By Jay Plotkin

One thing is crystal clear as the Region IV-4A semifinal matchup between Lake Travis and Alice draws near: fans are passionate about their teams.
With their team 12-0, the entire Alice community is excited about Friday night’s game, and rightfully so. If the Coyotes have dreams of winning it all, then the Cavaliers are nothing more than a step – albeit a giant step — along the way, and their fans are more eager to go along for the ride.

More than 10,000 fans are expected to make the trip to San Antonio from Alice to watch the game, and Lake Travis coach Chad Morris said earlier this week he’s hoping for a similar turnout from the Cavalier faithful.
What they’ll see when the teams line up is anyone’s guess at this point, but fans on both sides think they know what has to transpire for their favorite team to win. From the Alice fans’ perspective, the Cavaliers are little more than a “QB with a arm” and a defense that can be handled.
Lake Travis fans have pretty much kept to themselves. Either they don’t care to engage in witty web banter or they’re just keeping a quiet sense of confidence that comes with a 26-game winning streak and having watched that “QB with a arm” assault the state passing records for three years.
Here are a few more observations about Friday’s matchup from a mostly impartial source, though I have to admit it has been fun to watch that QB play for three years.
• Okay, let’s talk about that QB
His name is Garrett Gilbert, and to say he’s all Lake Travis has is to say Texas beat USC in 2005 because all they had was Vince Young. Obviously, Gilbert is Cavaliers’ top player, but he’s not giving himself time to throw and he’s not passing to himself. The Cavaliers offensive line is among the best in the state – led by senior tackle Paden Kelley, who like Gilbert will play his college football in Austin. Cade McCrary is the region’s top receiver, but he’s far from a one-man show. Austin Pollard, Conner Floyd, Andy Erickson and Chris Aydam have all had big games and big catches this season.
As for Gilbert, he’ll finish his career as the second most prolific quarterback in state history. He already holds the single-season records for yards, completions and attempts. He’s thrown for more than 11,000 yards in his career with 124 touchdowns and only 25 interceptions. And he’s currently the second-best high school quarterback in the country, according to ESPN’s recruit rankings.
He really likes the Alamodome, too. In leading the Cavaliers to the Region IV-4A title last year over Beeville Jones, Gilbert threw for seven scores and ran for an eighth. Earlier this year, he threw for another three scores to lead Lake Travis to a win over 5A Westwood.

• Rankings, anyone?
According to many of the outlets who rank high school football teams, last weekend’s Lake Travis-Steele game pitted the two toughest teams in Region IV. According to the Associated Press and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, the Cavaliers are the top ranked team 4A in the state. Have been all year. Steele came into last week’s game ranked 10th according to DCTF. MaxPreps ranks Lake Travis sixth in Texas among all classifications. ESPN Rise has Lake Travis ranked 2nd in the southwest region (all classifications in Texas, Oklahoma and surrounding states) and 7th nationally. Alice is ranked 19th by DCTF.
Of course rankings don’t mean much, as Lake Travis proved last year. Unranked heading into the playoffs, the Cavaliers marched their way to the title, dismantling among others 2nd ranked Calallen 45-14 in a game that wasn’t that close.

• Speaking of Calallen
In last year’s regional semifinal, Lake Travis led Calallen 38-0 at the half. Lake Travis dusted off its running game and controlled things from the get-go. This year Alice also defeated Calallen, by a field goal early in the season.
Comparative scores don’t show anything, especially when they are seasons apart, but from watching Lake Travis closely this year, the 2008 Cavaliers are better up front and overall defensively in than the state championship group of a year ago.

Take it for what it’s worth, Alice fans. Enjoy the game.