By Thomas Jones, Sports Editor

Strangeness abounded on Halloween night at House Park.

The district’s leading receiver led the game in rushing. The district’s leading passer threw for just 51 yards. The district’s leading rusher tossed the game’s longest touchdown pass.

And the district’s worst team in nonconference play grabbed a share of the District 25-5A title.

Of course, Westlake must still defeat last-place Akins this week to ensure its piece of that championship, but such a victory seems inevitable if the Chaps display the form used to dismantle Austin High 42-14 Friday. The win lifted Westlake (5-4 overall, 5-1 District 25-5A) into a first-place tie with Bowie and Pflugerville, and it offered vindication for a team dismissed after an 0-3 record in nondistrict play.

“I can’t say how proud I am of these young men,” Chap coach Derek Long said. “It’s easy to say that you’ll stay together and be part of a district championship, but doing that is very difficult. And they did it.

“When your 0-3, everybody tells you how sorry you are and people are e-mailing me and telling me how sorry a coach I am. It’s tough to work through that, but these young men believed in the coaches, they stayed together, and they cared about each other. Do that and good things happen.”

Plenty of good things happened Friday. The Chaps came into the game with a mixture of coverages and that confounded Jacob Morgan, the Austin High quarterback who entered the contest with a district best 1,740 yards passing. Morgan and the Maroons (5-4, 3-3) managed just 52 yards of offense and two first downs as Westlake built a 21-6 halftime lead.

“We might have had a little special package for him,” Long said without revealing the details of Westlake’s game plan. “We had to shake one out of the cobwebs and do some things that caused him trouble reading the keys that he’s been used to.

“But the players executed. It doesn’t matter what kind of defense you line up in. If the players don’t execute, it won’t work.”

The Chaps managed to race out to their halftime advantage despite a slow start by running back Ryan Swope, the district’s leading rusher. He ended the game with 81 yards and two touchdowns, but only six of those yards came in the first half.

With Swope drawing the focus on Austin High’s defense, the Chaps turned toward quarterback Tanner Price. And Price turned toward Mike Walker.

The senior receiver sliced through the Maroons’ defense for 230 yards and two touchdowns on eight catches. He had six catches for 153 yards in the first half.

“We threw wall day on them, it was awesome,” Walker said. “We find what works and go with it. Passing was working tonight.”

Even Swope got into the action with a 64-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Walker from Westlake’s “Wild Chap” formation that gave Westlake a 21-0 lead in the second quarter. It was the first career pass for Swope, and it offered the newest wrinkle to Westlake’s newest formation.

“We’ve been holding onto that play,” Westlake offensive coordinator Sul Ross said. “We’ve been waiting for this game.”

Austin High all but abandoned its base offense in the second half and relied on direct snaps to all-district receiver Emory Blake. The shift in strategy succeeded as Blake ran for a game-high 121 yards on 17 carries, including 114 yards in the second half.

“Blake is like Swope, they’re two of the top athletes in Central Texas,” Long said. “Austin High is a big, physical bunch. We weren’t surprised when they came out running (in the second half).”

Still, Walker and Westlake had enough firepower to answer. Blake’s 8-yard scoring run in the third quarter and subsequent conversion run trimmed Westlake’s lead to 21-14, and the Maroons forced Westlake into a 3^rd-and-14 on the next drive. Price then stood tall in the pocket and silenced the raucous crowd with a 67-yard pass to a diving Walker. Two plays later, Price snuck in from the 2-yard line to boost Westlake to a 28-14 lead.

Austin High then leaned on Blake during a 17-play drive that consumed almost eight minutes, but Chap safety Chase Womack snuffed the drive when he picked off a Morgan pass intended for Blake in the end zone.

“I saw his (Morgan’s) eyes and saw him look that way, and I came over to help,” Womack said. “It was the right defensive call.”

Long said Womack’s pick marked a decisive moment in the contest.

“That’s huge, and it takes the wind out of your sails when you march down the field and don’t score,” he said. “Defense did a great job. We gave up yards but made them drive the length of the field. When you do that, you have a chance they put the ball on the field.”

On Austin Hugh’s next drive, the Chap defense again forced a turnover when linebacker Ellis Glaw sacked Morgan and Westlake’s Omar Ontiveros wrestled the ball away from a Maroon lineman for the fumble recovery.

Five plays later, Swope broke loose down the right sideline for a 35-yard touchdown run and the celebration began on the Westlake sideline.

Price ended the game with 201 yards on 12-of-20 passing. Jeff Ballew rushed for 70 yards on 11 carries and scored Westlake’s first touchdown.