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Nate Yarnell: LT QB Senior Year opportunity to shine.

Written by Tucker Stephenson on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

The quarterback factory known as Lake Travis High School just keeps
on churning out NCAA Division I-caliber talent.

Senior Nate Yarnell, a 6-foot-6 signal caller, is the latest in a
long line of gunslingers that have helped the Cavaliers become a
perennial state title contender and one of the most explosive and
efficient prep offenses in the nation. When Yarnell verbally
committed to Pitt in May, he also became the 10th consecutive
Lake Travis QB to receive a full athletic scholarship at the next level.

In fact, Yarnell was offered a full ride to the University of Houston
before he ever took a varsity snap. Most thought that Yarnell would
have to wait until this season to showcase his skills, but an unfortunate
injury to Texas enrollee Hudson Card thrust the junior into the spotlight
in late October of 2019. He responded by helping the Cavs reel off six
consecutive victories, including playoff wins against Smithson Valley,
San Antonio Madison and Weslaco.

During his six starts, he completed 91 of his 135 pass attempts for
1,248 yards and 11 touchdowns. Unsurprisingly, he earned plenty of
praise from head coach Hank Carter as a result.

“He did awesome,” Carter said. “He was able to get in there and
basically just take the reins and roll with it. I thought he did a fantastic
job and we weren’t surprised. We knew he was a heck of a player
and are now looking forward to him even improving more coming
into his senior year. I think he’s got that kind of potential.”

By now, Lake Travis’ tradition of excellence at the QB position is far
from a secret. But even with the spotlight shining brightly upon him,
Yarnell displayed poise after being thrown into the proverbial fire.

Carter said it’s all just business as usual for those that plan to line up
behind center for the Cavaliers.

“I think that any time a young man at Lake Travis wants to take the
route of playing quarterback they know that, number one, it’s going
to be highly competitive,” Carter said. “We’ve been very fortunate to
have a lot of great players come through here and we still have a lot
of really good quarterbacks in the system right now. I think all of those
guys understand that and they welcome that challenge and that competition
and all of the responsibility that comes with it.

“At the same time, football is a game and there’s pressure on all of those
kids out there and the pressure typically comes from themselves first and
they want to be at their best. I think Nate has handled that appropriately
and he wants to be one of the best players in the country and wants
to win a state championship his senior year.”

A state title win would catapult Yarnell into Lake Travis lore alongside names like
Charlie Brewer, Baker Mayfield, Michael Brewer and Garrett Gilbert.
The Cavaliers currently boast six state championship victories in their history,
with three of those coming during Carter’s tenure as head coach. Lake Travis’
most recent title win was in 2016.

When asked what makes Yarnell a natural at QB, Carter said the senior checks all
the boxes. “He’s a great thrower of the football, he’s a great leader and a super
smart kid,” Carter said. “I think all of the things you would want to start with to
have an excellent quarterback — and obviously his size at 6-foot-6.”

Now for the scary part — for opponents, that is. Carter said that Yarnell is only
scratching the surface of his ability and will continue to improve with more
experience on the field and additional time in the weight room.

“As a high school student-athlete, his body is still maturing and even during
this time we’ve been off he’s been working to get bigger and stronger and
just to make decisions quicker,” Carter said. “I think the maturation process
for a quarterback happens when everything starts slowing down for them.
It’s just because they’ve gotten a certain number of reps under their belt.
I think that’s what Nate is going to focus on and Coach (Tommy) Mangino
is excited to start working with him once we start getting kids back on campus.”

If all goes according to plan, the Cavaliers will open the 2020 regular season
Thursday, Oct. 1 on the road against the Westwood Warriors. However, even
if there are any further disruptions in the schedule due to COVID-19, Carter
said his new starting QB will be prepared to handle whatever hurdles come
his way.

“I think that’s kind of been the name of the game,” Carter said of the
uncertainty caused by the pandemic. “I think you have to be flexible and
be ready to adapt to what’s happening nowadays and he’s done that, so
I think he’ll be ready to roll when we get back out there.”

Cavs smash Maroons 63-0

Written by River Tompkins on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

Everywhere you look in Cavalier Stadium six silver stars appear, each one representing a State Championship. Lake Travis came into the season looking to add their seventh star. To do this head coach Hank Carter says they will take it one game at a time. With their sights set on another championship the Lake Travis Cavaliers faced off against the Austin High Maroons in the third divisional game of the season.

The eruption from the Lake Travis tunnel could be heard and felt. The entire team was inside the iconic helmet tunnel jumping and shooting with a ferocity that would intimidate any opponent. After coming off a tough loss against Westlake, Austin High had another uphill battle against the Lake Travis Cavaliers. Ultimately Lake Travis walked away with a shutout victory winning 63-0 over the Austin High Maroons. Offensively Lake Travis dominated this game in both the ground and air totaling 770 yards.

Lake Travis had the ball to start the game, looking to seize the momentum early the Cav’s quickly picked up a first down. It got harder from there as Lake Travis would throw three straight in-completions resulting in the punter taking the field on 4th down.

Austin matched Lake Travis’ drive by picking up a first down but eventually stalling out. After Quarterback Charles Wright had quick-kicked the ball Austin had started winning the field position battle as they almost put Lake Travis on their own 1-yard line.

Despite bad starting field position Lake Travis placed together a steady drive working their way downfield. After the first three plays of the drive were runs; senior quarterback Hudson Card came back with a 17-yard strike off the RPO to Kyle Eaves setting Hudson Card up for another big throw down the right sideline. Running Back Marcelo Alanis capped off the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run to put the first points on the board.

Following another punt from Austin, Lake Travis put together another methodical drive downfield, including a big 26-yard pass from Hudson Card to Grayson Sandlin. The drive was capped off with a 15-yard touchdown run by Wesley Erving.

One thing that worked all day for Lake Travis was the quarterback roll out. Numerous times the Lake Travis offensive line allowed opposing defensive linemen inward to the pocket while Hudson Card rolled out and delivered a perfect throw for a big gain. This was the go-to concept for Lake Travis as they primarily pulled it out on key 3rd downs.

On Austin’s third offensive possession they drove downfield, including a big 15+ yard run by running back Grayson Davis as well as a wide receiver screen to captain Colby Kalbacher to pick up a first down. Austin had finally gotten past the halfway point and now they were on the Lake Travis 31 yard line. With the end-zone in site, Austin’s center mishandled the ball leading to a fumble and recovery by Lake Travis. This ended the drive and put Lake Travis in yet another good spot to score.

For the rest of the half, Austin was not able to pass midfield but Lake Travis was able to score touchdowns including a 20-yard touchdown pass from Hudson Card to senior receiver Grayson Sandlin, a 15-yard touchdown pass on a roll out to Kyle Eaves and their biggest play of the half when wide receiver Grayson Sandlin broke a short slant for a 50-yard touchdown, his third so far. It was safe to say that the Lake Travis passing attack could not be stopped as they totaled 499 yards through the air. Despite all of this scoring Austin’s defense did come big on a forced and recovered fumble to stop Lake Travis.

Going into halftime Austin needed to improve their big play ability. Something that they had been great at all year was haunting them throughout the first half. One of the reasons that they often stalled out near midfield was they were not able to generate big plays. This was the deciding factor in the game. If Austin was able to generate more big plays they would have found themselves in closer competition.

Offensively, the second half was not much better for Austin as they once again stalled near midfield allowing Lake Travis to start chewing clock. Lake Travis hit a big 52-yard passing touchdown on just their 3rd play of the half, on this one Hudson Card connected with Kyle Eaves essentially putting the game away.

Lake Travis slowed their offense down as they put second string quarterback Nate Yarnell in. They also slowed down the tempo trying to run the clock out and claim another victory. The Cavaliers are now 3-0 in district play and 4-1 in the regular season.

Coach Hank Carter had this to say when asked which player he thought had a breakout game, “That’s a good question – I think several, Grayson Sandlin made an awesome run after the catch, this is something we have been working on with him and wanting to see him do. I also think Weston Stephens had a great game as well as Gary Gordon.”

Lake Travis walked away with another win, once again they look like divisional favorites. Lake Travis has a favorable matchup against the Lehman Lobos next Friday and then what we are all waiting for, the Battle Of The Lakes! Lake Travis vs Westlake on Oct 11th. Austin has a must-win matchup with Del Valle this Thursday that could determine the playoff contenders.

Cav’s Defeat Bowie

Written by Steven Ryan on . Posted in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.

Bowie is one of the best teams in Austin, but Lake Travis is one of the best teams in the state. The Cavaliers showed the distinction between the two in a 42-21 route Friday at Burger Stadium in Austin.

The game was more lopsided than the final score would indicate. Lake Travis junior quarterback Hudson Card threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns on 15-of-19 passing and added a 33-yard score on the ground as the Cavaliers built a 42-7 lead before pulling the starters at halftime.

“I’m really happy with how the offense handled against their No. 1 defense in the first half,” said Lake Travis coach Hank Carter. “That was exciting to see. We ran the ball. We completed some big throws. (We) had a couple of procedural penalties, which we got to clean that up. That’s an unforced error. But other than that really proud of who the offense responded. Special teams units were hit or miss. Our coverage units have got to be better. We’re not where we need to be there… But (we’re) 1-0 in district and that was the goal so that was a great job by our kids tonight.”

Superstar senior wide receiver Garrett Wilson got Lake Travis rolling early. He reversed the field on a wide receiver screen for a 32-yard gain on the second play from scrimmage and capped the opening drive with a 25-yard touchdown grab less than two minutes into the game.

He also caught an intermediate pass in the second quarter and cut it up the field of an 87-yard touchdown to finish with five receptions for 172 yards, and threw an 11-yard score on a double-pass. 

But he was not the only Lake Travis playmaker who go involved in the action as junior wide receiver Kyle Eaves and junior tight end Grayson Sandling each matched Wilson’s catch total. Eaves caught five balls for 94 yards with a score and Sandlin hauled in five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns. 

“If we’re going to accomplish our goals this year it can’t be about any one or two guys,” Carter said. “It’s got to be a team effort and I was very proud of how Coach Stein and the offensive staff took what the defense gave us tonight. Hudson spread the ball around and did a great job of it. That’s who we’re going to have to play.”

Bowie marched down the field on its opening possession and tied the game at seven with a nine-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a six-yard touchdown run from junior quarterback Trinidad Sanders.

But Lake Travis held the Bulldogs scoreless on their next seven drives, which is a good sign for a defense that struggled to start last season. The Cavs allowed 141 points in their first three games of 2017. After allowing only seven first downs in the opener to an Arlington Martin team that averaged 45 points per game last year, this is more proof the Lake Travis is better on that side of the ball.

“I thought our defense responded after the first drive. (Bowie) put a great drive together, went down and scored, and after that we made some adjustments and our kids just settled down and just played better,” Carter said. “Last year we had a ton of kids that started and were first-time varsity players or first-time players at that possession. So we have a little more experience so that helps and I think this collection of kids has responded. They’ve heard it from me and our staff all offseason and all summer and all fall camp that we have to play better defense. Hopefully, we’ll continue that trend.”

Bowie was playing without highly-coveted senior wide receiver Elijah Higgins for the third straight game because of a hand/wrist injury. The Bulldogs took another big hit on the medical front when Sander hurt his knee in the third quarter. Sanders was key to the team’s 2-0 start and gained 107 total yards (68 passing, 39 rushing) before leaving the game.