Coach Tom Westerberg
Photo by Neil Fonville
Tom
Westerberg has been part of countless big games in nine seasons as head
football coach at Allen (Texas).
He’s led the Eagles to six district titles, two regional crowns and, of course, his crowning jewel, a 2008 state title.
But
there was probably no game of greater national interest than his team’s
season-opening showdown with defending 5A state champion and nationally
ranked Southlake Carroll on Friday.
Not only were the Eagles out
for the upset, but they also had some history to settle. Southlake had
eliminated Allen from the playoffs three times since 2003. Add to that,
there was all the hullabaloo surrounding the opening of Allen's
$60-million state-of-the-art stadium.
So, when Allen not only came out victorious, but with a lopsided 24-0 victory, Westerberg was more than a little pleased.
It
was in all likelihood his finest regular-season victory ever. It was
played in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 21,778 and a regional
television audience.
For it all, Westerberg was named the initial MaxPreps Dallas Coach of the Week presented by Comerica Bank.
As usual, the Texas A&M graduate pointed to his players – not himself – for the team’s credit.
“Our
guys played with a lot of emotion all night,” he told the Plano Star
Courier. “They wanted to win the opener at our new stadium and then, of
course, we’ve had trouble with Southlake in the past, so we talked about
some of the history with these guys during the week.”
It was a
thorough victory in all categories, especially on defense and special
teams. Allen forced the high-powered Carroll offense to punt on four of
its first five possessions, according to the Star Courier, and Cameron
Hartsfield blocked a punt that set up a 2-yard touchdown drive.
Marcus
Davis, Nick Cobb and Mayomi Olootu all registered big plays up front.
Jeff Harris had two short TD runs and Oliver Pierce added another and
the defense limited Carroll to less than 250 yards of offense. The
victory broke a 16-game Carroll win streak and it was the first time
Southlake had been shut out since 1997.
“Our guys on the line of scrimmage played fantastic,” Westerberg told the newspaper. “This game is a really big win for us.”
But Westerberg, in his 12th season overall at Allen, said the Eagles would celebrate for only a night.
“Our
guys played really well in game one,” he said. “But we’ve got a pretty
big one coming up in game two, so we’ve got to keep improving.”
Dallas Morning News columnist Matt Wixon called it one of Allen’s biggest wins in school history.
“This
was a huge victory for Allen,” he said. “On a very proud night in which
the Eagles opened their new $60-million stadium they shut out the
defending state champions…The atmosphere Friday night was amazing.”
