Cavaliers trample Mustangs to end district schedule

Lake Travis (10-0, 6-0) made short work of Marble Falls (4-6, 1-5), 54-14, and Cavalier quarterback Garrett Gilbert secured another spot in the Texas high school record books with six touchdown passes, passing Colt McCoy’s 116 touchdowns for second place on the career touchdown list with 119.

“It feels really good,” Gilbert said of breaking the record. “I couldn’t have done it without great teammates. It’s really a team record.”

Gilbert’s first two passes of the game were touchdowns to Conner Floyd and Cade McCrary, and the Cavaliers jumped out to a 12-0 lead within the first five minutes. Despite some miscues – including two fumbles recovered by Marble Falls in the red zone – Lake Travis kept scoring on a defense that tired as the game went on.

The win capped Lake Travis’ fifth straight district title, and three undefeated district titles with Gilbert under center.

“It’s a tribute to all the work that we’ve all put in,” Gilbert said, a little choked up. “It’s really something special.”

Marble Falls opened the game with a five-play drive that was halted on an interception by Andy Holt that set up Gilbert’s first touchdown pass. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Gilbert hit Floyd for a 28-yard strike that got the Cavaliers on the board just over three minutes into the game. A bad snap resulted in a botched extra point attempt, and Lake Travis took a 6-0 lead.

After stalling on the following drive, Marble Falls punted into Lake Travis territory, where Austin Pollard took the punt on one bounce all the way back to the Mustang 29-yard line. Gilbert hit McCrary on the very next play, but couldn’t hit him in bounds on the following two-point conversion, leaving the score at 12-0.

The Mustangs managed to put together a 10-play drive in an attempt to answer, but again ran out of steam, this time on the Cavalier 42-yard line, before punting for a touchback.

Lake Travis then marched 80 yards on four plays, with Gilbert hitting McCrary for a 47-yard touchdown pass. Kramer Fyfe’s extra point made it 19-0.

A second interception by Holt put the Cavaliers in prime position to extend the lead, but a fumble in the red zone was recovered by the Mustangs, who then marched down the field on 11 plays before faltering once more, this time at the Cavalier 43-yard line on fourth and three.

Lake Travis couldn’t capitalize, getting to the Marble Falls 10-yard line, and fumbling right into the Mustangs’ hands once more.

The second fumble set up Marble Falls’ strongest drive of the game, one that covered 88 yards on nine plays, and was capped by a three-yard run by quarterback Thor Woerner to make it 19-7 following the extra point.

Lake Travis scored once more before the half ended on a 10-yard end around by Pollard to extend the lead to 26-7.

The Cavaliers came out firing in the second half, scoring in eight plays following the opening kickoff on a 12-yard pass from Gilbert to McCrary.

Woerner and the Mustangs weren’t going down without a fight, though, and the senior quarterback orchestrated an 11-play drive that this time covered 85-yards, and was punctuated with a heroic effort by Woerner. The Mustang signal caller eluded Lake Travis defenders on second and goal from the three-yard line, fighting out of their grasp before finding a wide-open receiver for the score, closing within 33-14.

Lake Travis kept firing, scoring on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Gilbert to Mike Adams, and again on an eight-yard pass from Gilbert to McCrary, before the first time exited the game up 47-14.

A 10-yard run by Colton Volpe with just over two minutes left put the final points up for Lake Travis on the night.

Gilbert completed 20 passes on 23 attempts for 352 yards, with four of the touchdowns going to Cade McCrary, who caught eight passes for 151 yards.

His counterpart Woerner was resilient in defeat, completing 17 passes on 26 attempts for 146 yards, and rushing 20 times for 100 yards.

Lake Travis opens the playoffs against LBJ in Lake Travis next Friday at 7 p.m.

Lake Travis 19-7-14-14 — 54
Marble Falls 0-7-7-0 — 14

FIRST QUARTER
Lake Travis: Conner Floyd 28 pass from Garrett Gilbert (kick blocked)
Lake Travis: Cade McCrary 29 pass from Gilbert (pass fail)
Lake Travis: McCrary 47 pass from Gilbert (Kramer Fyfe kick)
SECOND QUARTER
Marble Falls: Thor Woerner 3 run (Sebastian Roman kick)
Lake Travis: Austin Pollard 10 run (kick)
THIRD QUARTER
Lake Travis: McCrary 12 pass from Gilbert (kick)
Marble Falls: Cooper Bowen 3 pass from Woerner (kick)
Lake Travis: Mike Adams 11 pass from Gilbert (kick)
FOURTH QUARTER
Lake Travis: McCrary 8 pass from Gilbert (kick)
Lake Travis: Colton Volpe 10 run (kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing…Lake Travis: Garrett Gilbert 20-23-0-352, Michael Brewer 2-2-0-28; Marble Falls: Thor Woerner 17-26-2-146, Riley Hall 0-1-0
Rushing…Lake Travis: Chris Aydam 5-53, Andy Erickson 4-34, Mike Adams 2-35, Colton Volpe 3-30, Brewer 2-17, Austin Pollard 2-18, Gilbert 1-9; Marble Falls: Austin Sparks 15-106, Woerner 20-100, Quinton Causey 4-40, Dario Hernandez 2-8, Dalton Ryan 1-12, Hall 1-10, Kyle Miller 1-1.
Receiving…Lake Travis: Cade McCrary 8-151, Austin Pollard 4-80, Conner Floyd 5-86, Volpe 2-21, Brewer 1-19, Adams 1-11, Mark Hoy 1-12; Marble Falls: Cooper Bowen 6-70, Causey 3-19, David Morgan 2-43, Salif Kahn 2-18, Ryan Henson 2-17, 1-0, Sparks 1-(-3).

TEAM STATS
Total yards: Lake Travis 596, Marble Falls 418
Rushing: Lake Travis 20-216, Marble Falls 46-272
Passing: Lake Travis 22-25-0-380, Marble Falls 17-27-0-146
First Downs: Lake Travis 29, Marble Falls 26
Penalties: Lake Travis 5-60, Marble Falls 1-5
Punts(average): Lake Travis 0-0, Marble Falls 3-36.0
Fumbles/Fumbles Lost: Lake Travis 2-2, Marble Falls 1-1