Vann Hopping rushed for three touchdowns and Lark Sidle caught three touchdown passes from Chaston Ditta as Lake Travis ran away from Bowie 44-6 in a battle of District 26-6A unbeatens Friday night at Burger Center.
Lake Travis (5-0, 1-0) set the tone early, scoring on its first two drives while forcing a pair of quick Bowie punts. Despite some second-quarter stumbles — the Cavaliers missed two field goals and an extra point in the period — Bowie (4-1, 0-1) never found its footing thanks to a Lake Travis defense that allowed just 54 yards rushing and 228 yards overall.
“We really brought it to them and showed them who Lake Travis really is,” Cavaliers defensive end Gus Cordova said. “I’m proud of our whole team and I’m proud of how our defense played.”
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Lake Travis' defense rose to the challenge
Cordova made several key plays for the Lake Travis defense Friday. He tipped a Cruz Tello pass in the second quarter that teammate Lawson Watkins intercepted to set up a touchdown. On the last play of the half, Cordova broke through the line to block Evan Dranguet’s 25-yard field goal. In the 3rd quarter, he blocked the extra point following Bowie’s lone touchdown.
While Cordova, who committed to Southern Cal over the summer, has had moments this season (he recovered two fumbles at Midland Legacy, one of which he returned for a touchdown), Lake Travis coach Hank Carter challenged him to become more of an impact player.
“I told him in the first quarter, I said, ‘Hey bro, you’re going to USC for a reason… so you need to be a playmaker… it’s not enough for you just to be in the right spot,’” Carter said. “We need him to win and he did that a few times.”
Cordova said the entire defense focused during the week on stepping up its play.
“We just have to bring it every play,” Cordova said. “I really think we haven’t been playing as fast as I know we can, so I’m just happy that we played as hard as we could and left it all out on the field. We hadn’t been doing that recently.”
A Home-Away-From Homecoming
For the second straight season, Ditta and Sidle enjoyed their time at Burger Stadium against the Bulldogs. Last year, in Ditta’s second start and Sidle’s first varsity game, both put up big numbers in a 66-14 win. Ditta passed for 337 yards and five TDs while Sidle caught 6 passes for 88 yards and 2 scores.
Friday, the duo picked up where they left off on the Burger turf. Ditta passed for 303 yards and 3 TDs, all to Sidle, who caught 5 passes for 58 yards.
“Lark and I talked about it before the game,” Carter said. “I reminded him that this was his coming out party last season, and he said something like that was awesome but tonight will be even better. And I agree.”
For their parts, Ditta and Sidle said they have no plans to petition to play more games at Burger. They just want to keep working so Lake Travis’ offense keeps improving.
“I feel like it’s just good coaching and I’m put in position by my team to make plays,” Sidle said. "I think we have great options. We can gash teams with the run and we can also go over the top. It’s hard for defenses to scheme for us.”
The quarterback likes having multiple receivers to turn to. Patrick Colby and Josiah Thomas has each had big games already this season, but neither has registered three touchdown grabs as Sidle did Friday.
“I just continue to get comfortable playing with my guys,” Ditta said. “I think every receiver we have is bound to have a big game like this. I think we have good matchups everywhere and I’m just lookig for the best one.”
Carter likes where the offense is heading into the bye week.
“I’m really pleased with the way our entire offense is playing,” Carter said. “It’s fun. Guys are catching the ball. Each week it’s kind of a different guy. That’s what we need.”
A timely bye week for Lake Travis
Following the win, the Cavaliers can tap the brakes a bit with a bye next week. That will give some players who missed Friday’s game — namely WR Dylan Cullers, DE Carter Buck, DB Michael Griffin, DB Walker Moore and DL Daniel Aganbi — an extra week to get ready for the second half of the season.
“The bye week is coming at a great time,” Carter said. “It usually does, Vann (Hopping, 16 carries for 118 yards and 3 TDs) is a little banged up, so this year it really does.”
Cordova said the off week doesn’t mean things will slow down.
“The grind doesn’t stop,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do, and I can’t wait to keep at it.”
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lake Travis football vs. Bowie: Cavs dominate in battle of unbeatens
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