Badgers want to do winning push-ups this week
Jeremy Heath

Jeremy Heath is the Dispatch Record's sports editor. His column appears Fridays. He can be reached via e-mail at jheath@lampasas.com.

It was a confusing sight at first glance.

A bunch of kids who had just absorbed a 58-14 loss doing push-ups on the opponent's field after the game. Then, those same kids searching out parents, friends and teammates to walk off the field joking and laughing.

It just didn't add up.

At least until it was explained to me by LHS head coach Ryan Bailey.

"When I huddled those kids up after the game, they looked at me and asked, 'Coach, did we play hard the whole game? Did we play hard every snap?' I said, 'Yes you did,'" Bailey said. "They told me they wanted to do their push-ups. I told them to go for it, that they'd earned it."

The Badgers (0-6, 0-3) had been saving those push-ups for their first win of the season. They were planning to do them in triumph -- to show their opponent they can beat them and still have something left in the tank.

The message those push-ups were meant to send to Lake Travis on Friday: You're the better team. You had us outmanned. You beat on us for four quarters. But you never took the fight out of us.

The Badgers did push-ups on the field after the loss to Lake Travis. PHOTO BY GABE WOLF

It took a little while for the explanation to compute. I'm not real big on so-called moral victories.

But in looking back at the game, I think I can understand what those players felt. They truly were outmanned at almost every position. The breaks they knew would be needed for the Badgers to have a chance never materialized. (If anything, Lake Travis got the two biggest breaks in the form of a Ryder Brown fumble that might have been a forward pass and a Brown interception that appeared to hit the ground).

Basically, the toughest task on the Badgers' schedule was made an even tougher one.

How did the team respond?

How about driving the ball from its own 24 to the Lake Travis 8 in the final minutes.

I know, I know. The game had been decided for some time, and that drive could be chalked up as a garbage-time, stat-padder. Sure, it could. If that's the way one wants to look at it. That's how I originally viewed it.

But in retrospect, it was also an opportunity for the Badgers to lie down. They could have tried to run out the clock -- to simply accept their beating, climb on the buses, lick their wounds and go home. They didn't.

Let's grade the Lake Travis game.

Defense, B-Minus: This has been the toughest grade to formulate this season.

On one hand, the defense allowed points on every drive of the game. On the other hand, Lake Travis quarterback Garrett Gilbert might be the best high school signal-caller I've watched in person. That includes former Hereford and Texas Tech standout Cody Hodges, and former Frenship QB and current Oklahoma State redshirt freshman Tyler Lyons.

Gilbert, a junior, is a complete quarterback. He can make every throw from inside the pocket and every throw outside the pocket. Factor in a solid receiving corps and an adequate running game, and the Lake Travis offense is capable of moving the ball against and scoring points against any defense in the state -- including Class 5A schools.

While the Badger defense never did force a punt, it made the Cavalier offense earn its 487 yards. By that, I mean it limited big plays. It did allow a 45-yard pass play and runs of 32 and 30 yards, but for the most part it forced Gilbert to continuously make plays and move the ball down the field. The problem is Gilbert did just that. He didn't make a poor decision, and the Cavaliers did not put the ball on the ground.

Give credit where credit is due.

Offense, C-Plus: The offense was OK.

Take away the three turnovers -- two of which were questionable -- and it was pretty good. For the second straight week, junior quarterback Ryder Brown has given his receivers opportunities to make plays and done it without the benefit of a consistent running game.

Brown completed half his throws despite a handful of drops. In the final quarter of the Burnet game and in all four quarters of the Lake Travis game, he showed faith in his receivers.

Brown's not standing back there waiting for a receiver to come wide open and trying to make a perfect throw. He's simply getting rid of the football and relying on his receivers to make plays. That approach paid off on the Badgers' second touchdown when Brown floated a ball toward the pylon, and Seth Fry outjumped two defenders and brought it down. It paid off again when Jarrod Bowen beat a defensive back on an underthrown pass for a 28-yard gain.

If the running game can improve just a touch, and the receivers can eliminate the drops, the framework for a 400-yard, 30-point game is there.

Special Teams, C-Plus: The kickoff return team highlighted this group. Cole Ball and Bowen set up both scoring drives with solid returns.

Ryan Abbott did a pretty good job punting, but a dropped punt snap gave the Cavaliers a short field to work with late in the first quarter, and Lake Travis converted the opportunity into a touchdown and a 28- 0 lead.

Sam Barbero made both his extra-point tries and did not attempt a field goal. His onside kick attempt in the first half was not successful.

The Badgers travel to Pflugerville tonight to play Connally, which is tied with Lake Travis atop District 25-4A. Connally has been pretty solid, but the Cougars are not anywhere close to the same class as Lake Travis.

Dropped passes and an inconsistent running game will result in another road blowout. Consistent execution in both those areas will give the Badgers the opportunity to do those push-ups for the reason they were originally intended.