Westlake 34-0 Cibolo Steele
Player of the Game: QB Cade Klubnik- Westlake’s dual threat quarterback continues to create headaches for opposing defenses. He threw for 306 yards and a touchdown, while adding 61 yards rushing and a touchdown on nine carries, overcoming three first half turnovers by the Westlake offense to carry his team to a big quarterfinal victory.
Play of the Game: With just over two minutes left in the first half, Steele was hoping to go in the break down by just one score. It wasn’t meant to be. With the ball at the Steele 34 yard line, Klubnik floated a pass down the sideline right to his sophomore receiver Keaton Kubecka, who made the catch before falling into the end zone for the score. That put Westlake up 14-0, a frustrating reality for Steele, which failed to convert any of Westlake’s three first half turnovers into points.
Story of the Game: Westlake showed its dominance on just its third offensive play of the game as running back Zane Minors broke free down the right sideline for a 51-yard score after outrunning the Steele defense.
However, the Knights would hang around after that as Christian Garza intercepted Klubnik on one drive, while the Steele defense forced a fumble on its own one yard line just as Westlake was knocking on the door to go up by two scores.
With time in the first half waning, Westlake got a crucial touchdown on Kubecka’s 34-yard reception to make its lead a bit more comfortable as halftime neared. The final two minutes in the half then consisted of the teams trading turnovers as Tevon Cortez came up with an interception for Steele deep in their own territory, but the Knights failed to take advantage of it as they fumbled the ball away on an attempted trick play.
After Steele stayed within touching distance in the first half, the second half belonged to Westlake. Mark Sayegh booted a 26-yard field goal for the Chaparrals to open the scoring in the third quarter before Klubnik and Minors each added one-yard touchdown runs to expand the Westlake lead to 31-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the final quarter, Sayegh added a second 26-yard field goal as Westlake held the Steele offense at bay for yet another shutout victory, its sixth of the season.
That Westlake defense has been lights out all year long but will face its stiffest test of the year next week when it takes on Dematrius Davis and the high-powered North Shore offense.P
