2025 record: 7-4, 4-2 in Region 2 (3rd place)

Playoffs: Lost to Syracuse 31-28 in the first round

Players to Watch: Malik Sika Sr. WR, Linkin Lee Sr. DB, Sosefo Lopa Sr. LB, Slone Sua Sr. WR, Ashton Taylor Sr. RB

Outlook: Winning hasn’t come easy at Westlake, although last season’s mark set is one that Westlake coach Arnold Ale hopes to keep rolling as the team prepares for a second-straight winning season.

“Last year was only the second winning season in Westlake history, so it was big for us and this program,” Ale said. “We have a lot of returners here off of last year’s team and then have a lot of good developing talent. So getting that second-straight winning season is definitely what we’re hoping for and it’s something that’s never been done before here at Westlake.

Leading the charge for the Thunder will be perhaps the top receiving duo in the state with Malik Sika and Slone Sua hoping to boost an offense that will be breaking in a new young quarterback.

“Silas Taumoepeau is going to be our quarterback and he’s just a sophomore,” Ale said. “So we’re expecting some growing pains from him, but we’re also expecting him to step up because he’s really talented and he’s going to have what I believe are the best two receivers in the state to throw to.”

“Overall we have a good group of returning players on defense and we’re going to keep it going and improving,” Ale concluded. “We believe we can build one of the top programs in the state here and last year we had some good success. But we can’t rest. We have to keep it going.”

What is your favorite team building activity? “We make it a point to have many team-bonded activities away from the practice field. I feel it’s very important to build unity in every team,” Ale said. “Our kids cleaned out pig pens in an animal shelter and it was good, hard labor. We also did some fun things like river rafting down the Provo River, but yeah, we try and do a lot to build the best unity we can heading into any season.”