Like last week’s game, this week features two unbeaten
and highly ranked (Lake Travis is #6 in class 6A, Westlake is #8) teams. Lake Travis has owned Westlake the past few
years, having beaten them the last seven times they have met. That stretches back to the days when the
Cavaliers won the state championship five years in a row in class 4A and the
Chaparrals made the play-offs every year in class 5A. Now that both schools are in class 6A and in
the same district, the rivalry has taken on extra meaning. But before going to the game, I need some
BBQ.
The
Barbeque
This week, I decided to eat at Bee Cave BBQ (8414 W. Bee
Cave Road, two miles west of Loop 360).
I checked their hours on Thursday (I’m getting better about that) and
saw that they are open from 11 AM to 7 PM Mondays through Thursdays, but only
from 11 to 3 PM on Fridays and closed on weekends. I think they have shortened their hours so
they can go fishing on the weekends.
Anyway, I drug my wife along with me to lunch on Friday.
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| Bee Cave BBQ |
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| Classic Texas BBQ joint |
Bee Cave BBQ should not be confused with a restaurant. It is a classic Texas BBQ joint: a trailer
set back from the road behind a chain link fence, with outdoor picnic tables
for seating. In our family, we have what we call the “Nana
Test” for BBQ places. My dearly departed mother-in-law, Nana, was a wonderful
lady, but shall we say a bit snooty about where she would eat. The more discomfort she might have about a
place, the better it will probably be. For
Bee Cave BBQ, Nana would not have even let us stop the car.
My wife was a wee bit nervous as we got out of the
minivan and walked up to the trailer.
Any doubts she had were quickly dispelled by the friendliness of the
gentleman taking our order. My wife
ordered lean brisket and turkey with a side of beans. I stuck with my standard order of a half
pound of moist brisket and two pork ribs.
Our server was proud of his “Mama’s sauce” so we got that on the
side. While my wife found us a seat, he
asked if I could eat all my order and offered to finish anything I had
left. I assured him it was not going to
be a problem.
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| Brisket and ribs |
The meat was tender, but like before it was just “cooked
meat” instead of being smoky goodness.
There was not much difference between the lean and juicy brisket we
ate. It did not have any kind of bark on
it, so I think it was not given a dry rub before cooking. It also did not have a smoke ring to it. The ribs were good, but again no rub and not
much smoky flavor. I stole a bite or two
of the turkey and it was good. Mama’s
sauce was very good, so we dipped into it a lot. There was nothing special about the
beans. As we finished eating, our server
came outside to talk with some of the other patrons about good fishing
holes. He was rightly impressed that I
ate all I had ordered. My wife and I enjoyed
Bee Cave BBQ because of the ambiance (or lack thereof) and the friendliness of
the people, but there are a lot of places in and around Austin serving better
barbeque.
The
Game
Fall has fallen in central Texas. It had been raining much of Friday during the
day, but had stopped in the evening.
With Hurricane Patricia slamming into Mexico, the skies could open up at
any minute. The temperature was 75 degrees
and a strong breeze blew out of the south.
The game was played at Chaparral stadium on the Westlake campus.
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| Chaparral Stadium |
Lake Travis took the opening kick-off on their 23 yard
line and returned it to their 42. On the
fourth play of their starting drive, quarterback Charlie Brewer hit Cade Brewer
on a little swing pass to the left side.
A Westlake defender missed a chance to make a tackle for loss. Brewer scampered down the sideline to score a
touchdown from 32 yards out to gives the Cavaliers a 7-0 lead with 10:42 left
in the first quarter.
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| Austin skyline as seen from Chaparral Stadium |
The two teams traded possessions. After a Cav punt, the Chaparrals started a
drive from their own 29. Chap
quarterback Sam Ehlinger ran for a couple of first downs and hit a few short
passes to move the ball. Scrambling away
from pressure, Ehlinger connected with a receiver down to the Cavs 15. A run up the middle moved the ball to the
Cavs 7. On the next play, the Chaps
fumbled and the Cavs recovered on their 11 yard line. Long drive, nothing to show for it.
The Cavs moved the ball to midfield where their next
drive stalled. After the punt, the Chaps
took over from their 9 yard line. An
Ehlinger pass pushed the ball to the 21, but the Chaps fumbled again to set up
the Cavs deep in Westlake territory. As
the second quarter began, the Cavs were facing a fourth and 1 from the Chaps
14. Like many teams today, the Cavs will
walk up to the line of scrimmage, then the quarterback, running backs, and
receivers will look to the sideline to get the play call from the coaches. They turned that into a trick play to get the
first down. While the QB and others were
looking to the sideline, the defense relaxed.
The Cavs center made a quick direct snap to a running back who plunged
forward for the needed yardage. After
that, the Chaps defense stiffened. They
sacked Brewer for a loss and broke up a pass in the end zone on third down. The Cavs settled for a 31 yard field goal to
make it 10-0 with 10:12 left before half time.
After the kick-off, the Chaps started from their own
25. The moved the ball into Cavs
territory, aided by a pass interference call and completions by Ehlinger. The only effective runs by the Chaps were
from quarterback keepers by Ehlinger. On
second and 9, Ehlinger completed a pass for eight yards down to the Cav
20. On third and fourth down, Ehlinger
tried to pick up the yard needed with his feet, but was stopped short both
times.
With 6:02 left in the second quarter, the Cavs took
over on downs. They moved the ball to a
first and goal on the Chaps 9 yard line.
On second down, Brewer was hit as he threw, but completed the pass to
the Chaps 2. Two penalties backed the
Cavs up to the 12. Brewer’s third down
pass was broken up, so the Cavs again settled for a field goal, this time from
29 yards out to make the score 13-0 with 1:04 left on the clock. When the half ended, Westlake had been shut
out in the first half for the first time all season.
Westlake took possession on their own 25 to start the
third quarter. Ehlinger completed a pass
to the Chaps 38. Facing third and 8,
Ehlinger was forced to scramble. Lake
Travis was called for a personal foul when Ehlinger was hit late out of
bounds. Facing fourth and 10 from the
Cavs 38, Ehlinger connected with his receiver for a first down on the 26. Needing six yards on another fourth down,
Ehlinger completed a pass down to the Cavs 2 yards for first and goal. Ehlinger ran the ball for the score to cut
the lead to 13-7 with 8:58 to play in the third quarter.
Lake Travis started their next drive on their own 37,
but promptly moved backwards. Brewer was
sacked for a 9 yard loss on third down. When
the Cavs punted, the Chap return man let the ball hit the ground and roll to
the Westlake 21 yard line. Ehlinger
completed a pass for 8 yards on first down for the Chaps, but was stopped short
on a third down quarterback keeper and could not pick up the first down. The Chaps punter shanked the kick out of
bounds on the Westlake 35. The Cavs
gained 45 yards in field position in the trade of punts.
Brewer guided the Cavs to a first and goal from the
Westlake 9. On second down from the 6, Brewer
connected with his receiver for a touchdown.
The Cavs were successful on a two point conversion to push the score to
21-7 with 4:16 left in the third quarter.
Many of the Westlake fans who had been late to arrive
at the game started to leave early. The
Chaps started their next drive from their 25 after the Cavs kick-off sailed
through the end zone. They moved the
ball to the Lake Travis 38 where the drive stalled. The third quarter ended after the Chaps punt
was downed on the Cavs 1 yard line.
The Cavs took over under the shadows of their goal
posts. On third and 1 from the 10 yard
line, Santiago Villegas (replacing an injured Abe Willows), ran a sweep for 49
yards to the Chaps 41. Two plays later,
Brewer connected with Cade Green for a 37 yard touchdown to make the score 28-7
with 10:07 left to play in the game.
As the Lake Travis fans chanted “Overrated! Overrated!”,
more and more Westlake fans streamed out of the stadium. The Cavs scored again to make it 35-7 on a 15
yard run by Brewer. With less than two
minutes left in the game, it started to mist.
As Westlake moved the ball down field, the occasional rain drop started
to fall. The Chaps scored a pride
touchdown as Ehlinger connected with Reed Klubnik from the Cavs 8 yard line
with 2 seconds left to play.
The final score was 35-14, but it really wasn’t that
close. Westlake had virtually no running
game outside of the quarterback keepers run by Sam Ehlinger. When he tried to pass, he spent much of the
time running for his life under the intense pressure applied by the Cavs
defense. He was limited to 114 yards
passing and 75 yards on the ground. Coach
Todd Dodge was not very imaginative in his play calling for Westlake. Lake Travis lost their fine running back Abe
Willows to a possible season ending leg injury in the first quarter. Santiago Villegas filled in well. His 49 yard burst to start the fourth
quarter, when the game was only 21-7, was the final dagger to the Chaps
heart. Charlie Brewer passed for 175
yards (three touchdowns, one 2 point conversion) and ran for 76 yards (one
touchdown).
A word about the Westlake fans. The visitor side of the stadium was packed
well before the game started. Many of the
Westlake fans showed up much after the game started, even into the second
quarter. Yes, there was the threat of
rain, but this was a big rivalry game between two highly ranked and unbeaten
teams. All of the seats on the home side
were reserved, but these people kept changing seats and moving around the whole
time, often making it difficult to watch the game. In the middle of the third quarter, with the
Chaps down 21-7, lots of Westlake fans left early. Maybe they were only at the game to see their
kid in the band or their daughter in the drill team. As the game moved into the fourth quarter and
Lake Travis extended their lead, I feared I might be the last person sitting on
the Westlake side. It started to mist
late in the fourth quarter and small raindrops fell as the Chaps scored their
last touchdown. Instead of being
football fans, I think most of the Westlake people where just there to attend a
social event.
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