Westlake’s seniors end careers with state title game loss, but raised program over 4 years

ARLINGTON — It’s easy to see what Westlake’s senior class means to Chaps coach Tony Salazar.

At press briefings over the past month, Salazar has spoke glowingly about the intangibles the seniors have provided his program, and following Westlake’s 50-21 loss to North Crowley in the Class 6A Division I championship game Saturday night at AT&T Stadium, he went on for minutes about their leadership and what the class meant to him and the community.

“The last two years, we’ve stubbed our toe in (the semifinals) and gone 14-1,” Salazar said. “This season was about our senior class and all they’ve done and getting over that hurdle and getting

A Westlake player looks for more yards during Saturday night’s 50-21 loss to North Crowley in the Class 6A Division I state championship game.

back to this place. They weren’t going to be the ones that were turned away from this opportunity.”

It speaks to the high standards at Westlake to where reaching the semifinals is looked at as kind of a regular thing. The Chaps haven’t missed the semifinals since 2016, and Saturday’s appearance in the state championship game was the program’s fifth in the last decade. Westlake’s seniors made it a point since a year ago to get to back to the state championship atmosphere they witnessed as freshmen when the program completed a three-peat.

“That shows the growth in them,” Salazar said. “It shows the leadership of the seniors. … They didn’t care what anyone else said. … All they cared about was what they could control, and that was their work ethic, their habits showing up on the field and being resilient.”

There was also a personal bond between the seniors that helped lead Westlake back to AT&T Stadium. They watched film together hours on end, which led to gelling on the field and hanging out off of it.

“My…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/westlakes-seniors-end-careers-state-123110603.html

Author : Austin American-Statesman

Publish date : 2024-12-22 12:31:00

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