Considering the matchup at Chaparral Stadium, did anyone expect any different?

In the third thrilling playoff matchup between Westlake and San Antonio Madison this decade, the Chaps emerged with a 31-27 win when Bryce Hager leaped into the end zone from the 1-yard line on a do-or-die play with eight seconds left on the clock. After Westlake recovered Madison’s fourth and final fumble on the ensuing kickoff, the Chap sideline erupted in jubilation while the Westlake coaches heaved a collective sigh of relief.

After all, no one on either side of the stadium expected such high drama in the Class 5A Region IV Division I bidistrict contest after a lopsided first half in which the Chaps seized a 17-0 lead.

“But we knew that Madison is a proud program,” Westlake coach Darren Allman said. “We knew that they would come back, and that it would be in a war. I’m just proud of how our kids reacted to the situation.”

The situation looked dire for the Chaps (9-2) after Madison (6-4) seized its first lead of the game on a 1-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback A.J. Myers with 3 minutes, 10 seconds left in the game. However, Westlake refused to let any panic infiltrate its huddle.

“We have a lot of confidence in what we can do,” Westlake quarterback Tanner Price said. “We weren’t going to go out a loser. We knew that we had to step it up.”

Price, who threw for 245 yards and a touchdown and had 82 yards on the ground, stepped up on Westlake’s winning drive. After the Chaps took possession at their own 24-yard line, Price quickly moved the Chaps to the Madison 5-yard line with four straight completions. A 38-yard pass to Miles Berger picked up the biggest chunk of yardage, but tight end Charlie Copa had what Price called the “biggest catch of the game” when he snagged a shoestring grab for 12 yards on third-and-two.

Madison bowed up at the goal line and fended off a pair of Chap runs, forcing Allman to burn the reminder of his timeouts. With 10 seconds left in the game and his team down by three points, Allman bypassed any thoughts of a tie and gave the ball to Hager, who followed lead blocks by Van Gramann and Tim Johnston up the gut of the defense.

“The line and everyone just did a great job,” Hager said. “I just had to hit the hole. There was no way I wasn’t getting in.”

According to Allman, some prompting by his team figured into his decision to go for the win.

“Everyone wanted to go for it,” he said. “I thought that if we put the ball in the hands of our best players, we could get it done. It could have been another bonehead call, but the players bailed me out.”

Allman blamed himself for allowing Madison back into the game. On their first drive of the second half, Westlake inexplicably tried a fake punt on fourth-and-5 from its 17-yard line. Madison snuffed the chicanery, and Myers lofted a 19-yard scoring pass to Xavier Price on the next play for the Mavericks’ first points.

“That was just a bad call on my part,” Allman said about the fake punt. “I thought we could get a first down because of their formation, but it wasn’t a good decision. The kids pulled me out of it.”

The Chaps responded with a 13-play, 67-yard drive, but Madison’s Troy Lara knifed around the edge to block a short field goal attempt.

Westlake’s defense quickly regained the ball when Curtis Loeffel recovered a fumble to set up an 18-yard scoring run by Lewis Guilbeau.

On the ensuing kickoff, Nate Askew returned a short kick 46 yards to set up his 17-yard touchdown catch on a jump ball tossed by Myers.

Myers, who finished the game with 241 yards passing and three touchdowns after replacing injured starter Kevin Cortez in the first quarter, then found Price for a 26-yard touchdown pass that cut Westlake’s lead to 24-20 with 8:31 left in the game.

Madison had 298 of its 322 yards in the second half, with much of that real estate coming on jump balls to Price (eight catches, 137 yards) and Askew (four catches, 97 yards).

Star running back Aaron Green had just 43 yards on 14 carries against a swarming Chap defense spearheaded by linebackers Hager, Ellis Glaw and Lance Duran. That marked the junior’s lowest tally of the season.

“I don’t think he’s seen a defense with our speed before,” Hager said. “We didn’t let him get loose.”

Gramann added 82 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries for Westlake, and Berger led Westlake’s receivers with 109 yards on three catches.

Halftime ceremony remembers Edwards
Madison principal Chris Thompson presented a plaque of appreciation to Eanes school district superintendent Nola Wellman during halftime of Friday’s game. The gesture honored Westlake’s generosity following a 2003 playoff game in which Madison safety David Edwards was paralyzed while making a tackle at Chaparral Stadium. The Westlake community donated more than $100,000 to help the stricken player’s family with medical costs. Edwards died in 2008.

News and notes
With its win Friday, Westlake won back-to-back playoff openers for the first time since the 2002 and 2003 seasons. … Westlake’s offense has tallied at least 400 yards in five consecutive games. … Chap quarterback Tanner Price enters Friday’s game with 736 yards rushing for the season. Chad Schroeder holds the mark for most yards rushing in a season by a Westlake quarterback since the Chaps moved to Class 5A permanently in 1994. He ran for 805 yards in 16 games in 2001. … Starting Madison quarterback Kevin Cortez, who split time with A.J. Myers this season, suffered a leg injury on a first-quarter sack by Chap linebacker Lance Duran and did not return.