An academic powerhouse, LASA is succeeding in football along with other sports

In late August, LASA was named one of the top 35 high schools in the country.

Less than three weeks later, its football team moved to 4-0.

While academics will always be the focus at the campus located in the former Johnston High School building in southeast Austin, the school has gradually made a footprint in athletics, too. Entering its fourth year of existence, with many sports only competing at the varsity level for the third time, the Raptors already have won district titles in boys and girls swimming, boys track and boys soccer, with the soccer team reaching the regional quarterfinals last spring.

The baseball, volleyball, girls soccer and boys basketball teams all made the playoffs a year ago, with this year’s volleyball team currently tied for first place in District 24-5A. And there’s been success at the individual level in tennis and cross country, too.

But winning in football is different.

'The kids want to shock Austin'

Though the program struggled — understandably so in the rigid Texas high school football climate — its first three years with a combined record of 6-21, LASA is one of the surprise teams in Central Texas this fall. The Raptors have scored 40 points three times, and their closest game came in week 1 when they defeated St. Andrew’s 23-7.

And while the schedule is about to get substantially tougher with the District 12-5A Division II gantlet of Crockett, LBJ and McCallum the next three weeks, LASA seems primed for a winning record and possible playoff berth.

“They kids want to shock Austin,” Raptors coach Derrick Lewis said. “That’s their goal.”

LASA's success in football comes in an environment unlike most other schools.

Though technically a public school part of Austin ISD, LASA is a magnet high school whose students have to apply for admission.

Lewis, a former NFL wide receiver who spent seven years in the league with the Saints, Buccaneers and Falcons, only meets with the team during school twice a week, and his summer offseason program is limited due to families traveling.

“What I don’t get in repetition, these kids make up for with retention,” said Lewis, who is in his second year leading the program and also played for the Austin Wranglers of the Arena Football League in the late 2000s. “It’s remarkable how much these guys can take in, absorb and then reciprocate on the field. We might be outmatched physically, but technically we won’t because they love the technical side of football.”

Feeling a difference on and off the field

Most of LASA’s students are already headed to college, so athletic scholarships or the possibility to play at the next level aren’t a focus, though Lewis thinks his players are optimal for Patriot League and Ivy League schools.

The sport offers an opportunity for a different kind of knowledge and intellect.

“For them, the motivation is to learn football at a high level,” he said. “I tell them I’m trying to athletically match what (LASA principal) Stacia Crescenzi is providing academically. … I want the kids to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing. We’re going to tell them why they’re doing it, and then they’ll embrace it.”

The players have gone all in on an offense that involves as many players as possible.

Quarterback Roman Edwards has thrown nine touchdowns to eight different receivers out of Lewis’ spread offense, while running back Alec Maritzner ran for more than 100 yards and multiple TDs in week 4. Sometimes, Edwards has six different choices on a play.

“Everything is a run-pass option,” said Edwards, who has 982 yards passing. “I have a lot of reads, so I’m never scared of something not working. There’s always another option, and I’m never hung out to dry. … Whatever the defense is running, we have something that can beat it.”

Defensively, the Raptors have yet to allow a rushing touchdown and are coming off their second shutout in program history.

It’s a team mentality that has led to them giving up more than 13 points only once.

“I was a starting corner on the inaugural team as a freshman, and all the prior teams felt separated,” said senior wide receiver/cornerback Tate Smith, who has been a starter his entire career. “Defense was just a bunch of individuals. Now, it feels like I have 10 brothers out there. That gives a sense of pride to play that we haven’t had. You see on film where everyone wants to get to the ball.”

The football team is starting to get noticed around campus, too.

As opposed to being teased about being part of a struggling squad like the past three seasons, players have experienced more school pride and support this fall.

“In years past, the environment from the people at LASA who don’t play football has been very unsupportive,” Smith said. “This year there seems to be an actual want to come to games. … That’s something that’s kind of new to us, and it’ll be interesting to see how that grows as that crowd culture is something that we haven’t really had.”

A tale of two worlds: classes vs. football

But success on the field also comes from the ability to handle LASA’s academic load.

Both Edwards and Smith noted that making use of any free time is the key.

“It’s definitely challenging to balance sports and academics here,” Smith said. “As the years go on, you get better at it. It’s a thing where you create good relationships with your teachers and hold yourself accountable and do what’s necessary.”

While LASA isn’t Westlake, Lake Travis, Vandegrift or Cedar Park — most aren’t — it’s not trying to be.

The Raptors have already recorded the best season in the school’s brief history, but there’s one thing over the next six weeks the players are shooting for that would mean more than anything.

“Making the playoffs for me would probably be one of my proudest accomplishments,” Smith said. “Coming in as a freshman I had no idea what the LASA future would be. The first couple of years were really rough, and there wasn’t really a light at the end of the tunnel. I feel making the playoffs is a milestone for this program that would be remembered practically forever.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: LASA football team's 4-0 start joins school's other athletic success