1. Saturday’s Lake Travis-Westlake game turned out to be a slugfest. Assuming Lake Travis’ national ranking of No. 3 is correct according to ESPN Rise magazine, then Westlake has nothing to hang its head about following the 32-21 loss. Until they reach the playoffs, the Chaps won’t likely face as talented a team, and as the offense evolves under Lewis Guibeau, the Chaps will gain experience and begin putting up big numbers. Lake Travis made adjustments at halftime to keep Guilbeau in check, but the nine remaining teams on the Chaps’ schedule won’t have the same defensive size and talent. Make no mistake; Westlake must be able to establish at least the threat of a vertical passing game featuring Collin Shaw to enjoy another long playoff run. As Lake Travis did, teams will wise up to Guilbeau’s runs and short passes to speedy Brice Dolezal and make it difficult for the Chaps to move.

Still making their breaks

2. Last year’s Westlake defense was among the most opportunistic units around. Especially in the playoffs, the Chaps proved potent at taking the ball from opposing offenses, and that trend continued in the opener. The Chaps forced two fumbles and returned an interception for a touchdown. In six playoff games in 2009, Westlake had 19 takeaways and five defensive touchdowns.

Better against the pass
3. Despite losing two starters (three including Louie Swope, who missed the last 12 games of the season), Westlake’s pass defense help up very well. A year after Michael Brewer torched the Chaps for 422 yards, the Lake Travis passer managed just 289 and a touchdown and completed only 21 of 40 passes. If the secondary anchored by Campbell McCrea and Sean Potter can continue to gel, the Chaps should be able to contain the remaining passing attacks they’ll face. Their only struggle Saturday night was containing match-up nightmare Griffin Gilbert, who at 6-feet-5-inches gave Brewer a target that towered over the shorter Chaps. He caught two fade patterns by outreaching Chaps defenders, one for a touchdown and one for a two-point conversion. There shouldn’t be many 6-5 wideouts on the Chaps’ remaining schedule.

“ I thought our secondary played very well,” said Westlake coach Darren Allman, a collegiate defensive back at Hardin-Simmons University. “Their quarterback was putting the ball on the back shoulder, and Griffin [Gilbert] was going up and getting it. When an offense executes like that, there’s not much you can do to stop it.”

Senior Sean Potter had a strong game in his debut at safety, tallying a team-high 10 tackles, including eight solo stops. Cornerback Robert Smith had six tackles in his varsity debut, and Quentin Buck solidified his spot as a starting cornerback with four tackles and two pass breakups.

– Jay Plotkin, a longtime sports writer in Central Texas, is the publisher of the Westlake Picayune and Lake Travis View

Special teams prove exciting
Westlake’s special teams had an adventurous season opener. Kicker Buckley Willis had an extra-point bounce off a goalpost – at 18 feet, 6 inches wide, the collegiate goalposts are almost five feet narrower than standard high-school goalposts – and had a 40-yard field goal attempt blocked. The Chaps did recover a Lake Travis fumble on a punt return. Each team had a kickoff return of at least 40 yards.

News and notes
Westlake, which ended the game with 245 yards of offense, had 109 yards in the second half. Sixty of those yards came on a touchdown catch-and-run by Brice Dolezal. … Seven different Chaps caught a pass, including offensive tackle Sean O’Farrell. Lake Travis declined the subsequent penalty for illegal touching, thus giving O’Farrell a reception. … Westlake did not have a sack, but Roy Schwartz had two quarterback pressures. … Linebacker Conor Byrne forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.