<\/p>\n
Westlake players celebrate a touchdown by running back C.J. Jones (43) during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Rain and lightning delays impacted the first Friday night<\/a> of the 2026 Central Texas<\/a> high school football season, but not enough to prevent some highly anticipated games from being played.<\/p>\n Westlake rallied past Inglewood, Calif. late for a 33-26 state vs. state win, Weiss blew\u00a0past Round Rock<\/a> in a matchup of two of the American-Statesman’s top 10 area preseason teams, Vandegrift <\/a>survived a three-hour delay to win in San Antonio in overtime and five Austin-area teams posted shutout victories \u2014 including the\u00a0Legacy Ranch Wranglers<\/a>, Central Texas’ newest school.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Trae Collins on a run for Weiss. Weiss won a non-district football game 42-28 at Round Rock on August 28th, 2026.<\/p>\n Henry Huey\/Special to American-Statesman<\/p>\n Central Texas Week 1 scoreboard<\/p>\n Legacy Ranch head coach Tim Knicky, center, celebrates with Wranglers player Jamahri Gardner during the 59-0 win over Manor New Tech on Friday, August 28, 2026 at Wrangler Stadium. It was the very first varsity game in school history for Legacy Ranch.<\/p>\n Paul Knight\/Special to American-Statesman Legacy Ranch quarterback Will Cunningham is tackled by a host of Manor New Tech defenders during their game on Friday, August 28, 2026 at Wrangler Stadium in Liberty Hill, Texas. Legacy Ranch won 59-0 in its first-ever varsity football game.<\/p>\n Paul Knight\/Special to American-Statesman Members of the Legacy Ranch High School band watch from the stands during the Wranglers’ 59-0 win over Manor New Tech on August 28, 2026 at Wrangler Stadium. It was the first varsity game for Legacy Ranch, Central Texas’ newest high school.<\/p>\n Paul Knight\/Special to American-Statesman Johnson defensive back Omar Picott (8) watches a pass during the game against Anderson at Hays High School on Thursday, August. 27, 2026 in Kyle, Texas.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake defensive back Freddie Tester (36) celebrates a defensive stop during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake defensive back Mateus Teixeira (29) and linebacker Tate Lung (40) celebrate a defensive stop during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake receiver Rhett Jenkins (1) evades a tackle by Inglewood’s Jamir Belote (20) during the game at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake head coach Tony Salazar walks the field ahead of the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake running back C.J. Jones (43) runs the ball during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman From left, Westlake players Holden Helms, Jackson Cook, and Rhett Jenkins take the field for the coin toss ahead of the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake running back C.J. Jones (43) runs the ball during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake receiver Nash Chapman (14) jumps for a touchdown catch during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake receiver Rhett Jenkins (1) celebrates a touchdown by receiver Nash Chapman (14) during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Inglewood receiver Marlon Watson (8) hurdles Westlake defensive back Trent Reeves (31) during the game at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Inglewood receiver Andre Williams (10) is tackled suring the game against Westlake at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake quarterback Patton Jones (3) runs the ball during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Inglewood linebacker Jordan Williams (18) breaks up a pass intended for Westlake receiver Rhett Jenkins (1) during the game at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake quarterback Patton Jones (3) runs the ball during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Inglewood linebacker Jordan Williams (18) breaks up a pass intended for Westlake receiver Rhett Jenkins (1) during the game at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Inglewood running back Semaj Welch (4) dives for a touchdown during the game against Westlake at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake quarterback Patton Jones (3) prepares to snap the ball during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Inglewood quarterback Lincoln Jahn (1) is sacked by Westlake defensive end Colton Fromberg (0) and defensive lineman Heaton Dixon (91) during the game at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Inglewood running back Semaj Welch (4) is tackled by Westlake defensive back Rhett Henry (21) during the game at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake defensive end Colton Fromberg (0) and defensive lineman Heaton Dixon (91) celebrate a sack during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake defensive back Hank Fredenburg (9) returns a blocked extra point for a score during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake defensive back Hank Fredenburg (9) returns a blocked extra point for a score during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake quarterback Gain Galbreath (13) runs the ball during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake defensive back Freddie Tester (36) celebrates a blocked extra point returned for a score by defensive back Hank Fredenburg (9) during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake quarterback Patton Jones (3) throws a pass during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake defensive back Rhett Henry (21) celebrates a blocked extra point returned for a score by defensive back Hank Fredenburg (9) during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake receiver Braden Riddell (7) catches a pass during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake running back C.J. Jones (43) runs the ball during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake quarterback Patton Jones (3) runs the ball for a touchdown during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake linebacker Keenan Gotcher (37) misses a tackle on Inglewood receiver Allen Wilson (5) during the game at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake quarterback Patton Jones (3) runs the ball during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake receiver Rhett Jenkins (1) catches a pass during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake receiver Rhett Jenkins (1) is tackled during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake running back C.J. Jones (43) runs the ball for a touchdown during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Inglewood quarterback Lincoln Jahn (1) is sacked during the game against Westlake at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake players celebrate as time expires in the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake linebacker Tate Lung (40) celebrates after beating Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake players and head coach Tony Salazar celebrate after beating Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake offensive Lineman Jackson Cook (74) celebrates after beating Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake defensive back Freddie Tester (36) celebrates a defensive stop during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake running back C.J. Jones (43) runs the ball during the game against Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman Westlake linebacker Tate Lung (40) celebrates after beating Inglewood at Westlake High School on Friday, August. 28, 2026 in Austin.<\/p>\n Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Thursday’s games<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Liberty Hill 34, Killeen 30<\/p>\n Lake Belton 58, Vista Ridge 27<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Cedar Ridge 21, East View 6<\/p>\n Geronimo Navarro 27, McCallum 14<\/p>\n Friday’s games<\/p>\n Westlake 33, Ingleside,\u00a0Calif. 26<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Cedar Park 40, A&M Consolidated 35<\/p>\n Harker Heights 53, Hutto 50<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Vandegrift 28, S.A. Brennan 21 (OT)<\/p>\n S.A. Taft 27, Del Valle 21<\/p>\n Austin High at S.A. Wagner (canceled)<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Montgomery Lake Creek 52, Bastrop 34<\/p>\n Pflugerville 25, Leander 21<\/p>\n Belton 39, Hendrickson 17<\/p>\n Legacy Ranch 59, Manor New Tech 0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Cedar Creek 27, Travis 24<\/p>\n Lampasas 21, Gatesville 0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Rosebud-Lott 63, Florence 6<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Lockhart 35, Marble Falls 21<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Smithville 48, Austin Achieve 0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Canyon Lake at\u00a0Wimberley (canceled)<\/p>\n Saturday’s games<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Private schools<\/p>\n Regents 45, Brazos Christian 14<\/p>\n St. Michael’s 21, Covenant Christian 20<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n TMI-Episcopal 53, St. Dominic Savio 6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Westlake players celebrate a touchdown by running back C.J. Jones (43) during the game against Inglewood at Westlake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-420411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n