Westlake-Cedar Ridge game stops after stadium transformers fail

The Westlake versus Cedar Ridge football game stopped early on Friday when stadium power failed.

The lights went out just before 7:40 p.m. during the second quarter of the District 25-6A contest at Chaparral Stadium. Eanes ISD officials identified two blown transformers as the cause, noting that one caught fire. Austin Energy crews were on site working on repairs while rain fell on the area.

Westlake led 20-7 at the time of the outage. The last play of the night was a nine-yard touchdown pass from Westlake quarterback Patton Jones to Nash Chapman. The Chaps did not attempt the extra point before the field went dark. Both teams remained undefeated in district play heading into this matchup, which featured the top two teams in the local Class 6A rankings.

Coach Tony Salazar of Westlake said he has experienced power failures during games in his career, but this is the first time one caused a postponement. He stated the team would go home to rest and return early Saturday morning for a noon kickoff. Cedar Ridge coach Bryan Vardeman, in his 23rd year of coaching, said he had never seen a transformer blow up and catch fire during a game. He described the locker room atmosphere as calm and viewed the break as a hard reset for his squad.

Approximately 400 fans were present in the stands despite the rain. Cellphone lights served as the primary illumination after the stadium went dark. Most spectators left within 30 minutes of the outage. The Westlake Hills Fire Department was on the field before the power loss and emergency personnel were seen exiting the press box afterward. The game is scheduled to resume at noon Saturday.