Lakeway – Chaston Ditta hit Patrick Colby for a 14-yard touchdown with 35 seconds left to spark 8th-ranked Lake Travis to a 45-42 win over 18th-ranked Rockwall in a wild, rally-filled non-district game Friday night.

Rockwall nearly forced overtime, driving from its own 12-yard line to the Lake Travis 34 in the closing seconds, but Daniel Estrada’s 51-yard field goal try fell just short on the final play.

“It was just electric,” Lake Travis defensive end Carter Buck said. "They missed that field goal. It was a big moment for that kicker but a bigger moment for us.”

Game of Rallies

The back-and-forth game featured four distinct rallies. After Rockwall led 17-7 early in the second quarter, Lake Travis’ offense found its footing, using a 21-0 run that stretched into the third quarter to take a 28-17 lead.

Ditta started Lake Travis’ first comeback with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Lark Sidle. Late in the second quarter, Ditta used his legs, scrambling for 19 yards and then 27 to convert a pair of third downs. His 27-yard scamper set up Vann Hopping’s 1-yard run that gave Lake Travis a 21-17 halftime lead. Ditta’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Colby stretched the lead to 28-17 with 10:31 left in the third.

Yellowjackets Bounce Back

Undeterred, Rockwall answered. Landyn Locke connected with Camron Marsh for a 29-yard touchdown and then hit Jackson Stoner for the 2-point conversion. After recovering an onside kick, the Yellowjackets tied the game on Estrada's 47-yard field goal.

The tying field goal capped a drive that proved costly fro Rockwall. Locke suffered a knee injury while scrambling for 13 yards and didn’t return to the game.

Reasserting Control

With Locke on the bench, Lake Travis began taking control, or so it thought. Ditta found Colby for 10 yards and Dylan Cullers for 35 to get to the Rockwall 20, but the drive stalled and the Cavaliers settled for Braydon Doane's 33-yard field goal to take a 31-28 lead.

With Rockwall backup quarterback Brent Rickert still finding his footing, Lake Travis’ defense forced its only 3-and-out and the offense quickly extended the lead. Ditta hit Cullers for a 48-yard gain before scoring on a keeper from a yard out to give his team a 38-28 lead with 2:15 left in the third.

Still Plenty of Sting

Following a second Rockwall punt, Lake Travis felt the Yellowjackets had stagnated. Rockwall had other plans, though.

“I think we got complacent, thinking we had the game won, and that’s ridiculous,” Ditta said afterward. “We can’t do that.”

On the first play after a Lake Travis punt, Kaydon Castro went untouched for a 54-yard touchdown. When Lake Travis punted again, Rockwall’s offense saw its chance. Jamir Wilson carried the ball five times to move deep into Lake Travis territory before Rickert found Jack Duckworth for a 17-yard touchdown and an improbable 42-38 lead with 3:34 left.

Passing the Big Early Test

After a short kickoff return, Lake Travis found itself without a timeout and needing to go 85 yards to secure a victory it thought was certain just a few minutes earlier.

Ditta hit Colby for 16 and then 11 yards and, after Rockwall was flagged for pass interference, Lake Travis had crossed midfield. Another Colby catch converted a third down and moved Lake Travis to the 30. On another third and short, Ditta looked for Colby on a slant, but the receiver couldn’t secure the catch. Fortunately, Josiah Thomas got free on the sideline to convert the 4th down play. Two plays later, Ditta found Colby open in the end zone for the winning score.

“What a great experience for our guys in the second game of the season,” Lake Travis coach Hank Carter said. “It was a good test. I love the way that our kids, especially offensively, executed in tough moments when the chips were down.”

On the final drive, Ditta completed 5 of 9 passes to earn his first come-from-behind win.

“Overall I think we played great as a team,” Ditta said. “It was do or die (at the end) and we said we weren’t going to lose the game. We had to go get it.”

They did, and in the process might have found a go-to receiver. In just his second varsity game, Colby caught 10 passes for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns. More importantly, he didn’t let the drop on the final drive linger.

“When something like that happens, you have to have the mentality that you aren’t going to go down that easy,” Colby said. “We still had so many seconds of football left. At that point, if I give up I’m letting the whole team down, so of course you have to bounce back.”

Carter said there was never a question that the Cavaliers would look Colby’s way again.

“It’s like basketball,” Carter said. “You’re going to keep going to a guy even though he might miss a shot or make a mistake because we know he can make plays. Chaston has a ton of confidence in him and all of those guys. We know he’ll make big catches and he did.”

Ditta agreed.

“He just has the ‘it’ factor,” Ditta said. “He doesn’t have any nerves. He’s just out there playing football and I love it.”