Westbrook wins back-to-back six-man state championships after rout over Abbott
Last season, Westbrook won its first state football title, a down-to-the-wire 72-66 victory over May.
This time around, the Wildcats could breathe better.
Westbrook scored the final 31 points to defeat Abbott 69-24 in the Class 1A/Six-man Division 1 state championship on Wednesday at AT&T Stadium.
“Pretty excited. It’s tough to get back. You have to have a little bit of luck go your way,” Westbrook coach Homer Matlock said. “But it’s no different for us. We were blessed to be here. We wanted to soak it in and enjoy it. The kids came out and played a good game.”
Westbrook (14-1) ended the game via mercy rule (45 points) with a 13-yard touchdown run from Cedric Ware. Ware was voted state title game offensive and defensive MVP. He finished with 142 yards rushing on 14 carries and four touchdowns plus a 34-yard TD catch and eight total tackles, six solo tackles and a tackle for loss.
The Wildcats got out to a 16-0 lead on Ware’s 34-yard TD catch from quarterback Parker Matlock. Then Matlock hit Grayson Jeffrey for a 32-yard score with 23 seconds left in the first quarter.
Abbott (14-1), in its third trip to state and first since winning its only title in 2015, cut it to 16-8 with 8:13 left on the second-quarter clock when Isaiah Singleton-Brooks rushed it in from six yards out.
Jeffrey upped the lead to 24-8 after his 4-yard TD run followed by a 1-yard run from Abbott’s Mason Hejl to make it 24-16 with 1:29 left in the half.
Westbrook added to its lead on a 6-yard run from Jeffrey. The Wildcats led 32-16 at halftime.
“Can’t play behind the chains. They’re hard to block, they’re so athletic. Defense started as well as we could, we just couldn’t capitalize,” Abbott coach Terry Crawford said. “They’re a tough defense. We haven’t seen anything like that. Their dudes are quick. We just made too many mistakes on the big stage.”
Ware also scored on runs from 56, 11 and 7 yards, the last one extending the lead to 54-24 late in the third quarter. Jeffrey threw a 29-yard TD pass to Colton Walters to make it 61-24 with 9:30 to play.
Karsyn Johnson threw a 29-yard TD to Joey Pavelka to complete Abbott’s scoring.
“This loss won’t define us. I’d go to war with these guys any day,” Crawford said.
Westbrook out-gained Abbott 400-125 in total yards with 280-17 coming on the ground. Jeffrey added 138 yards on 15 carries for the Wildcats plus two catches for 43 yards. Jeffrey also had six tackles and two for loss.
Matlock had an interception on defense.
Johnson threw for 105 yards on 9 of 14 attempts to lead Abbott.
He had seven tackles and one for loss on defense.
“I have good coaches on staff. Our defense doesn’t get the credit they should throughout the year,” Matlock said. “We’ve played number ones, twos and threes all year long, and our defense is still was pretty good. This afternoon we put on a display. Proud of our defense.”
