All eyes on Austin for a battle between 6A titans

[caption id="attachment_23013" align="alignright" width="350"]Lake Travis vs Westlake Photo by Graham Staniforth[/caption] The focus in Class 6A shifts to the capital city in Week 7. Defending state runner-ups Lake Travis and Westlake continue a long-standing rivalry with bragging rights and a district championship on the line. It could also be a preview of a future Region IV title game if both teams are Division I. Last year, Lake Travis went Division II, while Westlake was Division I. District realignment made it impossible for Lake Travis to qualify for Division II, but Westlake holds a slim chance of avoiding the biggest schools in the state. Westlake is the third biggest school in the district with Lake Travis and Hays Consolidated having higher enrollment. Lake Travis will reach the playoffs, so to avoid Division I, the Chaparrals root for the Hays down the stretch. The Rebels are 0-2 in district play, but those losses came to Lake Travis and Westlake, respectively. Lake Travis won this contest by 21 points in 2015. A fact Westlake surely remembers harshly. The Cavaliers are on a four-game winning streak and hold an advantage coming off an open week. The extra week of preparation can’t hurt, even if Westlake spent much of last week cross-preparing for this upcoming clash. Both towns circle this game on the calendar, as the winning earns bragging rights as the best team in the city. Westlake started the season with a home win over defending champion Katy. The excitement turned into fear when quarterback and Longhorn commit Sam Ehlinger required knee surgery. A loss to Liberty out of Nevada followed before the program found a running game in wins over Pflugerville, Vandegrift and Bowie. He returned last week with over 200 yards passing in one half of action in the blowout win over Hays. Lake Travis suffered an opposite fate in Week 1, falling to Converse Judson at home. The Cavaliers played sluggishly on offense and eventually conceded the upset when the defense couldn't find an answer for Julon Williams and the Rockets offense in the fourth quarter. Since then, Lake Travis looks the part of a former No. 1 ranked team. An overtime win over Cibolo Steele was followed by dominant victories over Dallas Jesuit, Hendrickson and Hays. A win provides momentum, but a loss derails no dream for either team.

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