WR Keaton Kubecka shining as Westlake marches into high school football postseason
Westlake senior wide receiver Keaton Kubecka has the look of an FBS player.
Standing 6 feet, 3 inches with long arms, speed to burn and the ability to run crisp routes, Kubecka would likely be the center of attention if he played for anyone else besides the Chaps.
With his future college coach in attendance to see him play Thursday at Burger Stadium, Kubecka put on a show.
Making several highlight-reel catches, Kubecka finished with nine receptions for 143 yards and two touchdowns as Westlake shut out Bowie 45-0, showing Kansas coach Lance Leipold another glimpse of what he’s getting in Lawrence next fall.
“Our offensive line and quarterback make it easy for me — I just have to run and get open and the ball’s there,” Kubecka said. “Our coaches are some of the best in the country, so they make great calls and I just have to run the route they call.”
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You can add modesty to what Kubecka will take to the Jayhawks, but he actually played a part in how things played out Thursday, most notably winning a 50-50 ball on his 19-yard TD reception early in the third quarter.
“We say all the time that the ball is 80-20, so the coaches expect us to come down with those,” Kubecka quipped. “(Westlake quarterback Paxton Land) gave me a shot at it and I just went up for it and got it.”
Lining up on the other side of the field from fellow Westlake wideout Jaden Greathouse — a four-star recruit, Notre Dame pledge and arguably the best athlete in Central Texas — Kubecka may fly under the radar a bit.
But Westlake coach Tony Salazar noted he’s as crucial to what the Chaps do as any player on the roster.
“When the opportunity is there, Keaton is going to make a play,” he said. “We’ve asked him to block a lot this year, but when they stacked the box like they did today, you get one-on-one opportunities and he went out and made some exceptional plays.”
Moving to the Austin area from outside of Houston prior to his sophomore year, Kubecka said he’s become much more unselfish and doesn’t worry about if or how many times he gets the ball.
“(Westlake) really changed me,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in my blocking, so watching (Chaps running back Jackson Kayser) go 80 yards for a touchdown gives me a lot of joy. Catching passes is cool, too, but blocking is a lot of fun.”
As the Chaps (9-0, 7-0 District 26-6A) rolled to their 49th consecutive win, they received their usual stout effort from their defense, which yielded less than 100 yards and quashed any hopes Bowie had of an upset.
Land, who finished with 305 yards and five touchdown passes, threw scoring strikes of 60 and 3 yards to Greathouse in the first half as Westlake took a 17-0 lead into the break.
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Kubecka’s standout TD catch capped a 77-yard drive to open the third quarter, then on the Chaps’ next possession he hauled in an 8-yard fade in the corner of the end zone for his second touchdown.
Land fired a 56-yard strike to Heath McRee and Tommy McIntyre returned an interception 74 yards in the fourth quarter to finish out the scoring.
Greathouse’s eight receptions for 113 yards was the other half of Westlake’s one-two receiving punch, while Kayser’s 83 rushing yards paced the Chaps ground game as they clinched the district’s No. 1 seed in the Class 6A Division I playoffs.
Though Kubecka is looking forward to playing in the Big 12 under Leipold a year from now, he’s focused on doing whatever he can over the next seven weeks to help the Chaps to a fourth straight state title.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time — we never disrespect an opponent,” he said. “We’ll keep on balling and rolling through what we do.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Westlake high school football WR Keaton Kubecka excelling this season
