DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) — Thanks to huge plays on special teams, the Westlake Chaparrals had a short field essentially the entire game and blew out the Del Valle Cardinals 73-7 on Friday at Veterans Stadium.

Westlake’s average starting field position was at the Del Valle 33-yard line, and with all the scoring the Chaps’ coaching staff was able to get plenty of the reserves a lot of quality playing time.

It was the Chaps’ 45th consecutive win, which moves them to No. 7 all-time on the Texas high school football longest winning streak list. They passed the Cuero Gobblers who racked up 44 straight wins from 1973-75. Next on the list? Lake Travis’ 48 straight wins between 2007-2010.

The Chaps racked up 349 total yards on offense and held Del Valle to 103 yards. After the first quarter, Del Valle had 117 yards of total offense, so the Chaps made the Cardinals go backward 14 yards the rest of the game.

Westlake running backs Nate Acosta and Jack Kayser combined for five touchdowns, Acosta with three and Kayser with a pair. Brad Mays, Brody Wilhelm and Grady Bartlett also scored touchdowns on the ground for the Chaps. For Mays and Wilhelm, it was the first touchdowns of their varsity careers.

Chaps quarterback Brett Skinner threw a touchdown to Keaton Kubecka in the second quarter, and Jaden Greathouse returned a punt 54 yards for a touchdown with five seconds left in the first quarter. It was his third punt return score of the season and gave the Chaps a 24-7 lead after it looked like the Cardinals were going to make things interesting.

Del Valle showed spurts of big-play ability, mostly behind speedy wide receiver Lawrence Falke. For Del Valle’s lone score of the game, Falke took a short pass and showed off his speed, blowing past Westlake defenders for a 71-yard touchdown.

Westlake (5-0, 3-0) takes on Anderson next week. It doesn’t get any easier for Del Valle (1-5, 1-3) as they take on Lake Travis next week.

Game log

Final: Chaps 73, Cardinals 7. That makes it 45 in a row for the Chaps.

11:57 4Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE – Grady Bartlett barrels into the end zone for 5 yards out. The backups have been in for quite a while for Westlake, but they also want to play football and it’s not fair to them to just kneel on the ball and run the clock out. PAT good. Chaps 73, Cardinals 7

End 3Q: Chaps 66, Cardinals 7

1:11 3Q: Westlake QB Marson Monsivais mishandles a 4th-and-short snap and gets brought down behind the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs. Del Valle takes over on its own 10-yard line.

3:57 3Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE – Brad Mays gets his first varsity rushing touchdown of his career, this from 8 yards out. Mays was the featured back on the drive for the Chaps. PAT good. Chaps 66, Cardinals 7

7:24 3Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE – Brody Wilhelm hauls in his first varsity touchdown on an 11-yard pass from Skinner. PAT good. Chaps 59, Cardinals 7

10:18 3Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE – Acosta scores his third touchdown of the game with a 2-yard run after the botched Del Valle punt. PAT good. Chaps 52, Cardinals 7.

10:32 3Q: Del Valle’s punting woes continue as a bad snap leads to the punter picking the ball up and throwing it out of bounds to avoid getting tackled in the end zone.

11:40 3Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE – After a huge kickoff return by Stephen Fuqua, Kayser takes the first play from scrimmage in the second half to the end zone on a 16-yard run. PAT good. Chaps 45, Cardinals 7

12:00 3Q: Westlake will receive the second-half kickoff, and before the teams went to the halftime locker room, Chaps head coach Tony Salazar said he wanted his team to “play faster.” We’ll see what happens.

Halftime: Chaps 38, Cardinals 7. Del Valle showed flashes of great offensive potential, but the Westlake defense is just too much and the Chaps’ offense is humming along. Del Valle has -35 rushing yards as the swarming Westlake defense worked during the first half.

4:25 2Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE – Keaton Kubecka reels in a 9-yard TD pass from Brett Skinner. Kubecka’s catch on the sideline would have been good in the NFL with both feet in bounds. Nice throw to the back shoulder by Skinner, nice grab by Kubecka. PAT good. Chaps 38, Cardinals 7

7:29 2Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE – Nate Acosta blasts straight up the middle for 23 yards, his second TD of the night. PAT good. Chaps 31, Cardinals 7.

End 1Q: Chaps 24, Cardinals 7. Max Gerlich in at QB for Del Valle to start the second quarter.

0:05 1Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE – When he’s not catching touchdowns, he’s returning them. Jaden Greathouse takes a Del Valle punt to the house for a 54-yard touchdown. It’s his third punt return touchdown of the season. PAT good. Chaps 24, Cardinals 7

1:32 1Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE – Jack Kayser rumbles in from 11 yards out. PAT good. Chaps 17, Cardinals 7

2:51 1Q: TOUCHDOWN DEL VALLE – Falke is fast! Falke takes a short pass from Fernett and burns past Westlake defenders for a 71-yard catch and run touchdown. Huge play for the Cardinals. PAT good. Chaps 10, Cardinals 7

3:37 1Q: TOUCHDOWN WESTLAKE – Nate Acosta scores his third rushing TD of the year with a 2-yard score. PAT good. 5 plays, 75 yards with three straight runs of more than 20 yards. Chaps 10, Cardinals 0

4:34 1Q: Del Valle’s drive stalls and the Cardinals missed a 43-yard field goal try. Westlake takes over on its own 26-yard line.

5:55 1Q: Del Valle QB Allen Fernett scrambles away from Westlake defenders and lofts a high-arcing pass that finds Lawrence Falke for a big 29-yard game. Tack on a 15-yard Westlake penalty to that, and the Cardinals are in business deep in Westlake territory near the 20.

7:10 1Q: It appears to be a disaster for the Cardinals after punter Matthew Lozano mishandles the snap and Westlake recovers it in the end zone, but an offsides penalty on the Chaps turns that into a 4th-and-1, which Del Valle converted to keep possession.

9:03 1Q: FIELD GOAL WESTLAKE – Carter Ege boots a 26-yarder through the uprights and the Chaps are on the board. 4-play, 5-yard drive. Chaps 3, Cardinals 0

10:26 1Q: Adventures in Special Teams, Westlake edition – The Chaps force Del Valle to punt after a 3-and-out, and the punt drives Jaden Greathouse back to his own 45 to receive it. Greathouse races down the sideline and a Del Valle tackler punches the ball loose, and it looked like the Cardinals jumped on. But somehow, some way, the ball squirts loose around a flock of Cardinals and Westlake’s Nathan Blue recovers it. Wild stuff already.

12:00 1Q: Westlake wins the coin toss and differs its choice to the second half. Del Valle will receive the opening kick.