North Shore knocks off Austin Westlake, advances to state championship game

PFLUGERVILLE — North Shore’s football team is one step closer to getting back what the Mustangs feel is theirs.

An incredible defensive effort and prolific, methodical running game speared North Shore to a 23-14 win over Austin Westlake in the Class 6A Division I semifinal Saturday afternoon at The Pfield.

For the fifth time in six years, North Shore is headed to the state championship game. The Mustangs ended the Chaps’ season for the second time in three years and improved to 3-1 against their pesky Region IV rivals.

And for the fifth time in six years, North Shore (15-0) will square off against Duncanville (13-1) in the state championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The Mustangs are 3-1 all-time in the state final against the Panthers. But that setback came in a 28-21 loss last year.

North Shore beat Duncanville in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

“That was the goal,” said North Shore junior defensive back Devin Sanchez, who had a clutch late pass breakup. “Get back to state and get back what we lost last year.”

On a windy evening in central Texas, North Shore held Westlake to 114 total yards and forced three turnovers. The Mustangs compiled 309 total yards, 203 rushing, and did not turn the ball over.

North Shore had 54 runs to 15 passes, strategically running against the wind and electing to pass more with it.

“We wanted to be physical enough to try and run the ball, but we also wanted to make sure, with this wind, to play good, smart football and grind out that clock a little bit and put pressure on those guys,” North Shore coach Willie Gaston said. “I thought we did a good job of that at times.”

Ahead 17-14 late in the fourth quarter, North Shore had takeaways on the Chaps’ final two offensive drives.

On the next-to-last drive, Sanchez deflected a throw to receiver Brody Wilhelm deep in Westlake territory along the home sideline that fell into the hands of senior linebacker Jarvon Coles. Coles, who had two interceptions Saturday, returned the ball to the Westlake 5 with 1:49 left.

“I looked at the sideline and my coaches were telling me (it was a) back-shoulder ball,” Sanchez said. “I knew that back shoulder was coming. They hit it earlier in the drive. I just played low on the hip. I didn’t even try to go for the pick. I just tried to get the ball out of the receiver’s hands.”

North Shore turned it over on downs at the Westlake 6 with 10 seconds left, choosing to exhaust clock rather than make a concerted effort to score.

On Westlake’s second play from scrimmage that final drive, another errant throw by Westlake sophomore quarterback Rees Wise was tipped and collected by North Shore junior linebacker Charles Ross in the end zone as time expired.

“That was the game of the year for our defense,” Sanchez said. “Anytime you go against a good opponent, you have to come out on top and don’t play down to their level. If we just play North Shore ball … we’re the top defense in the state.”

Westlake generated just 2.7 yards per play. The passing game was rendered particularly ineffective.

Wise completed 3 of 18 passes for 29 yards, threw three interceptions and was sacked four times.

“They’re big up front,” Westlake coach Tony Salazar said of North Shore’s defense. “They’re strong, they pack the box. They have big, long corners playing press-man out there, taking away the quick throws. We didn’t have consistency running the football and stayed behind the chains. We lost some downs and allowed them to tee off on the run.”

Westlake has just two losses this decade. Both have come to North Shore.

“When they have talent like that and coaches like that, they do what they do until you stop it,” Salazar said. “I thought we stopped it enough times today. We just weren’t able to score enough points to keep up with them.”

Westlake jumped out to a 7-0 start on a Wise 9-yard run, continuing a trend of slow starts this postseason for North Shore.

The Mustangs evened things on junior quarterback Kaleb Bailey’s 1-yard run with 6:36 left in the second quarter. Bailey was initially stopped, then spun to his right to get into the end zone.

A D’Andre Hardeman 9-yard run with 2:35 left in the first half awarded North Shore a 14-7 lead at the break.

Senior running back Jack Kayser, No. 2 on Westlake’s all-time career rushing board, burst to his right on the Chaps’ first play from scrimmage 16 seconds into the second half to tie the game.

North Shore junior kicker Jonathan Soto, who missed a 41-yard field goal at the first half buzzer, redeemed himself with a 26-yarder with 6:13 left in the third quarter.

Ross’ pick in the end zone at the final buzzer concluded the scoring.

Bailey, who did not play in last year’s meeting with Westlake due to an early season ACL tear, said he was speechless to have the chance at returning to Jerry World.

He helped North Shore to the state title as a freshman in 2021.

“God put me in a position to be where I’m at,” Bailey said. “He had better things for me.

“The job’s not finished. That’s all I’ve got to say. We’ve got unfinished business. We’ve got one more week. One more week.”

Bailey rushed for 70 yards on 21 carries and completed 11 of 15 passes for 106 yards.

Hardeman had 117 yards on 30 carries.

“They moved around a lot,” Bailey said of the North Shore defense. “They didn’t know what they really wanted to do. We just had to run the ball and be physical with them.”

Gaston said he was proud of the way his team played complementary football. At times, the offense put the defense in precarious situations.

Now the Mustangs get a shot at a sixth state championship.

“We’ve got to finish,” Gaston said. “That’s the biggest thing. We’ve just got to get ready to go to work.”