Texas high school football: Defending 6A champ Austin Westlake releases 2021 schedule

With the 2021 high school football season less than 100 days away, schools are beginning to release their schedules. Westlake (Austin, Texas), the defending 6A Division 1 state champs, are the latest to do so. Excitement is builds for the Chaps after a 14-0 season in which they grabbed their second straight state title.

They took out the two-time reigning 6A D1 state champs, North Shore (Houston), in the semifinals with a 24-21 win. Clemson-bound quarterback Cade Klubnik scored the game-winning touchdown on fourth down with just under two minutes remaining from 1-yard out.

The following week, Westlake beat Quinn Ewers and Southlake Carroll (Southlake) 52-34 to claim the state title in Texas' largest classification. That win propelled the Chaps to a spot at No. 3 in the final MaxPreps Top 25 high school football rankings and the top-ranked team from the Lone Star State.

Klubnik was named to the MaxPreps Junior All-America first team and four-star wide receiver Jaden Greathouse was a first-team selection on the MaxPreps Sophomore All-America squad. Legendary head coach Todd Dodge was named the 2020 Football Coach of the Year.

Dodge led Westlake to a 15-1 record in 2019, beating Guyer (Denton) 24-0 in the 6A Division 2 state championship and the Chaparrals begin the 2021 season riding a 24-game winning streak.

This upcoming season will be Dodge's eighth year as head coach for the Chaps and he has gone 88-11 during his tenure and expect the two-time state champs to be ranked in the Top 5 when we release our preseason MaxPreps Top 25 rankings on June 23.

After the two largest classifications in Texas (5A, 6A) pushed back the high school football season last year because of the pandemic, football returns to its normal fall start as most Texas schools in the middle spring practice gearing up for the 2021 season.

Earlier this week the Chaps announced their schedule with the first game Aug. 27 against Temple.

The marquee matchups include a Sept. 3 showdown with Ollie Gordon and Trinity (Euless), which went 11-2 last season and made it to the 6A Division 1 quarterfinals. The following week Westlake takes on Mansfield Summit (Arlington) as the Jaguars are coming off a 5A Division 1 semifinal appearance.

After a bye week, the Chaps face their first district foe — Del Valle, which made a huge offseason splash bringing in former IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) head coach Bobby Acosta. He led the Ascenders to an 8-0 season in his only year in Bradenton and they went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the country.

The biggest game is at the end of the regular season against rival Lake Travis (Austin). The two didn't play last year as the Cavaliers had to cancel their final two regular-season games because of a positive coronavirus test in the program. Lake Travis is the last team to beat Westlake when Hudson Card led the Cavaliers to a 26-25 win on Oct. 11, 2019.

2021 Austin Westlake football schedule

Aug. 27 — at Temple

Sept. 3 — vs. Trinity (Euless)

Sept. 10 — vs. Mansfield Summit (Arlington)

Sept. 24 — at Del Valle

Oct. 1 — vs. San Marcos

Oct. 8 — vs. Bowie (Austin)

Oct. 14 — at Hays (Buda)

Oct. 22 — vs. Akins (Austin)

Oct. 29 — at Austin

Nov. 5 — vs. Lake Travis (Austin)