AUSTIN – A forceful Westlake Chaparrals aerial assault, anchored by the arm of quarterback Taylor Anderson, sunk the Hays Rebels in a 70-14 blowout loss Friday at Chaparrals Stadium.

Hays (7-1, 5-1) couldn’t stop Westlake’s offense from inflicting damage early and often. Anderson carried the load by going 10 of 13 for 259 yards and five touchdowns passing. Wide receiver Mason Mangum was Anderson’s primary target as he caught five passes for 169 yards and a trio of touchdowns.

[pullquote]25-6A Standings
*Top 4 make playoffs

Westlake 6-0
Hays 5-1
Lake Travis 5-1
Bowie 4-2
Anderson 4-2
Del Valle 2-5
Akins 1-5
Austin 1-6
Lehman 0-6[/pullquote]On the opposite end, Westlake’s defense shut down the Rebel Slot-T attack and limited Hays to 264 total yards. The Chaps also forced three Rebel turnovers, including an interception returned for a touchdown.

Those factors helped Westlake speed out to a 28-0 first quarter lead.

Hays’ lone response of the first half came on a methodical 12-play, 75 yard drive in the second frame. A 17 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Xavier Martinez to running back Sam Scott capped off the drive and cut Westlake’s lead to 28-7. Rebel running back Xavier Green led the team with 62 yards on 11 carries, while running back Bobby Green finished with 45 yards on six carries and a rushing touchdown.

Westlake, however, stepped on the accelerator and scored 42 more unanswered points the rest of the way. Bobby Green punched in a 21 yard touchdown run late in the fourth frame.

Hays returns home Friday to play Lake Travis. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Shelton Stadium.

Playoff positioning projections

In Class 6A, the top four teams that qualify for the postseason are split into Division I and Division II, which is based off of student enrollment numbers.

So, if the regular season ended today…

Hays (2,988) and Lake Travis (3,085) would be in Division I, while Westlake (2,706) and Bowie (2,873) would be Division II.