and Kubecka combined for 162 yards and four receiving TDs on 11 catches.

The one constant, however, in the Chaparrals’ ultra-efficient day with 18 first downs and 437 total yards offensively was its offensive line play upfront anchored by Lynch, junior TJ Shanahan and senior Connor Robertson, a Texas commit.

“It’s a great thing when we’re lining up and the other team doesn’t know what we’re going to do next. We can get off of the ball with a great sense of urgency and just pop and light kids up,” Lynch said.

“We’ve got the best offensive line in the nation… No one can stop us. Katy’s a great defensive team and they’re a storied program in Texas, but we were able to run the football on them and they couldn’t stop us.”

For the fifth consecutive week, though, Austin Westlake’s defense completely shut down its postseason opposition.

Petty and junior safety Will Courtney were flying around the field making big plays defensively for the Chaparrals, who held their opponents scoreless until halftime for the third straight time during their current postseason run.

The Chaps’ front seven was especially ferocious and relentless, stifling Katy’s power-running attack and pressuring the Tigers out of the pocket on key passing downs.

Westlake’s defense limited Katy’s offense to 99 rushing yards on 42 carries, marking the first time any team had held the Tigers to fewer than 240 yards on the ground in a single game this season and the only time this year Katy was prevented from scoring on a touchdown run.

“They did exactly what (defensive coordinator) Coach (Tony) Salazar prepared them to do,” Klubnik said. “I’m so proud of them. They gave us the ball and they gave us great field position so many times for us to be able to make plays.”

The Tigers were able to find a rhythm through the air during the second half once Westlake’s lead had ballooned to a four-score advantage.

Junior quarterback Caleb Koger connected with junior wideout Nic Anderson for both of their team’s TDs on long throws during the third and fourth quarter.

Koger took a shot from the Chaparrals’ pass rush to deliver a deep bomb to Anderson in one-on-one coverage for a 45-yard touchdown catch midway through the third on Katy’s first drive of the second half.

The duo also accounted for a fourth-quarter score on a 31-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-long situation with about 5 minutes remaining in the game.

Anderson ended his night with a game-high 149 receiving yards and a pair of TDs on five catches. Koger tallied 203 yards and two touchdowns on 10-of-14 passing, while junior running backs Seth Davis and Dallas Glass ran for 32 and 65 yards on 11 and 20 rushing attempts, respectively.

The season-ending loss dropped Katy to 14-1 overall this year. The defeat also snapped the Tigers’ 22-game winning streak, which stretched back to November 2020, and ended their chances of repeating as 6A DII state champions.

Katy’s 31-point margin of defeat represents the most lopsided postseason loss in program history, surpassing a 31-3 playoff loss to Houston Lamar in 1996.

Austin Westlake, meanwhile, improved to 15-0 and emerged with its 14th victory by 30 points or more so far this season.

The Chaparrals have also now won 17 consecutive playoff games, a streak which began in November 2019, and collectively outscored their opponents 295-37 in victories against Hutto, New Braunfels, PSJA North, Austin Vandegrift and Katy during their current postseason run.

“It means everything. We’ve got a job ahead of us. I don’t know who we’re playing yet, but it’s going to be a really good team,” Klubnik said. “(We) just need to prepare and treat it like we would any other week whether it’s (Buda) Hays or Lake Travis or Katy, but prepare like we normally do, trust in our coaching staff and have a great week of practice.”

Westlake advances to its third straight state title game appearance, the program’s fifth in the last seven years, to face the winner of Denton Guyer (13-1) and Tomball (10-3) in the UIL’s Class 6A Division II Football State Championship game at 7 p.m. Friday at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

For Klubnik, Lynch and their senior teammates, the opportunity marks a chance to end their high school careers by winning Austin Westlake head coach Todd Dodge his seventh career state championship victory as a coach and third while leading the Chaparrals.

“It would mean the world,” Lynch said. “We’ve put in so many unseen hours of work this offseason grinding through blood, sweat and tears on the Westlake field. With this coaching staff and Coach Dodge, we just want to win another one for them.”