Lake Travis edges Hendrickson

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Hendrickson (0-2) was on the brink of history.

With just over six minutes left in the game, trailing 27-24, the Hawks stopped No. 1 Lake Travis (2-0) on fourth-and-two and took over with a chance to end the Cavaliers’ 47-game winning streak with what could already be classified as the upset of the year.

Instead, star Hawk running back Kenny Williams, who had already carved up the Lake Travis defense for 259 yards and three touchdowns on the night, cut left and then had the ball jarred away. Cavalier defensive back Zach Streuling jumped on the ball.

Four plays later, Lake Travis extended the lead to 34-24 with a Colin Lagasse one-yard touchdown run. The Cavaliers held on to the lead from there, and extended their winning streak to 48 straight games.

It appeared, for a moment, that the streak was in jeopardy.

“Never,” Lake Travis defensive lineman Jonathan Roberts said. “I knew we’d get through it.”

The Cavaliers may have to get used to getting through it, as one-by-one, players keep getting injured. First, top receiver Conner Floyd broke his leg against Westlake. In that game, second receiver Tanner Gillette aggravated his groin. Gillette played in the first half Friday night, catching four passes for 47 yards before the injury got the best of him, and he was pulled from the game. Then, in the closing moments of the game, quarterback Michael Brewer injured his shoulder or arm and was sent to the locker room for evaluation quickly enough that he missed the postgame speech and traditions on the field. Coaches were hoping it was just a stinger when he left the game, and were optimistic about his condition.

“I’m pretty nervous about [Brewer],” Lake Travis safety Colin Lagasse said. “After Conner went down, we can’t afford to have anyone else get hurt.”

Lake Travis’ schedule certainly isn’t going to do it any favors, either, with No. 2 Aledo next Friday and Kerrville Tivy the week after. Still, the Lake Travis players believed the struggles Friday night will help them in the future.

“It prepared us,” Roberts said. “Every game prepares us for what’s next.”

Lagasse agreed.

“I feel like we’ve gone through so much already,” he said. “We know how to fight through games like this. The past few years, we’ve never had to win close games like this. These games are just building us up more and kind of instilling that passion for the game.”

The Cavaliers looked sharp at the outset, starting at their own 19-yard line and promptly marching down the field on 11 plays with Brewer completing five of five passes, capping it off with an eight-yard fade to a leaping Alex Matthews in the right side of the end zone. A Stephen Pyle extra point made it 7-0 and it seemed to be business as usual for Lake Travis.

Hendrickson responded with a long drive of its own, cutting into the lead with a 27-yard field goal to make it 7-3.

After trading possessions, Lake Travis drove for the better part of the second quarter, and walked away with just a 27-yard field goal of their own to show for it. But a quick defensive stop gave Lake Travis the ball with 1:16 left in the half, and the Cavaliers scored in seven plays with Brewer hitting Michael Pojman for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left in the half. Lake Travis took a 17-3 lead into the break.

Lake Travis has made a habit of pulling away from teams once up by two possessions, but Williams had other ideas, going 84 yards on two runs to open the second half with a touchdown. A failed conversion made it a 17-9 game.

The teams traded four-play possessions, and Lake Travis responded with a 25-yard field goal by Pyle with 6:30 left in the third quarter to make it 20-9.

Again Williams fired back, this time going 80 yards on two carries to cut the lead to 20-16 after the extra point.

Lake Travis answered, led by Brewer’s legs and arm, including two big passes to Griffin Gilbert and Matthews, and Pojman finished the drive with a three-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 27-16.

Hendrickson quarterback Damarion Jackson broke free on the third play of the Hawks’ next drive, but fumbled after gaining 30 yards. For a split-second, it appeared Lake Travis had caught a break, but Williams was there to scoop the bouncing ball up and finish the run for a touchdown. For over a quarter, he was unstoppable.

“It’s just bad plays,” Roberts said. “Everyone has them. He just got away from us, and there’s nothing you can do after that. He’s tough to chase down.”

“I was pretty nervous,” Lagasse said. “Williams was giving us everything we could handle. He’s pretty tough to bring down.”

After a conversion run was successful, Hendrickson had cut the lead to 27-24 and had new life.

Lake Travis then drove to the Hendrickson 19-yard line and was stopped on fourth-and-two. Hendrickson’s sideline erupted, but was silenced one play later when Lake Travis recovered the fumble that set up the backbreaking touchdown by Lagasse.

Lake Travis insisted after the game that the result wasn’t a product of overlooking Hendrickson, but that the Hawks are a tough team to beat, especially when Williams is at his best.

“We knew they were going to be very tough,” Lagasse said. “I think we’re still trying to get better on defense. We’ve got a lot of young guys, and they’re getting better and better. But [Williams] knows what he’s doing and he knows how to handle himself.”

With an injured quarterback in the locker room and trails blazed all over the field by Williams, Lake Travis head coach Hank Carter harped on the importance of protecting Brewer and making tackles – two areas in which Lake Travis does not normally struggle, but had issues with on Friday night.

Williams’ 259 yards and three touchdowns definitely surpassed his 149-yard total against Lake Travis last year, and showed why he’ll be joining Brewer at Texas Tech next season.

“I think he was a little bit better than last year,” Lagasse joked. “Just a little bit.”

Lake Travis now has to lock down and prepare for its biggest challenge since Longview and Cibolo Steele last year with Aledo and star running back Johnathan Gray coming to Lakeway.

If the Cavaliers thought Williams was tough to bring down, they’re in for a stiffer challenge with Gray, who rushed for 2,798 yards and 50 touchdowns last season on 372 attempts.

Brewer finished the game with 24 completions on 43 attempts for 270 yards and two touchdowns. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 78 yards on 16 attempts. Gilbert led the Cavalier receivers with seven receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown.