AUSTIN, Texas – The game is called “Razzle” at Lake Travis High School. In the micro, it’s a hybrid of Ultimate Frisbee and pick-up football. In the macro, it’s the connective tissue that links the generations who’ve come through the most impressive continuous public-school quarterback pipeline in the country.

Each January, when bowl games have passed and NFL seasons have ended, the Lake Travis quarterbacks from the past decade or so return home. They shoot out a group text and congregate in the school’s massive football practice facility.

It’s not uncommon to find Cleveland Browns quarterback Garrett Gilbert whizzing passes to Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, both of whom starred for the high school. The Brewer brothers – Michael of Virginia Tech/Texas Tech and Charlie of current Baylor fame – usually roll in, along with a wave of former receivers and teammates. “You can guess,” laughs Charlie Brewer, “who talks the most trash.” He unnecessarily adds, “Baker.”

Around here, Lake Travis quarterbacks making noise in college and beyond has become as common as “Keep Austin Weird” bumper stickers.

The last nine starting quarterbacks at Lake Travis High School have earned Division I scholarships, which includes current Texas-bound starter Hudson Card. (Don’t worry, No. 10 is waiting.)

How did Lake Travis end up producing one of the country’s most prolific runs of quarterbacks? “The tradition has spawned this younger generation of grade school and middle school kids to do anything and everything to be the starting quarterback there,” Texas coach Tom Herman said, speaking generally about the school.

The roots of the trend, in a way, are grounded in a coaching philosophy that resembles the uninhibited and free-wheeling games of Razzle. Former Lake Travis coach Chad Morris, now the head coach at Arkansas, showed up in 2008 with a distinct offensive coaching philosophy. “Attack like he’s swinging an ax,” jokes Hank Carter, the current Lake Travis coach.

View photos Baker Mayfield is the most well-known quarterback to come out of Lake Travis, but there are plenty other Division-I QBs from the Austin high school. (Yahoo Sports illustration) More

Morris and Carter showed up together in 2008, crashing for three nights at a Super 8 nearly 40 minutes away because of lack of local options. Back then, Lake Travis had 1,700 students enrolled, and the sleepy area had only a McDonald’s and a catfish joint that stayed open past 9 p.m.

More than a decade later, the rise of Lake Travis football, combined with a humming economy, has helped turn the school and area about 20 miles west of downtown Austin into a destination for more than quarterbacks. There are 3,300 students in the school and Carter estimates more than 50 places to eat after dark.

There’s been no magic scheme or X’s and O’s guru through the years, as five different offensive coordinators have been play-callers for the six state titles since 2007. As Carter enters his 12th season at the school and 10th as head coach, the tactics and verbiage have changed multiple times. But the ax swinging hasn’t.

“I’ve got to find reasons to attract our kids in the community to want to play football,” Carter said. “It’s fun to throw and catch the football. It’s not always fun to run the counter trey 43 times. There's more to do in this community than just play football, and we need to be cognizant of that.”

Carter is one of the most successful Texas high school coaches and makes more than $150,000 per year. He’s resisted college opportunities for much the same reason his former quarterbacks come back every January to play Razzle. “Be careful trying to be happier than happy,” he said, repeating some advice from his father. “And we’re pretty happy around here.”

Passing the torch

There are plenty of weighty accomplishments that the Lake Travis Nine have compiled since this run began in 2006. Garrett Gilbert won Gatorade Player of the Year in high school after three state titles. Baker Mayfield emerged as the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft after walking on at two colleges. Charlie Brewer broke the national high school record by completing a stupefying 77.4 percent of his passes.

Story continues