Austin Westlake is Central Texas' Permian of years past

By LANCE FLEMING / Staff Writer

No team in the state puts up offensive numbers like Austin Westlake.

The Chaparrals have a quarterback who has thrown for more than 3,000 yards, a receiver who has 105 catches for 1,950 yards and a 1,000-yard rusher. They've also scored 604 points and run up 7,060 yards of total offense.

But the most important numbers are these: 15 and 0.

That's the record Westlake will take into Saturday's Class 5A Division II state championship game against Cooper at Texas Stadium.

This will be Westlake's third appearance in a state championship game this decade. The Chaparrals lost the Class 4A game to Wilmer Hutchins in 1990 and then lost the Class 5A Division II title game to Tyler John Tyler in 1994.

The Chaparrals also own a 93-8-3 record in the 1990s, which is the state's best record in this decade.

And for a school that just opened its doors in 1969, this is already its 12th playoff appearance.

To make the Chaparrals' dominance of the Central Texas region seem more close to home, one might compare them to Odessa Permian.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Westlake head coach Ron Schroeder said. "They don't consider us that down here. Of course, there's not as much football emphasis in our neck of the woods as in your neck of the woods."

Whatever, Westlake has dominated the Cen-Tex region like no other team over the last nine seasons.

The Chaparrals have made the playoffs in each of those nine seasons, and in seven of them (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996) reached at least the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs.

However, the Chaparrals lost 14 starters off last year's 12-1-1 team, and weren't really expected to be playing in another state title game this season.

Yet here they are.

"When we started the season, we really didn't have high expectations from the media because we only had two starters back from last year," Schroeder said. "A lot of people thought this would be everybody's chance to beat Westlake. But we've been playing fairly consistently on defense and developing offensively."

And throughout a 15-0 campaign, the Chaparrals have rarely been challenged.

Their average margin of victory has been 29 points (40.2 to 11.3), and they've beaten foes by the scores of 46-6, 42-0, 49-14, 63-0, 42-0 and 41-0. They're also averaging 470.7 yards per game (233.6 rushing and 237.1 passing).

"You have to have the players to do those things," Schroeder said, "and we have some good players. But we also do some things a little differently than some people. But to do what we do, you have to have players that can execute the offense."

What the Chaparrals do is run a lot of motion with their receivers, run tackle-over plays where the fullback lines up as an eligible tackle and put their best receiver - Ryan Read - in the slot on occasion.

That offensive attack has helped quarterback Drew Brees complete 200 of 315 passes for 3,366 yards and 29 touchdowns. He's only thrown eight interceptions.

Fifty-two percent of his passes have gone to Read, whose 105 receptions leave him just two shy of setting a new state single-season reception record. Read broke the state's single-season receiving yardage mark earlier this season, and has 1,950 yards and 20 touchdown catches.

But the Chaparrals can also run the ball, as evidenced by sophomore tailback Brett Robin's 1,349 yards and 17 touchdowns on 181 carries, and fullback Jamie Tyler's 961 yards and 12 touchdowns on 133 carries.

However, the Chaparrals can also play defense, as evidenced by the fact that they've allowed just 170 points in 15 games.

Senior linebacker Jason Piefer leads the team in tackles with 30 unassisted and 143 assisted tackles. He also has 30 tackles for a loss. Linebacker Jeff White has 33 solo tackles and 110 assisted tackles, and defensive tackle Devin Schade has 20 solo tackles and 43 assisted tackles.

The most points Westlake has given up in one game is 21, and that's been done on three occasions, the latest last week's 42-21 win over Aldine in the state semifinals.

"We had six returning starters on defense," Schroeder said. "We're not too big, but our kids just get after it and play hard. The defense has been kind of a stabilizing force for the team. We don't have any big-time statistics, but they've been getting the job done."

Just like on offense ... except with the big-time statistics.