This is not a story about change, it’s a story about Lake Travis football staying the same.

An offseason of change is part of every year for the Cavaliers, just like any program. Some changes are more pronounced than others, and the changes in the last six months certainly weren’t insignificant. But they never are.
Look at the many strengths of the state’s hottest football team over the last four years, and the most obvious come to mind immediately: prolific offense, great coaching, great quarterback play and big defensive plays.

What is often overlooked is the team’s incredible ability to weather change. That’s why change isn’t significant. Change is just part of being the most successful program in Texas. Former defensive coordinator Hank Carter is now the head coach. CenTex Player of the Year Andy Erickson is now suiting up for Rice. Stalwarts Quinton Crow, Ian Kelso, Will Hawk, Taylor Wrinkle and Ian Lazarus are gone, as well. Yet, the Cavaliers are ranked No. 1 to open the 2010 season.

That means nothing has changed. Not really.

Pressure? Expectations? They still hover over the campus. They never leave. Not with a 46-game winning streak on the line.

“I think the players know what’s expected of them every year,” Carter said. “There’s pressure on all of us, but I think that pressure is a good thing. It can keep everyone on edge because we know we have to push every single day.”
But that doesn’t mean it’s a fear of failure that keeps Lake Travis winning.
“Our kids are motivated by the fact that they have a tradition to uphold and a streak to defend,” Carter said. “They don’t want to be the ones that let the streak end under their watch. I do try to downplay that a bit, though. The bottom line is that it’s a game, it should be fun, and if we do things the way we’ve always done them, with maximum effort, the rest will take care of itself. If we play our game, no one is going to beat us.”

That mentality has never changed. The belief was forged in 2007, and it lives permanently in Lakeway until someone takes it away. Three coaches, three logos and dozens of players have come or gone, and nothing changes.

Scratch that. One thing does change.

After each season, the Cavaliers’ place in Texas football history changes, and if they pull off a fourth straight championship, they’ll join the likes of Sealy and Celina. Select company.

It’s clear they believe they can do it.

Here’s a breakdown of the players aiming to hoist hardware at Cowboys’ Stadium in December.

Quarterbacks
Carter had a number of reasons to feel confident about the situation he was inheriting, but he said it starts with the guy under center.

“It’s a security blanket and then some,” he said. “I told Chad [Morris] before he took the job at Tulsa, ‘If you leave, I’ll be sad and I’d be lucky if I got the job. But if you do decide to go, go now so I can have Michael Brewer.’”

The senior was honorable mention all-state and first team All-CenTex after a junior campaign in which he threw for over 4,400 yards and 43 touchdowns.

The Texas Tech commit’s return is one of the biggest reasons the Cavaliers are expected to make another title run.

“It all starts with quarterback,” Carter said. “We’ve got a great kid there with a ton of skill kids surrounding him.”

Garrett Noak will be Brewer’s primary backup.

“He was our JV black quarterback last year and won a district championship,” Carter said. “He brings some athleticism and can play a role similar to the one Tommy Voos played last year as our backup.”

Running backs
Turney Maurer leads the way at fullback, with Colin Lagasse and Gokmen Tireng both possibilities at the position.

“Turney got good reps last year on varsity and is such a tough player. He plays extremely hard,” Carter said. “He’s an excellent blocker, catches the ball well and does everything we want him to do.”

Tailback is a little less obvious early in the season, though.

That’s the position Erickson played last season.

“Andy’s position is a great way to put it,” Carter laughed. “Those are big shoes to fill.”

So big, that it appears – at least at the outset – that it will take a committee.

The most experienced of the group is Michael Pojman, a player that has seen varsity time in each of the last two seasons and the fastest player in black and red, according to Carter. Also seeing time will be Cameron Wrinkle, younger brother of Austin and Taylor, and he brings a similar skill set to that of his brothers.

“He brings a lot of quickness, is very shifty and has great hands,” Carter said. “He probably appears to look more like a receiver than a running back, but Andy looked that way, too, at times.”

It’s a position where Lagasse could pop up, as well, and the depth may be necessary considering the spring that all of the running backs had. By the time the spring game ended, Lagasse, Maurer, Wrinkle and Pojman were all sidelined with injuries. The injuries snowballed, and while none of them were major, they were of the nagging variety – pulled hamstrings, turf toe and a separated shoulder among the list. It meant no separation was really made in the group during spring practice, but it doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone.

“You kind of have to fit the plan and scheme to the kids you have at the time,” Carter said. “There have been years where we’ve had one 1,500-yard rusher, and there have been years when we’ve had three or four 600 yard rushers. We’ll go with a rotation and see who develops. Competition never hurts and each one has a different skill we can use in a number of ways, regardless of who starts.”

Receivers
While the running backs are an integral part of the offense, there’s no better year to have questions in the backfield than when you have all three starting wide receivers returning, along with a fourth that could take any of their spots.

The leader of the group is Conner Floyd, an honorable mention all-state receiver in 2009 and the MVP of the state 7on7 tournament this summer.

“The performance he put on at 7on7 was incredible,” Carter said. “All of our offensive guys had a great tournament, and that MVP award could have easily gone to Michael [Brewer] or Griffin [Gilbert] or Tanner [Gillette] or Alex [Matthews] for the great moments they had. But Conner would have two guys covering him, and I’m not talking high-low – they would put two guys right on him from the start and Michael was still going to him and he kept catching it.”

Floyd’s big-play ability (69 rec., 1,316 yds, 12 TDs) is complimented by Gillette’s ability underneath (41 rec., 767 yds, 4 TDs) and Gilbert’s ability in the air (43 rec., 522 yds, 6 TDs).

And you can’t forget Matthews.

“He’s our fourth receiver, but let me tell you what – he had a heck of a summer,” Carter said. “At any other school, he’d be a starter with a ton of catches. He’s great for us. He’s going to play a lot in every game and he’ll be there if God forbid we lost anyone to injury. I really don’t think we’d lose anything if Alex had to jump into a starting role.”

Those four will be backed up by Garrett Faber, Alex Walsh and Justin Alexander.

Offensive line
Protecting Brewer and plowing the way for those offensive weapons will be an offensive line anchored by Texas commit Taylor Doyle, who has fully recovered from a nasty ankle injury in the second half of the state championship.

“His injuries healed great,” Carter said. “We’re excited about that. He was cleared during the middle of Cavs Course, which gave him some time to be ready for the season. He looks right on track, and we’re very excited to have him anchoring that line and providing leadership.”

The line’s other returner is Reagan Womack, who was a rock all of last season.

“He started every ballgame last year and he’s got a ton of experience,” Carter said. “He’s really powerful, was a great run blocker and had a great spring.”

Replacing a center is never easy, but Carter thinks offensive line coach Kyle Spano has the perfect guy to take over in Casey Laney.

“He’s similar to Hawk, maybe a little bit bigger and has meshed into the role well from the start because it’s something he’s always been familiar with to some degree,” Carter said.

Nick Magnella returns to the line after heroically filling in for Doyle in the title game, and the group will be rounded out by Kevin Quinn.

The offensive line is another area with a lot of depth, as Anthony Carchi, Danny McIntyre, Adam Jemmott, Kyle Connell and Jonathan Briones could all see time.

Special teams
At kicker, Stephen Pyle takes over for first-team all-state and current Texas Tech kicker Kramer Fyfe. Pyle was nearly perfect for the junior varsity last season, and has a little better leg strength than Fyfe, giving the staff plenty of confidence in his abilities.
Punting duties are still up in the air, with Lagasse, Brewer and Pyle all in the mix.

Defensive line
Carter’s feeling about Brewer returning was similar to his feelings on the defensive line. Rarely does a group with as much experience and talent return nearly intact.

At defensive end, the Cavaliers lost current Rice Owl Trevor Gillette, but return Shaq Marable, Tyler Paulsen and Dylan Bittles.

“Having those three guys there is awesome,” Carter said. “Those are three great players, and we couldn’t feel better about those positions.”

Holding down the middle of the defensive line will be honorable mention all-stater Jonthan Roberts

“He looks even better than he did last year,” Carter said. “He’s slimmed down a bit and his moving around a little quicker.”

He’ll be joined by Jeremy Amberger, Jude Jeffress and Sam Schlanger, all of which Carter called good, solid defensive tackles.

Linebackers
The linebacker corps only has one returner, but Carter couldn’t be more excited about the group, which he’s calling the deepest he’s had since arriving at Lake Travis.

Austin Williams is the lone returner, and after playing Robin to Crow’s Batman last year, he moves to the mike linebacker position in place of Crow. He’s already earned preseason All-CenTex honors.

The rest of the group is young, but talented.

“I’m definitely happy about this group’s depth,” Carter said. “In the past, we’ve scratched to find two linebackers, but we’ve got four that could play a lot.”

Blake Burdette will start alongside Williams, and with both players over six foot tall and hovering around 215 pounds, it’s the biggest duo Lake Travis has fielded in years.

But they’re not just big. They can move.

“You can tell from our previous defenses that speed is most important to me,” Carter said. “I’d rather go small than go slow. But we’ve got big kids that can really move this year.”

Corbin Crow and Jacob Garner are two other linebackers that have impressed the coaches throughout the last six months, and appear to be making themselves indispensable already.

“Crow can step in to either spot and so can Garner,” Carter said. “They’ll be on the field as much as I can get them out there, and that means special teams, as well.”

The rover linebacker position, vacated by three-year starter Lazarus, will be a tough one to fill, but there’s plenty of depth at that position, as well.

Clay Flinn and Paul Heinen will both see time, and have battled for the spot all summer.

“Flinn is a lot like Lazarus, he plays with a lot of fire but isn’t the biggest guy out there,” Carter said. “Heinen is a bit more rangey, and can cover a bit more ground. They’re both solid players and I’m excited to see how the two of them play.”

Alex Smelcer will back the duo up.

Defensive backs
At strong safety, Lagasse gets the nod. Noticing a theme? You’ll be seeing him all over the field.

“We really needed someone to fill in the spot that Andy Holt vacated in 2008, and Colin was just great,” Carter said. “He’s just a heck of a football player.”

At free safety, Zach Streuling joins players like Wrinkle, Amberger, Walsh and Crow as new faces with brothers that played roles in previous seasons.

“He’s taking that job over, there’s no question,” Carter said. “And there are more Streulings coming. We’re definitely OK with that.”

Dane Balazs could also see a fair amount of playing time, and is someone Carter calls a solid player with a ton of speed that can play either safety spot.
Sean Craig, Axel Gomez and Connor Nelson will back up the two positions.

Omar Duke-Tinson moves to the strong side cornerback position with Taylor Winkle having moved on to UTSA. On the other side of the field, Brock Kenyon, Bryan Kribbs and Jonathan Bird are battling for the other spot, with Cody Alexander and Alex Chapman backing up the positions.

Lake Travis Vitals

■ 2009 Record: 16-0, 6-0 (4A DI State Champions)
■ Returning starters: 6 off., 6 def.
■ Goodbye: RB Andy Erickson (Rice), LB Quinton Crow (San Angelo), LB Ian Lazarus (Chicago), OL Ian Kelso (Mary Hardin-Baylor), DE Trevor Gillette (Rice), K Kramer Fyfe (Texas Tech), DB Taylor Wrinkle (UTSA), OL Scott Morris, C Will Hawk, RB Jack Patton
■ Hello: RB Cameron Wrinkle, C Casey Laney, OL Nick Magnella, OL Kevin Quinn, DL Jeremy Amberger, LB Blake Burdette, LB Corbin Crow, LB Jacob Garner, LB Clay Finn, LB Paul Heinen, S Zach Streuling, CB Brock Kenyon, CB Bryan Kribbs, CB Jonathan Bird, K Stephen Pyle
■ Key returners: QB Michael Brewer, RB Turney Maurer, RB Michael Pojman, WR Conner Floyd, WR Griffin Gilbert, WR Tanner Gillette, WR Alex Matthews, S Collin Lagasse, DE Shaquille Marable, DE Tyler Paulsen, LB Austin Williams, OL Reagan Womack, OL Taylor Doyle, DT Jonathan Roberts, DB Omar Duke-Tinson, DE Dylan Bittles