Tigers limited by Westlake In 6A-DII state semifinal

By Terry Carter

Katy defender Carson Marshall (21) leads a host of Tiger tacklers trying to drag down a Westlake ball carrier. udphotos.com/

WACO – Katy normally dictates the tempo of its football games. But today at McKay Stadium on the Baylor campus, Austin Westlake took that advantage away from the Tigers as the top-ranked Chaps scored a 45-14 win.

In a 6A battle of defending state champions, Westlake played disciplined, team football much like Katy. Today the Chaps (15-0) just executed marginally better, which generated a momentum shift and a lopsided score. Katy defenders could not apply pressure to Westlake’s quarterback fast enough to disrupt his timing.

“We faced a great team today. They executed and we didn’t. I’m proud of our kids. Proud of them getting me here. They took us for a great ride, and I’m extremely proud of them for doing that,” coach Joseph said. “You saw a very good football team. Their quarterback is every bit as good as advertised,” Joseph said after the game. “For us to be successful, we are going to have to be more physical up front on both sides of the football. We’ve got to find a way to do that.”

Led by Cade Klubnik’s precision passing, which accounted for five touchdowns and 313 passing yard, Westlake ran up 31 unanswered points in the first half. Katy’s offense got kickstarted in the second half as Tiger quarterback Caleb Koger connected on 10-of-14 passes for 203 yard and two scores. Tiger senior receiver Nic Anderson caught TD passes of 54 and 31 yards in the second half, finishing with five receptions for 149 yards.

Katy’s season leader at running back, junior Seth Davis, missed much of the game after an injury sidelined him. He gained 32 yards, and teammate Dallas Glass did a solid job at running back in second half. Glass finished with 65 yards, but never got into the Westlake secondary because of solid disciplined defense that often left no running lanes for the Tigers.

“I can’t blame our kids — they played hard. Our kids may have played tight; I hope not. I told them to enjoy the moment. But we made some mistakes, and we made some mistakes that are very uncharacteristic of us,” the coach explained.

Westake almost proved a running game was not necessary with Klubnik running head coach Todd Dodge’s pass-happy strategy. But Chap Jack Kayser scored the game’s first touchdown on a 48-yard sprint — he finished with 140 yards on 20 carries — before the aerial attack took over.

Despite the momentary tears shed by some after the loss, Katy will be working on improvement again this off-season in the hopes of another run at a 10th state championship.

Katy finishes its season 14-1, another stellar football season under coach Joseph — a brilliant season for any team. Westlake stays unbeaten and will play the winner of today’s Guyer-Tomball game being played in Waco now. The 6A-Division I championship game will be played next Saturday in Arlington at ATT Stadium at 7 p.m.