By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor 

 

PFLUGERVILLE — For the second consecutive week, Westlake quarterback Tanner Price had a quiet night during a resounding Chap win.

And that was just fine with the junior signal caller.

The Chaps (3-4, 3-1) leaned on running back Ryan Swope and an explosive running game to cruise past Connally (2-5, 2-2) 56-20 in a District 25-5A matchup Friday at Cougar Stadium. Swope had 140 yards on the ground to pace a Westlake attack that piled up 389 on the ground. He also had three touchdowns, giving him a total of 11 touchdowns in four district games.

As a team, Westlake had 556 yards of offense.

“If it not’s broke, don’t fix it,” said Price, who completed seven passes on just 11 attempts for 161 yards. “We didn’t need to go to the pass at all tonight, the way the running game was going. Our offensive line is doing a great job, and it’s just opening everything up for the whole offense.”

Everything seemed to open up for the Chaps in what Coach Derek Long called a complete team effort. Westlake’s defense bottled up the Connally ground game for most of the game and limited the Cougars’ leading runner Spencer Eggleston, to minus-one yard rushing. In addition, a dangerous Connally return game never gained traction despite a plethora of opportunities on kickoff returns.

“One of our goals tonight was being able to say we played a great game on offense, defense and special teams,” Long said. “We did a good job, and we played the whole game.”  

Westlake focused on closing the game strong, Long said. Two weeks ago in Bastrop, the Chaps let a 28-7 lead in the second quarter dwindle to 13 points before seizing the win. 

This time, the Chaps stretched a 28-13 halftime lead to 42-13 by the end of the third quarter, and they answered Connally’s lone fourth-quarter touchdown with a 16-yard touchdown run by sophomore reserve Sean Potter and a 25-yard fumble return froma score from Barton Prideaux.

“You have a halftime lead, and it’s easy to relax,” Long said. “But as we saw (against Bastrop), you then have to fight for the win. We didn’t let up tonight”  

Westlake rolled to its big lead behind a relentless running game that helped the Chaps score four touchdowns on their five first-half possessions. Three of Swope’s touchdowns came in the first two quarters as the Chaps leaped out to a 28-6 halftime lead. Swope started the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown burst on Westlake’s opening drive and added a 7-yard touchdown run at the end of the first quarter.

Price and Swope each had 1-yard touchdown runs in the second quarter. 

Kenneth Deffee, who had just three carries for one yard entering the game, had an impressive performance for the Cougars with 77 yards rushing and five catches for 69 yards. His second touchdown of the game trimmed Westlake’s lead to 28-13 early in the third quarter, but the Chaps responded with a nine-play, 67-yard touchdown drive capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass from Price to Mike Walker.

On Westlake’s next play from scrimmage, Chap fullback Jeff Ballew raced 47 yards to give Westlake a 42-13 lead and effectively seal the win.

Connally quarterback Dustin Babola, a dual threat under center, spent the rest of the game running from a fierce Chap pass rush that had two sacks and a handful of hurries. Babola managed just 31 yards rushing in the Cougars’ zone read sets, and Connally had two turnovers.

“We read what they were trying to do pretty well,” defensive tackle David Durham said. “We worked as hard mentally as we did physically. If we can keep putting pressure on the quarterback like we did tonight, he’ll never be able to do much.”