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

Chaparrals face very difficult schedule as team gets set for the 2024 season

Austin Westlake players enter the field against Lake Travis at the UIL Class 6A D1 quarterfinal on Dec. 2, 2023. / John Gutierrez / USA TODAY NETWORK

AUSTIN, TEXAS - Walk the hallways around the football field house at Westlake High School and one encounters various large team photos emblazoned on the walls.

That probably isn’t unusual, as that is the case at many high school football programs across the country. But there’s a catch at Westlake: Should the Chaparrals get a team photo in the hallway, they must make at least a semifinal appearance.

And then the other incentive is to have the proper wording underneath the photo, preferably indicating the team was a state champion, which Westlake was able to achieve in 1996 and again in 2019.

“We tell them, what do you want to say under the picture,” said Tony Salazar, entering his third season as the Chaparrals’ head coach after having spent the previous eight seasons as the team’s defensive coordinator.

Then just inside the field house, just outside the coaches’ offices, further evidence of Westlake’s tradition can be found in a corner. There, a vast array of photos of the top standouts in Chaparral history is on the wall, headed up by a pair of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks in Drew Brees - who led Westlake to its first state title in 1996 - and Nick Foles.

No doubt that Salazar considers himself fortunate to be coaching at one of the premier programs in the state, a program that was established in 1969.

“It’s very humbling and obviously, it’s an honor and every single day, sometimes I just take it as this is what I do, it’s my passion and I don’t think of it as that big of a job when it’s a day-to-day activity, but there are a couple of times where you sit back and just pinch yourself saying, ‘Yeah,’” he said. “When you’re here inside these walls, the kids feel it and I think our coaching staff feels it, it’s a family atmosphere in these walls and it’s more about the kids that are in our program and obviously there’s some tradition there with some of their brothers that have played for us now and it even goes all the way back to some of their dads, even playing way before our time here.

“It’s just a respect to the tradition of this place set forth a long time ago. … It fuels me to show up to work every single day and to put a good product out there representative of all the people that have come before us.”

In Salazar’s first two years at the helm of the Chaparrals, they reached the state semifinals.

Westlake's QB Drew Brees escapes the shoe tackle of Abilene Cooper's Eric Gobert during a 55-15 win on Dec. 21, 1996. / American-Statesman-USA TODAY NET

That meant they earned the right to get their photo on the wall.

But, if they want to get the 2024 team photo on the wall, Westlake must first navigate a very treacherous schedule. It may arguably be the toughest schedule for any team in the state.

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For starters, the Chaps open things up on a Thursday night, August 29, a neutral-site game at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor campus in Belton against Prosper, a team considered to be a preseason Top 10 squad in 6A. Then their home opener on Sept. 6 against San Benito, another perennial 6A playoff team.

The following week is another home game against Atascocita, a team from the Houston area that is capable of playing for a state title, having reached the regional finals each of the past three seasons. Then another perennial title contender on Sept. 20, hitting the road to face Cibolo-Steele, fresh off an appearance in the 6A II state semifinals.

Following a bye week, then it’s the District 26-6A schedule, highlighted by an Oct. 25 visit to local arch-rival Lake Travis, a team the Chaps defeated twice last season, including in the playoffs. Then the regular-season finale Nov. 8 at Dripping Springs, a game which could decide the district title.

Westlake players are eager for the challenge.

“We have (at least) five games that are going to be tough, but that’s only going to make us better for our playoff run and I think that can only benefit us as a team moving forward,” said senior middle linebacker Elliott Schaper, a Duke University commit.

“I’m really confident in our box players on both sides of the ball, so that’s good. We probably have eight returning starters, and I’m really confident we’re going to be pushing people around. That’s the key to winning football.”

The Chaps also pointed to last season’s 6A Division I semifinal loss to eventual state runner-up North Shore, the second straight season North Shore eliminated Westlake in the state semis. But unlike the year before, Westlake hung tough with North Shore for most of the game before falling short, so the Chaps have belief they can hang with any top team in Texas.

“We had a super-young team, so I felt like we may have not started off not as good, but I was really impressed and proud of how we improved over the year, and we have a lot of guys returning this year, so it was really good to see a lot of success and then obviously North Shore, things didn’t go our way but we hung, we could’ve won that game, so that gives me a lot of hope for right now,” said senior offensive lineman Bennett Wilkin.

“I’m pretty confident that we can win all of those games, and I know I’m really excited for the tests so that we’re ready this time. Like North Shore last year was the best team we played by far, so it’s good to have some closer competition because I feel like once we have more reps in that area, we’ll be able to go all the way this year.”

It’s exactly what Salazar had in mind when he devised the schedule, believing the competition - especially in non-district play - can benefit Westlake come crunch time.

“That’s why you schedule it hopefully on paper, so that you get your teams more opportunities. … Win, lose or draw, we win all five of them, great, lose all five of them, great,” Salazar said. “It’s about are we getting better, are we sticking to our team objectives of creating depth, of continually getting better and evolving.

“Obviously, we’ve got some games circled and that’s how our kids want it, that’s how we want it here at Westlake.”

The players themselves are aware of what it means to be a Westlake Chaparral. For sure, they know walking around in the hallways, inside the field house and inside the gates of Ebbie Neptune Field.

“You grow up, and my cousin played when I was in elementary school, I always dreamed of getting the opportunity of playing varsity ball and now that I’m here, you walk out there, you walk down the halls every day for third period and you see guys like Drew Brees and Nick Foles that walked down this hall, and then you go out and watch the games, you have little kids, elementary schoolers and middle schoolers giving you high fives and it’s just like a whole new community aspect to the games,” senior receiver Cal Livengood said. “You’re playing more than just a football game, you’re playing for the whole community out here.”

Westlake’s reputation even goes beyond the state’s borders.

“I moved here from Northern California about three or four years ago, and everyone was always talking about Westlake; everyone in California knew Westlake, so it’s pretty crazy to be in this position today,” Schaper said. “Our coaches are the best in the nation honestly and I have no worries about this season; I think we’re going to do amazing.”

Salazar also feels confident the team can be on the verge of another special season.

“I think our strength right now probably is both of our fronts on both sides of the football,” he said. “We’ve got four returning starters and the fifth one is a young guy that got some experience on the varsity last year, so I feel good about the top five or six guys on the offensive line.

“I feel good about our quarterback situation; we’ve got a young, outstanding quarterback in Rees Wise that overcame a senior captain quarterback in our program which is pretty hard to do but he did it because he did all of the things the right way and made the most of his opportunity when he came into the game and lo and behold, he was the newcomer of the year in the district.”

Even with the departure of one of the team’s all-time running backs in Jack Kayser (now playing at Army), the Chaps believe they’re still in good hands at that position.

“I feel like we can run the football against hopefully anybody,” Salazar said. “We lost one of the best players to come out of these hallways in Jack Kayser, who committed to Army and was the second-leading rusher all-time at Westlake, but we have a running back room that’s probably deeper than in many years.

“We relied a lot on Jack, but now we’ve got three or four guys we don’t mind turning around and handing the football to and we’re excited with what they bring to the table.”

That includes seniors Grady Bartlett and Justice Johnson.

Salazar also cited the defensive line as another strength. The ends are manned by seniors Connor Vasek - who is receiving plenty of Division I offers - and Cullen Devine, who recently committed to Air Force. Junior tackle Maddox Flynt is also receiving DI attention, while senior Porter Patton is another one to watch, with Salazar mentioning size (Patton goes 6-foot-6 and weighs 260 pounds).

Westlake head in at half time in the 6A UIL high school football semifinal game in Pflugerville on Dec. 9, 2023. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

Then at linebacker, Schaper literally points the way.

“He’s the leader; he knows where everybody goes and makes plays at the right time,” Salazar said.

Salazar remarked the Chaps had a tremendous offseason, and believes that can carry over into preseason workouts come August.

“We did good; we had a great spring and a lot of young guys got a great opportunity to play,” he said. “In spring, a lot of our kids are dual sport, so early on we were missing baseball and lacrosse players, so we started getting some baseball guys back and then some lacrosse guys back, so finally the last week of spring ball, it was the first time we were close to looking full speed somewhat on offense and on defense.

“We’ve gone through spring ball and everyone stayed healthy for the most part, and we had a good spring game. We started our summer training and everyone’s healthy; 7-on-7’s going good right now and we’re looking like a good team.”

His players concur.

“I feel great about our skill players; of our four starting receivers last year, we’re returning three,” Livengood said. “I was a first-year starter on the varsity, so we have a lot more experience coming back, and we’re bringing our quarterback back and we’re bringing a running back back in Bartlett.

“We’re bringing a lot of people back that was their first year starting last year with some experience this year.”

Wilkin also points out the experience the team will be returning on the offensive line.

“We had a young line last year and now we have four returners and a guy who has at least one start and multiple games of experience, so I’m really confident in our experience and having a good o-line I feel like is the start to having a great football team and I feel like we have the best o-line in the state,” he said.

“We definitely have a lot more competition than we’re used to in pre-district, but I think that’s really exciting us because we feel like we have one of the best teams we’ve had in a few years, and we really want to just prove that we can hang with the best.”

There’s also a sense of urgency within the program wanting to win a third championship with the presence of approximately 65 seniors on the roster, the largest senior class in Westlake history.

“The good thing about these kids here, is that they don’t run out of time too many times; we’ve won more than we’ve lost and our senior class going into this thing with a 28-2 record (over the past two seasons), so they’re eager to get back to that final game,” Salazar said.

Not to mention earning another photo in the hallway. But this time with a preferred caption of state champions written underneath.

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