Friday Night Five: Westlake knocks off Lake Travis for the first time in 10 years

Westlake 21, Lake Travis 14 The last time the Chaps beat the Cavaliers, Garrett Gilbert was in his junior season at Lake Travis, and the Cavaliers would go on to win their first of five straight state championships. Baker Mayfield was 12 years old. Hank Carter was an assistant to Chad Morris at Stephenville. Todd Dodge was the head coach at North Texas. The last time Westlake beat Lake Travis, any Chaparral would have laughed at the idea that Lake Travis would ever be the premier football program in the Austin area. You get the picture, it was a long time ago. Now, the Chaparrals are in the driver's seat in district play, having already played and defeated Hays, Bowie and Lake Travis. Holliday 56, Nocona 14 It's not that Holliday won, it's that the Eagles rolled. Nocona has put together a nice season, entering this game with a 5-0 record and four shutouts. The Indians had allowed just 26 points in those five games, and Holliday more than doubled that total. Both teams lost in the first round of the playoffs last year, and didn't enter 2017 with high expectations outside of their own communities. Both look sharp, but it was Holliday with the plaudits tonight, and looming showdowns between both teams and Jacksboro should decide the district, especially after Jacksboro's defeat of perennial bully Henrietta. This will be a crazy district race. Pleasant Grove 41, Gilmer 38 Ask enough people who've seen Pleasant Grove this year, and they'll tell you there's something cooking in Texarkana. Josh Gibson's Hawks are special, and it showed with a gutsy win over one of the best teams in the state. Pleasant Grove went three rounds deep in the 2016 playoffs, looked great in 7-on-7 over the summer, and fought off the Buckeyes on the road in district play. Keep an eye on the Hawks, the fun looks like it's just getting started, and if you thought this game was fun, a rematch down the road in the playoffs could be in the cards. San Angelo Central 52, Midland Lee 28 Clint Hartman's rebuild at Lee has been an impressive one, and the Rebels entered Friday night's clash with the Angry Orange on a 6-0 run. But the Bobcats still look like the kings of the district with an offense that looks harder to contain by the week. There's something nostalgic about seeing these teams battle it out for district superiority with Permian, and we'll get to see another great clash in the Little Southwest Conference in two weeks when San Angelo Central hosts Permian. College Station 28, A&M Consolidated 17 The crosstown rivalry keeps going the Cougars' way, despite a surge by the Tigers under new head coach Lee Fedora. It's been easy to overlook College Station this season after early losses to Westlake and St. Pius X, but just like last year, the clash with Temple in the final week is starting to look like the district championship. For the Tigers, the loss probably shouldn't hurt too much (all budding rivalry animosity aside). A third place finish in the district is negligible with the toughest rounds in Region III likely coming in rounds three and later. Five more worth noting:Boerne 47, Fredericksburg 30 The Greyhounds appear to be for real after knocking off their two biggest challengers for the district crown in back-to-back weeks in Wimberley and Fredericksburg. Atascocita 38, North Shore 21 The Eagles might have found the guy to fill the shoes of former star QB Daveon Boyd, and it's Jack Roe, who ran circles around the Mustangs and has been on a tear lately. Tidehaven 48, Boling 27 Maybe Tidehaven has something. A string of impressive results was capped by yet another, and has us wondering if Lexington has company as a 3A DII Region IV favorite. Grandview 50, Kemp 23 Kemp led 16-14 at the half. Then the Zebras woke up, and they're starting to look like a heavy favorite in 3A DI Region II. Allen 38, Plano 10 Plano's nice start comes to a grinding halt against a behemoth known for doing that to the best teams.