High school football: No. 2 Westlake, Cade Klubnik outlast Guyer to win third straight Texas championship, 40th consecutive game

In the last game coaching at Westlake (Austin) for Todd Dodge, the passing combination of Cade Klubnik to Jaden Greathouse made sure it was a winning one. The duo connected on touchdown bombs of 62, 69 and 71 yards as the nation's No. 2 team in the MaxPreps Top 25 pulled away from a gritty Guyer (Denton) squad 40-21 Saturday in the UIL Texas 6A Division 2 championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

In the last 2021 high school game of the season, it was the third straight title for the Chaparrals (16-0), who also secured their 40th straight win. For the 58-year-old Dodge, who announced before the season this would be his last, it was his seventh state title overall while finishing his 23-year career at 234-70.

It was also the last prep performance for Klubnik, a Clemson-signee, who finished 14-for-21 for 279 yards and four touchdowns, three to the speedy junior Greathouse (seven catches, 236 yards). After largely dominating their other 15 opponents, the Chaps needed every one of those yards because Guyer came to play, leading most of the way for 2.5 quarters behind quarterback Jackson Arnold, who accounted for 220 yards and three touchdowns. The Wildcats were after their third state title, but first since 2013 when they won their second straight championship.

Westlake took a 6-0 lead without even having to run a play as Will Magids recovered a punt block in the end zone with 10:24 left in the first quarter. The PAT failed which for a while turned out to be a big play.

Guyer showed early it wasn't the least bit intimidated by the nation's No. 2 team, going 63 yards in 14 plays to take a 7-6 lead on an Arnold 15 yard run. Jaxon Pirtle's extra point gave the Wildcats the lead with 5:16 left in the first quarter. The Chaps bounced back on the lethal connection between Klubnik to Greathouse, this time for 62 yards, making it 13-7 with 2:50 left in the first.

After a quick three-and-out, Westlake sophomore running back Jack Kayser fumbled and Guyer's Jackson Moore recovered and returned to the Chaps' 32. Arnold cashed in the turnover with a 9-yard pass to Jace Wilson, giving Guyer a 14-13 lead with nine seconds left in the first quarter.

Remarkably, the two high scoring teams went scoreless in the second and more remarkably the Chaps had only three first downs at half and 115 total yards.

By the end of the third, the game changed quite drastically. The Chaps put up almost 200 yards in the third and got two more touchdown passes from Klubnik, the second a 69-yarder to Greathouse to put Westlake up 30-21. Klubnik's 15-yard TD pass to Bryce Chambers give the Chaparrals a 20-14 lead, but right back came the Wildcats on Arnold's second TD run, a 6-yarder, make it 21-20 with 6:46 left in the third.

After Charlie Barnett boomed a 53-yard field goal to go up 23-21, Westlake took its first two-score lead after a quick three-and-out when Klubnik and Greathouse connected on a 69-yard bomb, to make it 30-21. 

Guyer put a couple first downs together, but after another punt, Klubnik and Greathouse delivered the knockout punch, a 71-yard touchdown combination and suddenly Westlake was rolling to its 40th straight win and third straight championship.

In his eighth season as head coach for the Chaps, Dodge went a remarkable 104-13, including 16-0 this season when Westlake outscored opponents 898-142.