Football Preview: Dripping Springs Tigers vs. Westlake Chaparrals
The Dripping Springs Tigers will face off against the Westlake Chaparrals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Two weeks ago, everything came up roses for Dripping Springs against Del Valle as the squad secured a 49-17 victory. Given the Tigers' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 71st, while the Cardinals are ranked 510th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Maddox Maher continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 233 yards and four touchdowns while completing 76.2% of his passes, and also rushing for 67 yards on only five carries. Merrik Bloomgren was in the mix too, providing Dripping Springs with two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Westlake had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 38 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They never let the Cardinals onto the board and left with a 77-0 win. That looming 77-0 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Chaparrals yet this season.
Westlake can attribute much of their success to Grady Bartlett, who rushed for 56 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. Elijah Clark was another key player, rushing for 69 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries.
Westlake was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 262 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 163.5 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last five games they've averaged 0.
Westlake didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Gavin Bellinghausen and Forrest Breyfogle.
Dripping Springs' victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-2. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 47.8 points per game. As for Westlake, their record now sits at 9-1.
Dripping Springs came up short against Westlake in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, falling 27-14. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Westlake's Rees Wise, who rushed for 59 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for 209 yards while completing 75% of his passes. Now that Dripping Springs knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
