Brennan hadn’t trailed by more than seven points all season long. But after Lake Travis scored on its first three possessions, the Cavaliers had the Bears down by 21 midway through the second quarter.
It was a quick start in what was a dominant performance by the Cavaliers as they ran away with a 42-17 victory over a previously undefeated Brennan team in Dripping Springs on Saturday.
“The defense set the tone,” Lake Travis quarterback Bo Edmundson said. “Brennan got the ball first, and we got a quick stop. It then makes my job super easy. We got a really good start. It was 14-0 before you blinked.”
The win clinched the 6A Division I Region IV title for the Cavaliers, their sixth regional title in the last seven years.
“I’m incredibly proud of them,” Lake Travis head coach Hank Carter said. “Really all of our offensive weapons had some big catches and big runs. I thought defensively, we fought really hard up front and our defensive backs competed enough. For our guys to hold them to [17 points], that was really big.”
Brennan turned the ball over twice and committed eight penalties for 45 yards. Brennan head coach Stephen Basore said afterwards that those mistakes were a deciding factor in the game.
“I think we started very slow and that hurt us,” Basore said. “Lake Travis was executing at a high level. I think it was a combination of them playing great and us making a few mistakes that really cost us.”
It was a packed house at Tiger Stadium in Dripping Springs on Saturday.
In the first half, Lake Travis looked pretty much unstoppable.
When the Cavaliers needed tough rushing yards, they often turned to senior athlete Isaac Norris in the wildcat formation. That decision paid off handsomely as he finished off each of the first two Cavalier drives with two short yardage rushing touchdowns.
In between the two touchdowns by Norris, Brennan looked like it had gotten on the board as Ashton Dubose delivered a 21-yard strike to Chase Campbell. However, an illegal formation penalty took the touchdown off the board.
The penalty bug continued to bite Brennan throughout the half. Late in the first half, Dubose connected with Jaheim Lard for a 60-yard gain all the way down to the Lake Travis 5-yard line. However, a false start and a delay of game resigned the Bears to settle for a 30-yard field goal by Devin Thompson in the closing seconds of the half.
Those miscues coupled with an impressive 32-yard touchdown run by DJ Johnson midway through the second quarter meant that Lake Travis led 21-3 at the break.
The second half was much the same. The Cavaliers picked up right where they left off, driving 75 yards on 10 plays on their opening possession as Edmundson connected with Chernet Estes for a five-yard score.
Carter said he thought Edmundson played his best game of the year as the junior quarterback completed 25 of 33 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cavalier defense stepped up after that as defensive tackle Jacob Henry forced a fumble and defensive back Jacob Glova came up with an interception on back-to-back possessions.
Carter said that the play of his secondary was key to limiting an explosive Brennan offense that was averaging 51.2 points per game on the season before Saturday.
“I really think we haven’t played all that great in the secondary in big ball games this year, and I thought that was a huge step forward tonight,” Carter said. “Those [Brennan’s receivers and quarterbacks] are the types of guys we’re going to see the next couple of weeks. For us to be able to compete with them like that, it was really really big.”
Johnson continued his impressive performance on the ground on the play after Glova’s interception as he broke free for a 95-yard touchdown run to put Lake Travis up 35-3. He would go on to finish with 208 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.
“It seems like he does this week in and week out,” Edmundson said. “It’s a great feeling to just hand the ball and have all the trust in him and the offensive line to make the right calls and the right blocks.”
Brennan did add two late scores as Dubose connected with Campbell and his brother Aaron for touchdowns, either side of a 39-yard touchdown pass from Edmundson to Estes for Lake Travis, but the damage was already done.
Despite the lopsided defeat, Basore was extremely proud of his team as they finished the season with 13 victories, the most for the Bears in a single season since they made the state championship game back in 2013.
“We had a great season,” Basore said. “Obviously, bummed about this finish, but it’s something to learn from for next year and super proud of the kids for everything they did this year.”
Lake Travis will now advance to face North Shore in a state semifinal for the third time in the last four years. The game will take place in Round Rock at the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex next Saturday.
And after the Cavaliers were shockingly eliminated by Round Rock in the first round of playoffs last year, they are relishing the opportunity to play for their first state title game berth since 2017.
“It’s huge,” Edmundson said. “I mean last year we had a very early exit, and now we’re in the final four. That’s crazy to think about. Just all the hard work that we put in in the offseason and all season. Now we’re going to practice next week. It’s going to be awesome.”
See all the final scores from this weekend Here
