Posted: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:38 AM - 6,931 Readers

By: Joel Luna

Pearland Dawson found out just how good the Cavaliers were as the Eagles were ambushed 57-12 on Saturday afternoon in the Class 4A Division I semifinal at Kyle Field.

“This was a great, great win and we are back in it,” Lake Travis head coach Chad Morris said.

For the third year in a row, the Cavaliers (15-0) are headed to a state final as they improved their winning streak to 45 games. Lake Travis will go up against Guyer or Longview in the state final. Those two teams played late Saturday night.

Dawson (12-3), making its first playoff appearance ever in school history, set quite a precedent for other Eagle teams to follow by going five rounds deep.

But facing a spread offense for the second week in a row, the Eagles could not handle the skill level of the Lake Travis offense.

“First of all, I just want to say that I am so proud of these kids,” Dawson head coach Eric Wells said. “For everything that they accomplished this year, you just have to be proud of their accomplishments.”

Lake Travis junior Michael Brewer (10-for-13 passing, 250 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions) needed only 13 passes on the afternoon to make sure the Cavaliers were going to wind up on top.

But it was the Eagles who took the opening kickoff and promptly moved down the field on the Cavaliers. After a 46-yard reception by Marcus Vaughn from quarterback Darian Lazard, the ball was placed at the Lake Travis 6-yard line.

But Xavier Brown fumbled on the very next play, and that started a rollercoaster of events that didn’t go the Eagles way.

“That was just crucial for us with that turnover,” Wells said.

It took Lake Travis six plays to cover 94 yards as Andy Erickson scored the first of his three touchdowns on the day with a 27-yard touchdown from Brewer. The Cavaliers took a 7-0 lead after Kramer Fyle’s extra point with 7:28 left in the first quarter.

The Eagles threw three interceptions on their next three possessions — with picks by Ian Lazarus, Taylor Wrinkle and Jacob Garner — and the Cavaliers capitalized on the short field.

They scored off two of those interceptions, as Erickson scored his second touchdown and Brewer added a 6-yard keeper. After junior Conner Floyd added the two-point conversion following the second score, the Cavaliers were quickly up 22-0 with 2:22 left in the first period.

And Lake Travis did not stop scoring. The Cavaliers added three more touchdowns before the half to go up 43-0 on the Eagles.

Right before the break, though, Dawson finally put together a drive and went 61 yards on 10 plays with Lazard finding Gauthier Piaget for a 5-yard score with 17 seconds left in the second quarter. Dawson went for the two-point conversion but did not make it and went into the locker room down 43-6.

“Our defense has been getting better and better since the second week of the playoffs,” Morris said. “We just kept seeing them getting better and playing with a lot more confidence, and I think that was the biggest deal tonight.

“Creating short fields and getting the turnovers really helped.”

Dawson tried an onside kick to start the second half but failed to recover the ball. Lake Travis put together a five-play, 55-yards drive capped by Brewer’s second touchdown on a 4-yard run.

With a 50-6 advantage, the Cavaliers had pretty much sewed up yet another state final appearance.

Dawson answered with a 10-play, 85-yard drive to score its second touchdown of the game. The big plays on the drive were a 36-yard reception by Brown and a 19-yard run from Lazard. Vaughn scored on a 9-yard strike from Lazard.

Again, the two-point conversion failed when Lazard fumbled the snap.

Lake Travis finished with 504 total offensive yards, while the Eagles were held to 281. Lazard again led the Eagle offense with 114 rushing yards and another 194 threw the air with two touchdown passes.