After his hire as Westlake’s new football coach last winter, it didn’t take long for Darren Allman to slide in a DVD of Westlake’s 24-21 loss to San Antonio Clark in the 2008 regional finals.

And it didn’t take long for Allman to realize a truth about Clark and many of its Region IV brethren.

“In this part of the state, there are a lot of run-oriented offenses,” he said. “And Clark’s one of the best.”

Accordingly, Allman and his coaching staff began formulating a defense that could stifle the ground-bound attacks that dot the landscape of Central and South Texas.

The results of such scheming? Westlake’s defense has allowed 113.2 yards per game and only 3.6 yards per carry against a slate of foes that includes dedicated running teams (Pflugerville, Bowie, A&M Consolidated) and heralded halfbacks (San Antonio Madison’s Aaron Green, Judson’s Quaylon Jones).

Although Allman says his defense has the versatility to “adapt to a Clark one week and a Southlake Carroll the next,” Westlake’s performance this year leaves little doubt to its design: These Chaps were constructed to defend the run.
Clark will test that design in Saturday’s rematch. The Cougars have as much subtlety as a steel-toed boot, stomping out wins behind a relentless ground game.

Such dedication to running the ball does more than produce 273 yards rushing and 31.4 points a game. It also saps away the clock, leaving foes with few possessions and even fewer chances to make up for missed opportunities.

No opponent knows that better than Westlake, which suffered a time-of-possession deficit of 18 minutes, 10 seconds in last year’s loss.

“That [time of possession] is really what jumped out at me watching film,” Allman said. “Every possession is crucial against Clark, because you won’t get that many. You have to get points on drives.”

But to get drives, you have to get stops, and that’s been a tricky task against a Clark offense keyed by quarterback Hayden Greenbauer and a read-option running scheme. The speedy SMU recruit leads the team with 1,368 yards rushing, and his ability to squeeze out six or seven yards on first down dictates the Cougars’ offensive philosophy.

“They [the Cougars] are great at getting first-down yardage,” Allman said. “Forcing them into second-and-longs will be critical for us.”

Allman knows that three-and-outs often follow second-and-longs, especially against a squad that relies on running the ball. He said that if the Chaps could force four stops in each half, they would have a favorable chance of advancing to a state semifinal for the fifth time this decade – and fulfilling a defensive blueprint drawn with a team like Clark in mind.