Westbrook cruises past Abbott to earn second straight state title
ARLINGTON, Texas — Westbrook used a dominating defensive effort along with the usual offensive heroics from Cedric Ware to get past Abbott 69-24 in the 1A Division I championship game Wednesday afternoon.
“We’re pretty excited,” said Westbrook head coach Parker Matlock. “It’s tough to get back. You’ve got to have a little luck and things go your way and this year’s no different for us. I thought the kids came out and played a really good game and I’m sure proud of them.”
Westbrook Senior Hadley White goes in for the tackle
Westbrook turned the ball over twice in their own territory in the first quarter but did not allow Abbott to get on the board. The Wildcat offense did hit paydirt twice on a 34-yard Parker Matlock touchdown pass to Ware and a 32-yard scoring strike to Grayson Jeffrey to grab a 16-0 lead by the end of one. Jeffrey ended up with 138 yards and two touchdowns rushing and also caught two passes for 43 yards and a score.
The Panthers got within eight points twice in the second quarter at 16-8 and 24-16 but the Wildcats got a huge score in the final seconds of the half when Jeffrey went in from six yards out to make it a 32-16 game.
Westbrook then stopped Abbott on the opening drive of the third and got a 56-yard Ware touchdown run to all but put the game away.
Abbott got within in 38-24 in the third but Ware scored from 11, the Wildcats recovered an onside kick, and Ware scored again on a seven-yard run to make it 54-24 heading into the fourth.
Jeffrey found Colton Walters on a 29-yard strike early in the final quarter, then Matlock intercepted a pass and Ware ran in from 13-yards on the next play. A Bo Payne extra point gave the game its final margin of 69-24.
Cedric Ware dives in for a third quarter touchdown
The Wildcats held the high-powered Panther rushing attack to just 17 yards while racking up 280 of their own yards on the ground.
Matlock said, “Our defense didn’t get the credit it should have during the year but if you look at our schedule we played number one’s, number two’s, number three’s all year long. So if your defense is still considered pretty good when you play those kind of teams it kind of goes hidden a little bit and I think this afternoon we kind of put that on display. I was really proud of our defense.”
The Wildcats celebrate their second consecutive state title
Abbott head coach Terry Crawford added, “We had to establish the run and we weren’t able to do that. They’re just hard to block. They’re so athletic and we just couldn’t get on them. We pride ourselves on quickness, but those dudes are quick.”
Ware was named both the offensive and defensive MVP for the game. He ran for 142 yards and four touchdowns, caught a 34-yard touchdown and led the Wildcats with ten tackles. “I think it’s well-deserved,” said Matlock of Ware’s MVP awards. “He’ll be the first to tell you it’s a team effort. We talked blocking all week, all year. Parker my son is the quarterback and he doesn’t get a lot of credit, but that’s fine because we’re a blocking team. I want him pitching the ball and going and hitting somebody instead of trying to throw for a bunch of yards. When the whole team buys into that then people can be successful and I think Cedric has benefited from that.”
Jeffrey and Hadley White each added seven tackles and Pahton Dominguez had five tackles, forced a fumble and recorded a sack.
1A D1 championship game Offensive and Defensive MVP Cedric Ware
Colton Walters hauls in a fourth quarter touchdown pass
The Wildcats didn’t have a lot of winning history until the past three years, but now they’re headed back home with a state title for the second straight season.
Ware said, “This is amazing. Especially with this group, I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else. We bought into the weight program and have just been grinding and got it done.”
Senior Hadley White added, “It’s awesome. We have an amazing atmosphere day in and day out, even in practices.”
Westbrook had a target on their back this season as the defending champs and managed to repeat despite getting everyone’s best shot every week. “We kind of knew everyone would be gunning at us. You saw it with Garden City when we weren’t all-in. But once that loss happened it shifted momentum and we didn’t want that to happen again,” White said.
Since that loss the Wildcats were nearly untouchable, avenging the loss to Garden City and blowing out state power after state power on their way to making history yet again.
