Lake Travis upsets Vandegrift on late field goal in Texas high school football playoffs: Look
MCNEIL, TEXAS - Braydon Doane kicked a 34-yard field through the uprights with one second left to lift Lake Travis to a 13-10 upset win over Austin Vandegrift in the opening round of the Texas high school playoffs on Friday night.
"It feels amazing, it was everything that anybody could have asked for," Doane said. "I had all the faith in our offense that they were going to get us in a position to win the game. If they were not going to be able to get in the end zone, then I will be ready."
Welcome to 6A Division I, previously-undefeated Vipers. Lake Travis (9-2) held a high-octane Vandegrift defense well below its typical clip. Vandegrift entered the contest the No. 6 ranked team in Texas.
"I can not explain how proud I am of these kids tonight, and putting all the distractions to the side to beat a very good team in a physical football game," Cavalier head coach Hank Carter said. "Nico [Hamilton], Kadyn [Leon], Braydon, and so many more guys just said we are going to be unselfish and do what is best for the team. I can not be more proud of this team right now."
Vandegrift tied the game at 10-10 with 8:11 left in the fourth when Deuce Adams hit Jase Skoglund for a 30-yard touchdown pass.
With the game tied, both teams exchanged punts before Lake Travis and Hamilton just took over to set up the game-winning field goal.
"As a senior I was not going to take no as an answer as we were not going to lose first round and we are going all the way to the championship," Hamilton, Lake Travis' senior running back, said. "Everybody played so hard. A huge shoutout for holding one of the best offenses in TX-6A to just 10 points.
The Cavaliers led 7-3 most of the way until a 33-yard Doane field goal put them up a score with 10:21 left in the game.
It was a scoreless first quarter as both heavyweight defenses kept throwing knockout punches at each offense.
The Vipers cracked the scoring column early into the second quarter with a 49 yard field goal by 2024 place kicker Ty Kempema to take the early 3-0 with 9:17 left.
Lake Travis answered on its next drive as Hamilton gave the Cavaliers a spark with a powerful run to swing the momentum the Cavaliers' way. With the run game clicking, 2025 quarterback Chaston Ditta found Leon for a 31 yard catch and run for the Cavalier touchdown.
"I was cheering them [O line] on all game and letting them know they were doing a good job all game," Hamilton said. "That was the key to success, the o-line did their job along with the whole team. That is how we got the win."
The Cavalier head coach could not express enough how proud of his team he was with the hard fought win.
"Nico was kind of like a year long started and then came in tonight in the second inning to provide us that spark we needed," Hamilton said. He just came into the game and took over. What an awesome physical game it was tonight by our o-line and our tight ends."
The Cavaliers boast a defense that has held teams to 19 points per game on the season.
"The defensive coaching staff had a great plan tonight to really try and slow down this fantastic Vandegrift offense," Carter said. "They have a bunch of explosive guys. To be able to hold them down to that a few of points was fantastic."
Lake Travis was led by Hamilton reaching the century mark in rushing yards, and Leone who had more than 100 all-purpose yards.
With the win, Lake Travis survives and advances to the area round of the TX-6A, Division I playoffs against San Antonio Johnson.
-- Ryan Childers | @sblivetx
