How area looks at halfway point By Thomas Jones • The Class 5A divisional split let'slookbackatthefirsthalfof best defense - in years. What's been the best game so [email protected] has created some interesting the schedule and look ahead at And who has been the best far? newrivalriesaswellasbolstered the rest ofthe fall: player? The offensive fireworks in Midway through the high the playoff hopes ofprograms Who has been the best team? Griffin, Hutto's all-time that overtime game between school football season, tirings not that tiunili.ar with meaning­ It's hard to :argue against leader in virtually every pass­ Hutto and Liberty Hill left we thought we knew in the ful games after Halloween. Liberty Hill, since the Class ing category, has enjoyed a everyone - players, coaches, preseason have certainly been • The slot-Tis alive and well 4A school's only loss came in stellar senior season. The UCIA fans and the scoreboard confirmed. in Central Texas, especially at overtime to an unbeaten Class pledge has thrown for 1,607 operator - exhausted after a • Lake Travis is good, like schools such as Liberty Hill, 5AHuttosquad that is No. 9in yards and 25 touchdowns on combined 1,137 yards, 14 TDs seventh-star-on-the-helmet Lockhart and, most surpris­ the latest Associated Press state 70.2 percent passing with just andone defensive stop by Hutto good. ingly' Hays. poll. However, Lake Travis has two interceptions. He has an onatwo-point conversion try in • Powered by quarterback But questions still abound won its five completed games array of weapons such as Caleb overtime that gave the Hippos a Chase Griffin, Hutto boasts an after the first six weeks of the by an average of 36.1 points Forrest, Dajon Harrison, Chux 52-51win. offense as dynamic as any in season. Wrthdistrictplaynowin and looks to have its most bal­ NwabukoandDJBaptist,andhe Class5A. fullswingforeveryareaschool, anced offense - as well as its knowshowtogetthemtheball. SeeQ&A, C3 Also, Hutto will t ry to Q&A dethrone longtime defend­ ing di>-trict champion Cedar From Page Ci ParkoaOct. 19atHuttoina game that should determine That sounds fun, but I like the District 11-SA, Division I d<fense. champion. We U, you should have HOW'S that divisional stuff been at Monroe Stadium ~ out in Class SA? when Vandegrift outlasted It's created some excite· Cedar Ridge 17-14 In over­ ment, especially in Division time in the District 13-6A IT. For those who don't opener. The Vipers' defense pay much attention to the bent, especilllly while fall­ machinations of the UJL, Ing behind 14-0 e,irly in the Class SA was split Into two fourth quarter, but never division.~ based on enroll­ broke ina bard-fought over­ ment before the season. time win. That means smaUer C loss Whars been th@ most sur• SA schools such as Bastrop, prisa,gteam? Cedar Creek, East View and Vandegrift hns a perfect new schools like Glenn and record and a clear path to Weissdon'lhavetocompete the 13-6A title despite losing with large SA schools like plenty of star power from Cedar Park or Georgetown. lost year's playoff team, The lone Division n district but Hays' 5-0 start enter­ in the area - Dist rict 13, ingThursday's game against which bas £!gin, Brenham Austin Highjsa stunner since and Marble Falls as well the Rebels haven't hod a win­ as the schools mentioned ning record in five seasora. above- bas certainly bad its Why is Hoys so good this share of wild garues. Several season? programs not used to making Because first-year coach the post season wm compete Les Goad can take bis'n beat in this year's playoffs. your'n and lUill around and How are the area·'s new vu• take your'n and beat his'n, slty programs faring? to paraphrase the late, great Glenn is tied with Bastrop Bum Phillips. Hays bas atop lhe District 13-5A, DU embraced Goad's version standings and bas the look of of the slot-T while proving a playoff team. The Grizzlies the system can work at the also have a signature win 6Alevel. over defending Class 5A WhatlsthesloH anrwa'fl state semifinalist McCallum The condensed version: in nondistrict. But Weiss The quarterback lines up and Manor New Tech have beneath center in front of a a combined 1-10 record. fullback and alongside two WiU any area te-ams make halfbacks in a formation a surprising playoff run as that includes two tight ends McCallum did last yeor? nnd tight line splits. Running Austinschooldistrictmate back.,;: move in various direc­ LBJi.splayingverywellunder tions while wreaking havoc first-head coach Jahmal on defensive assignments. Fenner, but its Class 5A, Few teams run the slot-Tin Division I status will make for this e.ra of spread offenses, some tough playoff match­ and that makes it particu­ ups. Keepaneyeou Round larly difficult to p r epare Rock, which might finish for. Versionsoftheoffense fourth inaloaded13-6A but have produced some of the create some nightmares for top rushers In the Austin high-seeded teams because area, including Dcl Vatle's of a dynamic offense led by 1'avierreDunlap(886yards), Ryan O'Keefe and running Locldwt's Daequon Ellison backMarquisBrown. (n6yards)and Liberty Hill's Who wll play In Arlington In KyleHarrison(6uyards). What's the best game in the Lake Travis certainly second half of the season? has the pedigree to play in Hard lo argue with the -a fourth consecutive state annual Westlake-Lake title game, and I expect Travis s howdown Friday Liberty Hill to runrougbsbod at Chaparral Stadium. An through a Class 4A, Division explosive Cavs offense led I Region rv playoff bracket byOhioStalereceiverpledge that lacks any heavyweights. Garrett Wilson and Texas A statesenlifinal against No. quarterback pledge Hudson I Carthage could be the big­ Card faces a Westlake gest roadblock between the defense led by lineman David Panthers and a spot in their Neil that has allowed a total first championship game of 42 points in five games. since 2007. "I was really mad to be on one of the teams that lost to Westlake," Lake Travis senior Garrett Wilson says. !JOHN GUllERREZ/1-0R AMERICAN-STATESMAN) Cavs hope to avenge rare loss vs. Chaps Westlake counts on Westlake's defense, running game David Neil to pull off upset leads a flen:e defensive By Jay Plotkin front into Amer""1!1-Slalesman Correspondent fridafs matchup Over the past decade, Lake with Lake Travis has become unaccus­ Travis. !NICK tomed to losing football games, WAGNER/ especially toarchrival Westlake_ AMERICAN­ The Chaparrals' 21-14 win STATESMAN) over the Cavaliers last season ended a decade's worth offrus ­ tration for Westlake (4- 1, 3- 0 District 25- 6A). No player for Lake Travis (5- 0, 4 - 0) carries more frustration with him than receiver Garrett Wilson, who crone up short of a first down on his team's final attempt at a rally. "Ithink about it a lot," Wilson said. "I was really mad to be on one of the teams that lost to Westlake. Westartedslowand finished the same way. It just wasn'tagoodweekforus." Though the memory of last year's defeat still stings Lake Travis' top player, Wilson doesn't dwell onthe game. But it does bring him a little extra motivation. "I'm looking forward to it," hesaid. "lknowmyteammates. I know we can go out there and beat them. What happened last year is just motivation for me. I'm excited to play, to get back out there and get another chance at them before I go." If the Cavaliers are going to avenge the 2017 defeat, they'll have to handle Westlake's aggressive defense and chang­ ing looks, something they didn't do well last year. "They mix things up quite a bit," Wilson said. "They are one of the more sophisticated teams that we'll play with their defense." Westlake coachTodd Dodge could not be reached for comment. After catching passes along­ side Wilson in last year's game, Hudson Cardgets his first taste of the rivalry from the quarter­ back's spot - and his first look at Westlake's pass rush. With 20 touchdown passes and no interceptions, Card bas handled whatever opposing defenses have thrown at !him so far, and he doesn't plan to change his process. "I just have to trust what we've been taught and let it go," Card said. "Our coaching stiff puts us in position every week to go out there and play well. We want to have a good week of practice and go out and play our game." Lake Travis coach Hank Carter said Westlake played its game last year. The Chaps pressured quarterback Matthew Baldwin consist ently- David Neil once again anchors Westlake's hard-charging front seven - and kept the Cavs' offense offthe field with abruisingrunninggamefeatur­ ingNakia Watson. Although Watson now plays for Wisconsin and defensive lineman Braden Cassity- last year's AssociatedPress Class 6A defensive player of the year - suits up for Oklahoma State, Carterexpects Westlake to stick with what works. "I think what they did was the same game plan they use every Friday night," Carter said. "They came out early and given the Chaps similar pro­ mixed in some tempo, but they duction, averaging nearly 130 want to control the ball and talce yards per game. Penny Baker some deep shots - they throw and Mason Mangum highlight it well. And their defense is Westlake'sreceivingcorps,and always very aggressive. We all-state center Blake Webster didn't handle it well last year.