Last night, I took my first road trip of the season to Lake Travis stadium in Austin as the Lake Travis Cavaliers played the Judson Rockets. I gotta thank the GPS navigation lady on my Galaxy S3. Without her, I would probably still be driving in Austin looking for Lake Travis!! Texas Bob, I passed through Bexar, Guadalupe, Comal, Hays, and Travis county!!! I left my house at 4:15 and I didn’t arrive at the game until 6:45. Yep, traffic everywhere!! And, I only stopped once for less than 5 minutes for gas.
The drive home was easy and I utilized cruise control and was in my bed at exactly 1:00 am; a lot of driving but always worth it for HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.
Can I please make a suggestion to people driving on the highways…when there is a car on the side of the road, please don’t stop and look, just keep on chugging along (unless it is a hottie)!
It is always such a a goose pimply moment when you are driving to a football stadium and you can see the stadium lights!! I got a great gig!!!
Gosh, parking was an absolute nightmare and you know something, the campus, stadium, and nearby area, kinda reminded of Smithson Valley. I had a little bit of a hike from where I parked to the press-box, but I didn’t mind.
So, when I arrived at the game, I found the TSRNsports booth, threw my stuff down and walked to the end of the hall where the Lake Travis radio was camped out. I had to say HI to Marc Hoenig, the voice of Lake Travis…he got me started as a stat man!! I had to show his stat man, Richie, how to do stats as this was his first time. I always have extra supplies so I let Richie borrow a board, a marker, and an eraser. I gave him a really quick lesson cause I had to get my board prepared as by this time, Bobby Stautzenberger and Dee Hansen, were already during the pre-game show.
Normally for the Judson games, it is me, Bobby, and Tony Franklin. But, last night Tony worked the Madison and Steele game last night so we got Dee Hansen from Austin. Now, I knew who Dee was but last night was the first time I got to work with him. Dee was voice of Lake Travis with TSRNsports up until a few years ago.
The view from the press-box was breathtaking…you could see the Austin hill country for many many miles. Now, the football field and huge video board view was sorta obstructed for me due to the design of the booth; why on earth would you put a bar in the middle of the window for the broadcasters? The press-box was nice and was upgraded in 2012…they had candy, drinks, and food for us to nosh on and also a bathroom. I also wasn’t sweating like I was on Thursday night.
Last year, when these times played at Converse in Week 0 under first year Judson Rocket head coach, Mark Smith, Lake Travis beat Judson by a score of 47 to 13.
The starting quarterback for Lake Travis last season was Baker Mayfield (Baker was the starting quarterback last night for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and he was 43 for 60 for 413 yards and 4 touchdowns). In the game against Judson, he was 23 for 35 passing for 418 yards with 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. Zach Austin, a wide receiver, had 8 receptions for 239 yards and 4 touchdowns. They ran 68 plays for 560 yards!!! Wow!!!
Jonathan Garcia and Rayjohn Austin-Ramsey split time taking snaps at the quarterback position at last years game. Combined, they were 15 for 33 passing for 165 yards and one interception. Cameron Johnson led the team with 5 receptions for 106 yards. Jarveon Williams, the starting running back. had 16 carries for 140 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kevion Ramsey, a defensive back for the Rockets, was hanging out with Bobby and I in the booth watching and studying Lake Travis.
I wrote a CONVERSE JUDSON BLOG POST EARLIER THIS MONTH and this game and rematch was one that I was really excited to see and work…I am not gonna boast myself, but I did mention that Judson would get redemption.
GAME SCORING SUMMARY
The Judson Rockets scored first on a 3 yard run by running back, Jo’Von Kyle.
Lake Travis answered that with a 19 yard touchdown reception by Dominic Packer. The Cavaliers also had a field goal and after 12 minutes of play, they led the Rockets 10 to 7.
In the 2nd quarter, Rayjohn Austin Ramsey, the Judson quarterback, ran for a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass to Andre Wilson. Andre Wilson also threw for a touchdown to Michael Akai. Lake Travis only had 1 touchdown in that 2nd quarter.
At Halftime, Judson led 25 to 17 over Lake Travis. The Rockets ran 36 plays for 199 yards and Lake Travis ran 33 for plays for 109 yards. Was it good defense, poor offense, or first game jitters…cause both teams didn’t play up to par.
Lake Travis got a safety in the 3rd quarter and that made the score 25 to 19.
The score was still 25 to 19 with 1:37 left in the game. Lake Travis had a 4th and 10 from the Judson 34 yard line. Dude, everybody in the stadium was standing and cheering. Gosh, this is what High School football players dream of…a chance to win a game on the last possession!!! Wow!!! The quarterback for Lake Travis drops back to throw…Kevion Ramsey, the Judson defender catches the ball (interception and game)…HOLY CRAP!! WE WON!!
FINAL SCORE WAS JUDSON 25 AND LAKE TRAVIS 19!!! Redemption is nice.
The quarterback for Lake Travis, Dominic Delira didn’t have Baker Mayfield numbers. Delira was 20 for 30 passing for 134 yards and touchdowns and 1 interception. A bunch of very short passes. Dominic Packer, a wide receiver, had 5 receptions for 38 yards and 1 touchdown. The running back, Shaun Nixon, had 14 carries for 79 yards and 1 touchdown. I was really impressed with Packer and Nixon…they are the studs and leaders of the team.
The Cavaliers ran a total of 65 plays for only 210 yards. Bill Pohl, our halftime guest and also a Lake Travis historian, said the last time Lake Travis had that many yards of total offense was back in 2002!!! WOW!!! Dude, I would love to have Bill write a guest blog about Lake Travis Cavalier history…they won 5 consecutive state championships; pretty amazing!!
Rayjohn Austin-Ramsey, the Judson quarterback, was 8 for 17 passing for 136 yards and 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Ramsey looked sharper throwing the ball in compared to last season and several of the incomplete passes were very catchable. Andre Wilson, a wide receiver, had 4 receptions for 53 yards and 1 touchdown and he also threw a 35 yard touchdown to Michael Akai. Cameron Johnson had an amazing 46 yard reception but got hurt on the play and didn’t return. I don’t want to speculate on the injury; I just hope he will be OK.
The running game for Judson wasn’t good. Brandon Sanders had 10 carries for 26 yards, Ramsey had 13 carries for 30 yards and 1 touchdown, Jo’Von Kyle had 13 carries for 28 yards and 1 touchdown, and Cedric Williams had 3 carries for 12 yards. That’s it for the Rocket running backs…under 100 yards.
The entire Judson defense really stepped up (they forced 3 turnovers) and deserve a bunch of credit. Malik Pryor, Justin Johnson, Kevion Ramsey, Shawn Calvin, D’Mauria Martin, and Brandon Clemens…just to name a few who to me stood out.
Offensively, the Rockets were average. I really want to see Rayjohn run more cause when he does, he makes something happen. The Judson speedsters are Andre Wilson and Cedric Williams…I would love for Rayjohn to get the ball in there hands more often.
They do need to find a kicker who can make extra points and limit the stupid penalties.
Next Friday, the Rockets host the Steele Knights and I know and you know that it will be a battle from start to finish and you will have to play a flawless game to win.
Tonight, I will be at Gustafson stadium again for MacArthur VS Warren (TSRNsports.com).
And, on Monday, I will publish new photos of the renovation at Alamo stadium and the convocation center.