FOOTBALL: Brewer, Lake Travis take down The Woodlands in Class 6A final

The Woodlands quarterback Eric Schmid (3) is forced out of the pocked after pressure by Lake Travis defensive back Aaron Brown-Nixon (6) and defensive linemen T.J. Simien (44) during the first quarter of a UIL Class 6A Division I state final at AT&T Stadium Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, in Arlington. less The Woodlands quarterback Eric Schmid (3) is forced out of the pocked after pressure by Lake Travis defensive back Aaron Brown-Nixon (6) and defensive linemen T.J. Simien (44) during the first quarter of a UIL ... more Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 102 Caption Close FOOTBALL: Brewer, Lake Travis take down The Woodlands in Class 6A final 1 / 102 Back to Gallery

ARLINGTON - Capturing the first state title in program history, in honor of a seriously injured teammate, with a coach that was on the school's very first varsity team, led by that coach's son, seemed like the perfect ending to The Woodlands season.



But that's not the story the Highlanders got.



Saturday night, the Lake Travis Cavaliers wrote their own storybook ending—throttling The Woodlands 41-13 in the Class 6A Division I State Championship at AT&T Stadium.



"I'm extremely proud of these kids and the way they've played all season long," The Woodlands coach Mark Schmid said. "It is unfortunate that someone has to lose this game, because in my opinion there are really no losers. But when you lose the game you walk off the field feeling a little differently than [the team that won]."



Lake Travis' senior quarterback Charlie Brewer carved up the Highlanders' defense to the tune of 434 total yards of offense with 4 touchdowns and one interception.



The Woodlands (15-1) struggled to move the ball all night, picking up just 15 first downs to the Cavaliers 22. Lake Travis (15-1) also outgained the Highlanders with 490 total offensive yards to The Woodlands' 291. The Highlanders averaged 488.9 yards per game coming into Saturday's matchup.



"Lake Travis jumped out on us and we couldn't catch up," Mark Schmid said. "It got hard because it took us out of our game plan. We were forced into doing some things and because they had the lead they could sit back and play it differently in the secondary. They are a good football team, they played better than we did tonight and they deserved the win."



Saturday's championship win gives Lake Travis its sixth in program history and it's first in Class 6A. The Cavaliers lost to Katy 34-7 in last year's championship game.



The Highlanders didn't have the greatest of starts in its return to the championship stage for the first time since 2003.



A three-and-out on their opening possession was quickly followed by Lake Travis effortlessly driving down the field for a touchdown.



Charlie Brewer completed all four of his throws on the drive, including a pass to a wide open Cade Green in the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 Lake Travis with 8:28 left in the first quarter.



The Highlander defense managed to keep Lake Travis from building too much momentum and forced a three-and-out of its own on the Cavaliers second drive.



But, the Highlanders simply couldn't get anything going offensively. The Woodlands went three-and-out on its first three possessions and senior quarterback Eric Schmid threw an interception on the Highlanders' fourth drive.



It wasn't until midway through the second quarter that The Woodlands picked up its first, first down of the game and on its final drive of the half, Eric Schmid found senior wide out Dylan Casey one-on-one on the outside.



A Lake Travis' corner got a hand on the pass, but Casey kept his focus and corralled the bell to get The Woodlands on the board with 25 seconds left in the first half.



The Highlanders had their point after blocked, so Lake Travis took a 27-6 lead into the locker room.



Charlie Brewer, an SMU commit, put on a clinic Saturday night—further demonstrating why he was named Offensive Player of the Year in Class 6A by the Associated Press.



The senior quarterback was 12-of-16 passing for 162 yards with three touchdowns in the first two quarters. He also rushed for 53 yards on five carries.



He was 27-37 passing on the night, bringing his completion percentage at 77.2 for the year, making him the national record holder for best completion percentage in a season, passing Dano Graves from Folsom, Calif (75.2 in 2009).



Trailing by multiple scores in the second half, The Woodlands kept fighting but was unable to move the ball consistently against the Cavaliers' defense.



Down 34-6 in the third, a door seemed to open for The Woodlands when Dylan Casey picked off Brewer with 5:23 left in the quarter. It was just the third interception thrown by Brewer in 2016.



The Highlanders were unable to do anything with the turnover though, as on their ensuing drive, Eric Schmid was intercepted in the end zone by Lake Travis junior defensive back Jake Foster on a pass intended for Casey.



Eric Schmid finished the night 16-for-24 passing with 131 yards and two touchdowns. Senior running back Carlos Ramos finished the night with 91 rushing yards on 21 carries.



It wasn't the ending The Woodlands wanted, but senior defensive lineman Zach Loane said it was important for the Highlanders to remember the journey that got them to the championship game.



"It is very disappointing and obviously not the outcome we wanted," Loane said. "But we said we'd be here, and to actually be here is still a great feeling. There is so much to be proud of this season. Taking down teams like Katy, George Ranch and Allen—those are great football teams. There is just so much to be proud of."