By Jay Plotkin

Lake Travis’ high-octane offense gets all the attention, but Friday night the defense stole the show.
Led by safety Michael Streuling’s two interceptions and blocked punt, the Lake Travis defense put the clamps on a Dripping Springs team eager to win a battle of unbeatens. The Cavaliers held the Tigers out of the end zone and made sure the offense had all the time it needed to get untracked. They did, and the result was a 42-3 win over the arch-rival Tigers and a 23rd straight win.
“Our defense was great tonight,” said coach Chad Morris. “Our offense struggled early and our defense kept bailing us out and kept the pressure on [the Tigers].”
Dripping Springs led 3-0 after the first quarter when Streuling stepped in front of Jacob’s Moore’s pass at midfield and returned it 23 yards to the Dripping Springs 27. The turnover sapped the Tigers’ early momentum and set up Garrett Gilbert’s 1-yard run for a 7-3 lead.
After the teams traded punts, Streuling set up the Cavaliers’ next score by blocking a Dripping Springs punt after Cory Bonner bobbled the snap. Andy Erickson scored on the next play and the Cavaliers had some breathing room, up 14-3.
Lake Travis defense forced another punt, and the Cavaliers scored on a 2-yard pass from Gilbert to Colton Volpe to take a 21-3 lead. Gilbert scrambled for 33 yards and then found Chris Aydam on a screen that went to the 2-yard line before hitting Volpe on a play-action pass.
Streuling capped a stellar half by intercepting Moore’s last-second heave.
“We had a great came plan,” he said. “All the credit goes to coach [Hank] Carter. He had a great scheme and we were able to handle everything they tried to do.”
The Tigers’ last real challenge came on the opening drive of the second half. A methodical march that began at their own 20 lasted nearly eight minutes but came up empty. Aided by two personal fouls and a pass interference penalty against the Lake Travis defense, the Tigers marched 74 yards in 17 plays before facing a fourth and goal from the Lake Travis six. Coach Bob Schultz tried some trickery after a timeout. The Tigers put both of their quarterbacks – Moore and Jeffrey Tuck – on the field at the same time. Tuck lined up at running back, took a pitch from Moore and tried to throw a half-back pass. But the Lake Travis defense was waiting and brought him down in the backfield.
Four plays and a mere minute later, not counting Gilbert’s 72-yard scramble for a touchdown that was called back due to a holding penalty, the Cavaliers scored to take a 28-3 lead and put the game away. After Gilbert’s run was called back, Volpe took a screen pass and rambled 64 yards to the Dripping Springs 18, and Aydam scored on the next play, executing the version of the statue of liberty made famous by Boise State.
Aydam added a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter, and Gilbert connected with Austin Pollard on a 26-yard pass to close the scoring.
Gilbert, who averages better than 300 yards per game through the air, struggled early but finished strong. He threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns with only his second interception of the season. He also ran the ball well, something Morris said he was happy to see, gaining 67 yards on just seven rushes. He had the 72-yarder called back.
“Garrett had a hard time finding his rhythm tonight, and that’s going to happen sometimes,” he said. “It’s okay. Then he made some plays with his feet, which I thought helped, even if the long one did get called back.”
No worries, though, thanks to the defense. The Cavaliers kept Moore and Tuck in check on the ground, allowing the Tigers only 68 yards on 37 attempts. Lake Travis forced three interceptions and allowed only 112 yards passing for a total of 180 yards.
“We thought coming in we would be able to handle everything they wanted to do,” Streuling said. “Our scheme was amazing.”

Notes: The Cavaliers wore red jerseys for the first time. Defensive end/punter Ryan Erxleben left the game with an injury in the first half and did not return. He left the stadium. Lake Travis’ first-team defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown since the opening drive of the district-opening win over Hutto, 19 quarters ago.