The Woodlands Highlanders Fall Short to Lake Travis in State Title Game

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Woodlands Highlanders, who all season long had been the team applying pressure to the opposition, finally felt the squeeze in Saturday night’s state championship game against Lake Travis at AT&T Stadium.

The Cavaliers jumped out to a 27-0 lead early in the second quarter, and that early deficit was too much for the Highlanders to overcome as Lake Travis cruised the rest of the way to a 41-13 victory. The Cavaliers’ sure-tackling defensive line and all-state quarterback Charlie Brewer were the keys to the team’s fast start.

For The Woodlands (15-1), a record-setting and emotional season ended on a bittersweet note, but that takes nothing away from the marvelous accomplishments of this Highlander squad. On Saturday, they simply ran into a great team that executed its game plan to perfection in the first 15 minutes.

There were several players who stepped up and had big games for The Woodlands. Running back Carlos Ramos lowered his head and bruised his way up the middle for a solid performance. He was especially effective on first down, picking up five or more yards and putting his team in good shape to keep the drive alive.

Wide receiver Dylan Casey had a touchdown reception and an interception, and quarterback Eric Schmid finished with more than 200 yards of total offense and two touchdown passes.

Lake Travis (15-1) relied on their defense to set the tone early. The Cavaliers grounded the Highlanders’ high octane passing game while also containing Schmid and Ramos, something no team had managed to do all year.

Meanwhile Brewer threw touchdown passes on two of the Cavaliers’ first three possessions to give his team a 14-0 lead with less than three minutes to go in the first quarter.

But the knockout blow came on two plays in a span of three minutes. Lake Travis intercepted Schmid late in the first quarter, and on their first play following the turnover, they pulled off a reverse option pass as Garrett Wilson lofted a 40-yard touchdown to Maleek Barkley.

Sensing the game was slipping away, the Highlanders tried to rally on their next drive, but a pass interference call went against them – there was plenty of contact by both players involved – and a tremendous apparent catch by Casey was ruled incomplete. After The Woodlands punted the ball away, Brewer hooked up with Barkley on a 65-yard touchdown pass with nine minutes left in the half.

The Woodlands had the last word in the half when Casey hauled in a 30-yard touchdown. The PAT was blocked, making it a 27-6 game.

The Highlander defense made excellent adjustments at halftime and only allowed two touchdowns. One of those scores, a 15-yard touchdown catch by Cade Brewer, was conclusively revealed to be an incompletion on the replay. That upped the Cavalier lead to 34-6.

In the final seconds of the game, and of their season, The Woodlands showed their determination to fight until the very end. Schmid zipped a nine-yard touchdown pass to Connor Patrick to make it 41-13.

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