By George Slaughter
Austin Westlake raced to a 35-3 halftime lead on its way to a 63-3 win over the Taylor Mustangs Saturday at McLane Stadium in a Class 6A Division II semifinal game.
Taylor, making its first-ever semifinal appearance in the 40-year history of the school, finish its historic season at 9-6. The Mustangs finished 5-5 during the regular season but defeated Fort Bend Elkins, Memorial, Humble, and Cy Creek in impressive fashion to reach the semifinals.
The Chaparrals, now 14-1, advance to the state title game next week at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. They will play Guyer, which defeated Spring Westfield 35-17 Saturday.
Leading 7-3 in the second quarter, the Chaparrals took command of the game, scoring on its next four possessions of the first half to take a 35-3 halftime lead.
The first of these touchdowns came when senior quarterback Kirkland Michaux completed a 60-yard pass down the middle to a wide-open senior wide receiver Jackson Coker with 6:52 left in the first half.
The next score came on a one-yard pass from Michaux to senior wide receiver Jake Misch with 3:09 remaining. Michaux hit freshman wide receiver Jaden Greathouse on a 6-yard touchdown catch with 45 seconds left.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Chaparrals recovered a Mustang fumble at the Taylor 36. Three plays later, Michaux threw his fifth touchdown pass, a 38-yarder to Mangum, with 11 seconds remaining.
The second half didn’t start off any better for the Mustangs. Westlake took the second kickoff, and any hopes of a Mustang comeback were quickly dashed as it scored on a 41-yard pass from Michaux to Coker.
Michaux’s last touchdown came on a 33-yard pass to Magnum with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Michaux finished the game 15-of-20 for 305 yards and seven touchdowns.
At this point, Westlake was ahead by 46 points and eventually Chaparral coach Todd Dodge started playing his substitutes.
The Westlake defense also played a strong game, holding Taylor to only five first downs and 92 yards total offense.