Lake Travis Gets Revenge Against Cibolo Steele

By Chris Doelle
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: November 19, 2022

Austin Lake Travis vs Cibolo Steele by Steve Thomas

photos: Steve Thomas

Cavaliers avenge early season loss to Knights to advance to region semis

Lake Travis kicker Hunter Rioux said that he knows there is always a chance the outcome of a game will depend on his leg. On Friday night at the Pfield in Pflugerville, the game did, indeed come down to his leg. With two seconds left in the fourth quarter and the game tied at 21-21, Leon netted a 35-yard field goal to lift the Cavaliers to a 24-21 win over the Cibolo Steele Knights. The win not only advanced the Cavaliers to the UIL 6A D1 regional semi-finals but also avenged the Cavaliers’ early-season loss to the Knights. In week two of the regular season, the Knights defeated the Cavaliers 38-31. In that game, injuries to quarterbacks Bo Edmundson and Kadyn Leon forced the Cavaliers to start tight end Sam Self at quarterback. Since then, the Knights had improved to 11-0 and won their second-consecutive district championship. Last week, in the bi-district round, the Knights defeated San Antonio Johnson 34-17. Lake Travis, meanwhile, entered the game at 6-4 overall. Last week, the Cavaliers outscored Round Rock 28-0 in the second half for a 35-10 victory to advance to the area round and set up a rematch with Steele.

In the first half, the Cavaliers were in control. After the defense forced Steele to punt on its opening drive, the offense took over at the 50-yard line. Kadyn Leon connected with receiver Seth Galbraith for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Later in the first quarter, the Cavaliers once again had excellent starting field position at their 45-yard line; but Steele defensive back Dontae Carter intercepted Leon’s pass to cut the drive short. The Knights converted two fourth-down plays on the ensuing drive and drove all the way to the Lake Travis two-yard line, but the Lake Travis defense stopped running back Jaydon Bailey short of the first-down marker on fourth down. The Cavaliers then drove the ball 98 yards culminating in a 45-yard touchdown pass from Leon to Galbraith.

At the start of the second half, the Knights caught a huge break when a holding penalty negated the Cavaliers’ opening kickoff return for a touchdown. The Steele defense forced Lake Travis to punt, and quarterback Chad Warner connected with receiver Joe Perez on fourth down for a 38-yard touchdown pass to put Steele on the board. Early in the fourth quarter, running back Aidan Albright extended Lake Travis’s lead to 21-7 with a one-yard touchdown run. Steele responded on the next drive with Bailey’s second touchdown of the night on a 12-yard run. Following the touchdown, the Steele defense stripped the ball from Leon and recovered it at their own 45-yard line. Jaydon Bailey found the end zone again on nine-yard touchdown run to tie the game with 3:54 left. The Cavaliers then put together a methodical drive that bled the clock down to two seconds and set up Hunter Rioux’s game-winning 35-yard field goal.

After the game, Lake Travis Head Coach Hank Carter cited his team being able to play guys in their proper positions, especially at quarterback, as one of the major improvements from the previous meeting. Regarding Seth Galbraith’s outstanding performance, Card said, “His nickname is ‘the Moose;’ and tonight, we turned the moose loose.” When asked if he thought the game would come down to Rioux’s kick, Carter said that every game going forward this year could pan out that way. With the win, Lake Travis improves to 7-4 overall. Next week, the Cavaliers will take on the San Antonio Brennan Bears(11-1) in the 6A-D1 Region 4 semifinals at New Braunfels Canyon High School on Friday at 6:00pm CST. Steele, meanwhile, finishes the season at 11-1 overall.

Players Pictured

Austin Lake Travis