For the Westlake Chaparrals, the Class 6A Division II title game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington against Denton Guyer was a tale of two halves.
The longtime Lone Star high school football powerhouse appeared to have been brought down to Earth in the first half but found its groove in the second half to knock off the Wildcats 40-21 to capture its third consecutive state championship.
“As bad as we played offensive in the first half, we played just as good in the second half,” Westlake head coach Todd Dodge told KXAN postgame. “They fought their tails off in the second half against a great Guyer team.”
The victory is the latest in what's now a 40-game winning streak.
According to Austin’s ABC affiliate, junior wideout Jalen Greathouse’s 236 receiving yards on seven catches were good for a new 6A state title game record.
Greathouse, who was also a key contributor on Westlake's previous two championship squads, figured prominently in the Chaparrals' second-half surge with two touchdowns.
The three-time letterwinner told Bally Sports Southwest that Westlake’s subpar first half failed to shake the team’s confidence.
"We weren't worried at all...we just went out there and executed," Greathouse said, according to a video BSSW posted to Twitter.
The Guyer defense gave senior quarterback Cade Klubnik fits during the contest’s first two quarters, but the highly-decorated Clemson commit finished the last game of his prep career with 280 yards on 14 of 21 passing with four touchdowns and an interception, KXAN reported.
Dodge didn’t doubt Klubnik’s abilities for a second.
“He is such a leader and such a great player,” Dodge told the station. “He’s the best.”
As for Dodge himself, there was no other better way to end the last season of his illustrious coaching career than to further cement Westlake’s status as one of Texas’s most dominant programs ever.
Dodge announced his retirement before the third straight championship season kicked off.