Central Texas high school football schedules: Austin Westlake faces early 2024 gauntlet

Games begin Aug. 29; Dive into 2024 UIL high school football schedules on SBLive

Austin Westlake takes on Lake Travis in the 2023 Texas high school football playoffs. / Photo by Paul Brick, SBLive

It’s high school football time in Central Texas.

Practices are now under way, and the countdown to kickoff is just mere weeks away. In fact, several teams will start its respective Week 1 games on Thursday, Aug. 29, with others to start the following night.

That weekend will commence the UIL fall season, a 17-week march that culminates with the state title games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington in late December.

How deep into the postseason will Central Texas teams be playing?

Some are hoping to make it to Arlington this season as no Central Texas teams claimed a championship in 2023. Several did come close, though.

In the final SBLive Top 25 statewide rankings, Austin Westlake finished No. 5 after falling in the 6A Division I semifinals. Cibolo-Steele ended up No. 13 after being defeated in the 6A DII semifinals, while another area team, Lake Travis, was No. 15 after reaching the 6A DI regional finals.

Right behind Lake Travis at No. 16 was Austin Vandegrift, which lost to Lake Travis in the bi-district round after going 10-0 in the regular season. San Antonio Reagan also received a final ranking at No. 22, finishing 11-1 and reaching the 6A DI area round.

Westlake will play one of the toughest non-district schedules in the state, starting on Aug. 29 against Prosper - which finished No. 18 in last season’s final rankings - in a game to be played at a neutral site, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor campus in Belton.

>> How Austin Westlake, national high school football power, prepares for another photo finish

Then on Sept. 6, the Chaparrals return home to take on San Benito, which finished 10-2 a season ago. The following Friday, Sept. 13, Westlake hosts Humble Atascocita, which went 11-3 and reached the 6A DI regional finals. On Sept. 20, the Chaps take on Cibolo-Steele.

Perhaps the most anticipated district game on Westlake’s schedule will be on Oct. 25, when the Chaps travel to face rival Lake Travis. The Chaps beat the Cavaliers twice last season, including in the 6A DI regional finals.

Cibolo-Steele will host Liberty Hill Aug. 30 for its season opener. Then the following week, on Sept. 7, the Knights travel to San Antonio to take on Reagan in a huge early-season matchup.

Lake Travis kicks off its 2024 season with a road game at Arlington Martin on Aug. 30; then return home the following week, Sept. 6, to face Rockwall. The Cavs then travel to face Midland Legacy on Sept. 13 before going back home the following Friday to face San Marcos.

Vandegrift opens its season at home on Aug. 30 against Dripping Springs, which just missed making the final SBLive Texas postseason Top 25 rankings. The Vipers then play back-to-back road games, Sept. 6 at Cedar Park and Sept. 12 at Stony Point.

>> Charting Vandegrift's rise to Texas high school football power: 'Tradition really matters'

Reagan will be playing on Saturday for four of its first five games. The Rattlers face San Antonio Brennan on Saturday, Aug. 31 before facing Cibolo-Steele the following Saturday, Sept. 7. 

A Friday game on Sept. 13 against Temple follows for Reagan; then after a bye week, the Rattlers play on consecutive Saturdays against a pair of fellow San Antonio schools, Sept. 28 against Roosevelt and Oct. 5 against Madison.

Two other potential title contenders both reside in College Station, College Station High and A&M Consolidated. Those two will face off against one another on Sept. 20 at A&M Consolidated.

In the Waco area, La Vega and China Spring are among the contenders in 4A DII. The Pirates and Cougars face off against one another in a District 12-4A DII showdown on Oct. 18 at La Vega.

Another perennial title contender in the region is Mart, which finished 15-1 and lost in the 2A DII championship game. The Panthers open their season with back-to-back home games, against Whitney on Aug. 30 and Maypearl on Sept. 6.

KEY 2024 UIL FOOTBALL DATES 

• August 5: First day of conditioning (no contact)

• August 10: First full day of contact

• August 15: First scrimmages

• August 22: Second scrimmages

• August 29: First games/third scrimmages (for teams not playing Week 1

• August 30: First Friday Night

• November 14-16: Playoffs Week 1

• November 21-23: Playoffs Week 2

• November 28-30: Playoffs Week 3

• December 5-7: Playoffs Week 4

• December 11-14: Playoffs Week 5

• December 18-21: 2024 UIL State Championships

TEAM SCHEDULES | WEEK-BY-WEEK SCHEDULES

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Stay with SBLive's preseason coverage in the lead up to the 2024 Texas high school football season.

We're taking a position-by-position look at the top players returning in the Lone Star State this fall, starting with 50 quarterbacks, 70 running backs, 40 wide receivers, 25 tight ends, 25 offensive linemen and 30 cornerbacks.

Which teams are district favorites? Top sleepers? We're going district-by-district and choosing both, starting with 6A Districts 1-16, 6A Districts 17-32 and 5A Division I.

We examined offseason player movement and the 12 transfers that will have the biggest impact in the fall.

Who are the most underrated teams in the Lone Star State entering the season? We're taking a look by region at the programs poised to out-perform expectations, starting with North Texas, Southeast Texas and Central Texas.

The Lone Star State is home to many of the country's top prospects. We examined the top 20 committed recruits in the state and where they're headed. And we narrowed down the 25 best uncommitted players in the state — and where they're at in their respective recruitments.

-- Buck Ringgold | buck@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveTX