Craven: Lake Travis, Westlake shape Austin-area football scene

[caption id="attachment_18076" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo by Robert Ward Photo by Robert Ward[/caption] Lake Travis is back. The Cavaliers’ streak of five-straight state championships was ended in 2012 when Lake Travis moved up to Class 5A from Class 4A and lost in the bi-district round to Pflugerville, but head coach Hank Carter fields his best team in years this season. The knock on Lake Travis has been it can’t win championships in the biggest classification in the state, now Class 6A, but a 10-2 season in 2014 sets up what could be a huge 2015 season. The Lake Travis dynasty was built with the passing game, but running back Abe Willows leads the team this season after recording 1,557 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2014. The Cavaliers return eight offensive starters and seven on defense. Charlie Brewer, brother of former Lake Travis quarterback and current Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Brewer, takes over at quarterback. He has some experience, but this will be his first year as the man under center. The defense should be very good under new defensive coordinator Ryan Luedecke, even while replacing two starters in the secondary. We’ll know just how good Lake Travis can be by playoff time because rival high school Westlake is also in the middle of turning the program back around, and that is great news for Austin-area football. Without Lake Travis and Westlake in top form, Austin becomes an afterthought. Leander ISD and Liberty Hill are too far on the outskirts of the suburbs to be truly considered Austin. LBJ’s run in last year’s Class 5A playoffs was remarkable, but Westlake and Lake Travis are the programs that have defined Austin over the past 20 years. In 2015, both Westlake and Lake Travis are in position to make deep runs in the state playoffs in the biggest classification in Texas. The success of those two will determine the perception of Austin-area football.