Cavaliers charge Into semifinals
Ttle Lake Travts Cava.Hers savor th• mom1nt after the-Ir 38•17Vletory over san Antonio O'Connor Saturday In the Class 6A. Otvlslon I state quarterfinals at the Alamodome In San Antonio. The C~alters (12-2) return to the Alamoaome for a J p.m. kickoff satun:say a.,aarn,t unbeaten tu.tyln the state semlftna.Js. JOI-IN GI.JnERREZ FORlAK.ElRA\IISVIEW CLASS 6A, DIVISION I LAKE TRAVIS 38, O'CONNOR 17 Cavs advance, will face Katy in semis Wilson's three TDs pace ondary. Ajunior, Wilson has scored 12 Class 6A, Division I win 1ouchdowns In Lake Travis' four in state playoff game. playoff victories. After Wilson's second touch By Jay Plotkin down catch gave the Cavaliers American-Statesman a 24-10 lead, Roel Sanchez ral correspondent lied O'Connor (13·1). The quar terback converted two fourth SAN ANTONIO - Garrett Wilson down runs - including a 2-yard ca~ttouchdown passes in both touchdown carry - on a 20-play, halves to help Lake Travis defeat 86-yard dri,,. that pulled the Pan· San AntonloO'Conoor38-17Sarur thers within 24-17. day in a Class 6A_, Division I state After taking chances throughout quarterfinal at the Alamodome. the game, including a fake punt, TheGav-.diers 02·2)advana,cl to O'Connorcooch David Makowsky a state semifinal against unbeaten opted for an onside kick. The Kary. The teams "'ill face off at 3 gamble didn't pay off. Lake Tra· p.m. Saturday at Alamo Stadium v1s reawered, and Wilson pushed in San Antonio. the cavaliers' lead back to 14 at Two years ago, Katy beat Lake 31-17 with his 9 -yard carry that Travis 34·7 to win the Class 6A, came with 6:50 to play. Division II state championship. With l:32togP, Brayden Roeder That defeats marks the last lime returned an O'Connor run,ble 25 the cavaliers lost a playoff game. yards for the game's final touch They finished 16-0 last season, down. winning the Oass 6A, Division Sanchez frustrated the Lake I tide. Travis defense early, escaping Wilson hauled in a 20-yard pass onrushing tacklers time and~in from Matthew Baldwin late in the while running66 first-half yards, second quarter, and he added includlng a short touchdown run a 31-yard touchdown reception lhatgaw the P-,mthers a 10-7 lead early in the third period as Lake early in the second quarter. But Travis broke a 10 -10 1k Lake Travis held O'Connorwlth "I tty and dowhateve,-my team out points on four straight pos· asbofme," Wllson said. sessions from late In the second Wi1son finished with seven quarter to midway through the catches for 98 yards and the two third quarter. scores, and he also scored on a Forted to throw the ball In the 9-yard touchdown run. Finally, second half, Sanchez finished he prevented an O'Connor touch• with 113 yards rushing on 24 car• down by deflecting a pass while ries. He completed just 13 of20 playing in the Lake Travis sec· passes for 90 yards. Lake Ttavl5JunlorGarrett W1l5on (r laht) celebrate5 with Ca.rson cross after Wilson's second touchd own r&uptlon In saturday's victory. W1lson also ran for a score. CONTRIIJUTE08Y R<:»W.OCORTtS FOOTBALL Wilson's 3 TDs help Cavs into semifinal Lake Travis defeats San the cavaliers lo6t a playoff g,ime. scores, and he also scored on a Antonio O'Connor 38-17. They finished 16·0 last season, 9-ynrd touchdown run. Finally, winning the Class 6A, Division he prevented an O'Connor touch• I lltle. down by deftecdng a pa.
■ 3 p .. m. Saturday, Alamo against O'Connor. Teammate over Lake Tra\lls.. Eda•: Ka.ty Stadium In San Antonio Kyle WakeReld, rneanwhne, ■ Special teams: TeXas-bouno ■ Quarterb,1.cks: Matthew bee.a.me the first C.ava.llers RB to Cameron Dicker gives Lake Travis BaldWln, who accepted a top 100 yaras rushing In a game. one of lM bestkickers In tne sc:holarshlp offer from Ohio ••. Every corlege scout In the state sta..te. o1ndWllson and Parod.l state 1astweek, hlkedhlsseason knows of Katy RB Deondrlck each t\aS returned a klek tor passing numbers to 3,621 Glass, as-foot-10, 19s-pound a toucMown.... setn Smar~ a yards and 43 touchdowns after Juntorwoo has l,467yards and25 ToxasA&M Pledge, rs In his tlllrd throwtng for 224 yaras ana a TOS rushing In 12 game.s. Ed&.e: season as Katy's nrst~strlng pair of TDs as Lake Travis topped l..lloo Travis kicker and has;, caroor-long l=G SJn Anton1oo·connor 38-17 !dst ■ Ooftnu: c:iv~IQIS DB ot soyaros. Eda1: EVan week. ... Katy QB Austin Mars.ha.JI Nathan Parodi has grabt)ect ■ lntanaJbles.: Lake Travis has ts counted on for~ steacty ~nd an Interception In each of hls posted ,1134-14 record since a.sopposed to eye-popping team's tour playoff games, 2007, when It won the first of Its stab. He completed soflO a.nd S®homore LB M~urlclo six state cllamplonshlps• .•. Katy passes for 92 yards and two TDs Trwlno Plied up11 tackles ls one of the few teams tl\at can last week In a 31-3 victory ave, against O'COf'lnor... . Katy's Doast ofmore hardware than me Gal&na Park North Shore, Ed.a•: defense, which has dilowed C.JN.11iers; the Tigers ti-Ye won UkeTraVIS Just eight points a game, has ergnt state titles, tying K,ity with ■ Other offense: U.ke Travis drawn comparisons to the 2015 Celln~ .tnd Southl.tke Colrron for w1e1eoutGarrettw11son (83 unit tnat helped the ngers the most 11-man champtonshlps catches, 1,558 yards,25 TOs) to the Class 6A, DM$10n fl In state ntstory. Edee: Katy had two touchdown receptfons cn.amplonshlp wtth a 34-7vtctory - Thomas Jones Gameballs Matthew Ba.ldwln,QB,LakeTravls:comJ)leted 24of30 passes for 220 yards and two touchc:SoNns and rushed for a TO In a 38-17 vtctoryCNer sanAntonlOO'COnnor. Jalmon Byers, LB. Cedar Rldae: Flnls.hed with 18 t.lckles, twofortoss, In a 30-2 vtctoey "'"Hendrick.Son. Thomas Carruthers., RB/LB. Wlmberley: Starred on offern;e (85 yards rushtns,. tnrea TDs) and defense (six t.aekles, three sackS) as toe Texans def&.atad previously unbeaten cuero 44~36. 0.lYtd Dlckel'$Ol'l, LB. Wfitl.lke: Made 10 ta.ckJes. one fof loss. In a 28- 1 4 Victory over ClbOIO Steele. l(yle Harrison, RB, Liberty HIii: Rushed for 166yards ond SCOfed both of hls te.Jm's touchdowns In ,1 28-1 Sloss toW.1.colaVega. WIISOf'l Lon,. qe, Re,ttnts: Passed tor 344 yards, rusnecr for 1 06 ana acc;ounted for all four ofRegents 'touchdownsln a 62-30 loss toCec!ar HUI Trinity cnrtsnan Max Perez., QS.McCaUum:Ran for 113yardsanda touehdOwnas unbeaten McCalkm knocked CorpusC:tvistl Calallen out of the playoffs. Bryee~er,LB,LakeTt'aVls: AnlStlectWrttl 11 taCIOE!~lnCIUdlnga sack, as theG.ivalJers defeated San Antonio O'Connor. Nakia Watson, RS, WHtlak•: RUshedfor 167YardS.. 1 43In the second harf, and scored on a so-yard TO carry In the fourth quarter of a v5ctofy CNerCibOIO Steele. JoJo W•ek"9 QB. Wimberley: Threw ror 348yaras and two touclldowns In the victory CN8f Cuero. Garrett WU•on. WR.~Tr.wit-: ~ugntsevenpasses for Os y.mts and two toucnaONns and scored anothEtf TD against san A.nton100'C0nnor on.- 9--yard run. - RIO(CANTU Topperfonners The top POstseason performance51nare.- tighsc;hool football thl5 se.ason.Submtt aekftnons orcorrectlOOs toJames wan,gem.mn ([email protected]« 5, 1 2· 445· 3659).
LONGEST TI> PASS Vds. Players (Team) Opponent 94 ChasoGrtffSl toCalob Forrest (Hutto) Bronham 79 1:1)110
FRIDAY'S GAME SATURDAY'SGAMES CI.ASS6A,DIVISION II
CLASS 4.At DIVISION II CLA.SS6A1 DrYISIONI ■ Westlake vs. cy-Falr, • Wimberley Y$. West Orange-St.ar1<, ■ Cedar Ridge vs. A.lien, 3 p.m. NRG Stadium In HO SAN ANTONIO - The Lake Travis pregame spirit crew ran from team one step closer to another one Alamodomee.nd zone to the gold ball. other with six flags, one for each San Antonio O'Connor was sme championship. game. And if quarterback Matthew Lake Travis was Lake Travis. Baldwin has anything to say about The 38•17 win In Saturday's it, lhe local seamslJ'eSS n,;ght want Cl.lss6A, OMston I regional final to get started on No. 7. sets up a showdown with Katy at On a day when cavaliers alum San Antonio's Alamo Stadium at Baker Mayfield was poised to 3 p.m. next Saturday. receive college football's highest Baldwin completed 24 of 30 cavs quarterbaci< Matthew Ba.1ctw1n sneaks over the goal 11 ne individual honor, the school's lat· for Lake navls' first touchdown In Saturd~'s region al flnal est field general moved his talented Golden continued on CTO win over san Antonio o·connor. COHTRtBVTEDrJYRONA.LOCOATES Unfortunately for CSU - and fortunately for Baldwin - the rest of the country appears to have diSCO\lered Lhe 6•fOOt•3, 195-pound QB ·who thrives in a pro·style offense. Ohio State re<:ently became one of the latest programs to offer Baldwin a scholarship. They clearly n.otlced that he h~1d completed 70 percenl of bis attempts this fall while IJ'ISlr ing for 3,198 yards and 38 TD passes against six interceptions BaklWln continued on A9 Baldwin continued from AS with a 70.4-percent com· pletion percentage Minnesota, Rice and Ken· tudcy are among the other schools that have offered s-cholarships., too. Lake Travis bas sent six quarteroacks to Power Five football programs in the past 12 years: Todd Reesing (Kansas); Gaaren Gilbert (Texas, SMU): Michael Brewer ('l'ex:as Tech. Vir· ginia Tech); Baker May field (Texas Tech, Okla· homa); DomlnJc De Lira (Iowa State); and Charlie Brewer (Baylor). And it appears Baldwin won't be the last cavaliers quarterback to sign with an FBS program. Cavaliers coach Hank Carter said! his ream's backup, sophomore Hud• son card, already bolds a scholarshipofferfiomSMU. Meyer came calling, he had 10 change his course. "Matthew Is a great player, and he's still getting better," Lake Tra· vis coach Hank carter said. "He has only 14 stares under his belt. The sl-y is the limit.• He Isn't a bumer llkeJ.T. Bar• rett and Braxton Miller, though he does have some wheels when called upon to scramble, and he's already an accomplished passer in the mode of Mayfield. Recruiting services classify him as a pro-style quarterback, and It's easy to see why. He has an e.asy throwing motion, and the balJ comes out deanly and gets there in a hurry. Lake Travis fans will get at least one more 1veel< co et\10)' his work, then perhaps amother great col· lege career like the one Mayfield ha_s_e~j(>Y!!". "Baker has great pride in Lake Travis,• Baldwin said. "He wlll wear an LT hat in interviews every now and then. He loves it here and comes back here and works out with us and hangs out.• Wesrlake produced the best quarterback in Austin history in Drew Brees and later a good one in Nick Poles, but Lake Travis is the 512's resident QB factory. Baldwin will be ·the seventh Cav• aliers quarterback to play ror a Power Five university over the p;!lll 12 .)'1'11!'$, a !1$l !h.!l lnclycws Charlie Brewer (Baylor); Michael Brewer (Texas Tech); Dominic De Llra (Iowa State); Garrett Gil· bert, a carollna Panthers backup who won the firstortl>e school"s state titles after splitting time at Texas and SMU; Mayfield; and Todd Reesing (Kansas). Baldwin is just getting started. And the Lake Travis QB fac. tory rolls on. C-Ontact C.0,1(; G Olden at 512-912- 5944.1\vltter: @cectaorden HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK Lake Travis QB Baldwin picl 8YT'homa1Jone1 tc:ll01 [email protected] Quarterback Matchow llaldwln's ,stellar senior sea· son caught the ane.ntlon of Ohio State coach Urban Meyer last month. Now, the Buckeyes have landed u oornmllment from Bald• win, who has guided Lake Tr.lvlS 10 9 Cla., GA, Olvtslon I state quarter1inal. Thursday nig ht, the 6•foot•2, 200-pound Bald• win announced his com• mllme,111othc 8uckeyeso11 Twitter. He had pledged to L.akt ll'avlu t nlor QU>rterb•c k Matthew B>ldWln (12) has complttt FABFIVES ClASS6A 1. c«lar Rl(lge ( 19-2) 2. PtlugolVlllo (16-3) 3 . Wl!StJake (13- 5) 4. Vandogr1ft (14-6) s. Hendrickson (1ir4) ClASS5A 1.C !!Y Raohol Rice rrlCe@icnnewsi:,apers.com Last week, am email went out 10 L.ake Travis fl.lgh School senior pnrenlS announcing Lhat 1wo bacc.alaureate ceremonies were being planned tor the studenrs 10 choose from, nlarming: and angertnil some parents. Now, the I wo parent i,,rroul>S - one favor• Ing a ceremony like the Chris• rL1n-based baccalaureates In past years, and the other wanting the ceremony 10 be more tncllJ$lve havc agreed 10 n1et>t next month to l1'Y and reach a compromise. The bacc:01111,reate ccr~mony ls a tradition ror graduating Lake Travis seniors, typically rnklng place the Sund.ay bcrore gradu• atlon. 'l'he ceremony is optional and ls religious In narure. ln an email to senior parents, the organizers of Project Cradu atJon Indicated 'lhat they would no longer be respollSlble for plan ning the baccalaureate ceremony, and that parent groups were tak· ing over two sea,arate services. One, the email called a "Chris tian-Only Service.• The other ceremony. the email said, wa~ the ·new All FaJtJ,s Lake Travis Baccalaureate." Reaction to1hc emall on social media was swift and largely oon• demnlng. "How very sad, .. one person wrote on the Lake Travis High School ProJectCraduatlon Fa<:e• book page. "When lheygotowork are they golngio besplit by falth? No more unity in our communi ties! Cod bless w one and all.• "'Wow. Is about all I c.an say... someone wrote on the Lakeway Ceremony conUnued on AS May described a cere• as bow to integrate the dif· Ceremony mony at Lake HIi ls Church ferent lilith.s 10 kin Oklahoma QB Mayfield after all, was raised in the Lone The third pin? Well, that hon dream come true." Mayfield gets the honor with 732 Star Slate and won a Slate ct,am ored the Helsman Trophy. It said. " It's an honor - 1hat's pionship at Lake Travis High ended up being the evening's for sure." lirsr-place vores. School In 201l. most appropriate accessory. Mayfu!ld has thrown for 4,340 A second pin WdS shaped like In a ceremony at the PlaySta· yards and 41 touchdowns this ey Danny-oav1, a pair of glasses. That allowed tion Theater, the Heisrnao Trust season, statisticsthatbothrank csan1e1aav1s@statesmancom Mayfield to pay homage to the awarded Its 83rd trophy to May second nationally. He completed Burlsworth Award, which is field. With 732 fu-.t-place votes 71 percent of his passes, and NEWYORK-OnSaturdaynight, given annually to a player who and2, 398 points, be recorded a only five of his 369 attempts Oklahoma S • the Football !Bowl SubdM· slon record of19(U, which he set last year. Wlth Mayfield as Its quar terback, Oklahoma went 12·1 and won the Big 12 chanl• pionship. After a 38-31 loss to Iowa State in early Octo· ber. the Sooners earned eight straight victories by an average of 19 points. Okla homa, seeded second, will meet No. 3 Georgia in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff on Jan. I. •AU he wanted was a chance," Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said "All he wanted was a chance to be the starting quarter back at Lake Travis; all he wanted was the chance to be the starting quarterback at Texas Tech and Okla• homa. When he's had tl1ose chances throwghout his life, he's proved himself, and this year's been no differ· ent." Mayfield's crowning moment came in front of an audience tthat lncJuded his parents,Jamesand Gina, and brother, Matt. Team, mates Mark Andrews and Grant Calcaterra attended the ceremony, as did Riley. Mayfield told report ers he wrote his accep· tance speech, S~tun!ay, In an address that lasted 5½ minutes, an ,occasJonally emotional Mayfield joked with Texas Longhorns leg end and 1998 Heisman Tro pby winner Ricky Williams, applauded his fellow final ists and thanked his ram ily and his teammates and coaches at Oklahoma. He also acknowledged his high school coaches and added, •r think they won their playoffgame tonight, so shout--out to Lake Tra• vis.· The Cavaliers beat San Antonio o·connor 38-17 Saturday to advance to the Class 6A, Division I state semifinals. '"I've always been a per· son to show my emotion and be bluntly honest,• Mayfield said "'Jbatspe,,ch I gave I think shoMthat I'm proud to be who I am. I'm proud of what it's taken co get me here. I ·m also proud to say I've had a lot of help along rhe way.· Mayfield becomes the sixth Sooner to win the Heisman Trophy, joining Billy Vessels (1952), Steve Owens (1969), Billy Sims 0978),Jason White (2003) and Sam Bradford (2008). Sims was the only o ne of Oklahoma's previous win· ners at the ceremony. (Ves• sels died in 2001.) Mayfield, though, will join bis peers soon. Oklahoma has erected statues of its five previous winners In ch e appropri• ately named HeiStJtan Park, which Is outside of Owen Field. .. To eventually have a statue there In Hetsman Park in Norman, unbeUev• able,• said Mayfield, who lacer suggest Oklahoma quarterbackBake.r M~eld: "'Growing up,you dream of comlna to New York and hold Ina the Helsma.n Trophy, It t,.,lnaa. reality IS completely dlff1r1nt." But hi say, wlnnlna a na.t1on.lltJtl1 WOUid bl bt!tter. JAY M NE'R/ AM£FitCAfi.STAffiWI.N Heisman favorite proud of there are, but that's not something a lot HEISMAN TROPHY of high schools can say.• who he is after ups, downs CEREMONY Mayfield, Oklahoma's senior quar from Lake Travis to OU. 5.aturd.ay, 7 p.m.,ESPN terback, has become the talk of college football. On Thursday night he picked ByDanr,yDaYIS up three national awards - the Davey diJl1klldavlS@Stal8$tllMCXlm O"ll