DCTF Team to Watch: Westbrook has defeated not one, but two top 3 teams already

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In his preseason survey, coach Homer Matlock said his Westbrook team wanted to get off to a fast start in 2020 after missing the 1A-1 playoffs in 2019.

Two weeks into the season, the Wildcats aren’t just off to a fast start. They are flying.

For openers, they handled 1A-2 No. 2 Motley County 58-36. The DCTF computers considered Motley County and prolific running back Jake Richards a 46-point favorite.

“We didn’t shut him down by any stretch,” Matlock said of his team’s defensive effort against Richards. “But we did just enough to slow him down some. We got up early and our offense kept scoring to keep us ahead.”

Friday night against 1A-1 No. 3 Borden County, the Wildcats proved their week 1 performance was no flash in anyone’s pan.  A 25-point underdog according to the computer, Westbrook put together another double-digit win, topping the Coyotes 44-30 in a game tied 16-16 at the half.

Jake Walters and Jimmy Roberts Jr. set the tone for Westbrook defensively against Borden County, and Shammah Stark’s passing sparked the offense.

“He had an amazing game,” Matlock said of Stark. “He threw some bombs and looked really good, and Kenan Morris made some amazing catches. When the guys are playing like that, it’s pretty easy to coach.”

Westbrook missed the playoffs last season, and while that proved frustrating the Wildcats didn’t sulk. A group that returned all its starters – only two players who played significant snaps graduated –quality opponents tough and returned ready to make something happen.

“Last year everyone thought I was crazy because we scheduled teams that were ranked No. 1, 3, 4 and 7,” Matlock said. “Our kids adjusted and picked up their play and we were in a lot of those games. That gave us confidence coming into this season.”

That confidence grew when the Wildcats went toe-to-toe with the likes of Richland Springs, Baird and Newcastle in a four-team, preseason scrimmage.

“All of those teams were ranked better than we were,” Matlock said. “I thought our scrimmage went really well, and we felt like we looked good. That let us carry more confidence into the game against Motley County.”

Now, Matlock said, the challenge is bottling that confidence and continuing to do the little things every day that have led to the early success.  

“We want to bottle this up and take it every day and do our job,” Matlock said. “The kids believe they have something that can be special. We’ll just have to see.”

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