Round Rock – Josiah Thomas caught 3 touchdown passes from Chaston Ditta to power Lake Travis to a 41-14 win over Round Rock in a 6A, Division I, Region IV bi-district playoff.

Thomas’ 66-yard catch-and-run touchdown broke open a close game in the second quarter and the Cavaliers cruised from there. Lake Travis (10-1) scored 31 straight points before the Dragons (8-3) got a late touchdown catch by Reggie Hurley for the final margin.

Lake Travis faces San Antonio Johnson next Friday at 7pm at San Marcos High School.

Here are 3 takeaways from the game:

Lake Travis’ defense dominates Dragons

“I thought our defense played outstanding,” Carter said.

And how.

Round Rock managed just 78 yards of offense, and 36 came on Hurley’s touchdown grab on the Dragons’ final offensive play of the game. Prior to that final play, the Dragons had just one play that gained at least 10 yards – a 10-yard completion from Jack Appl to Carson Griffin on the second play of the game.

Gus Cordova led the effort with 3 sacks and 2 deflected passes, one of which he almost intercepted. He finished with 11 tackles. Aiden Archer snagged an interception for the Cavaliers, returning it 55 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter.

“I thought (defensive coordinator Ryan) Luedecke put together a really good game plan,” Carter said. “The way Round Rock runs the ball presents a challenge but I think our front played really well. Obviously Gus was very active, all of those guys were, really.”

Cordova’s performance came after a week in which he missed two days of school getting over an illness. He said the time at home allowed him to get some much-needed rest and focus on what Round Rock wanted to do offensively.

“I had been sick all week,” Cordova said. “I rested Wednesday and Thursday. My body was rested and that helped, but once you start making big plays as a defense, more are going to come.”

Thomas Simply Too Much to Overcome

Thomas finished with 10 catches for 219 yards and touchdown catches of 66, 46 and 23 yards. After the game, Thomas credited his teammates for doing their jobs and his big night resulted in the overall work done by the offense.

“The key for us was our teamwork, our cohesiveness as a unit,” Thomas said. “Throughout the game, we played as one. It’s not about the individual, it’s about the unit. I feed off of those guys and they feed off of me.”

Thomas’ role grew because Lake Travis played without 2 key players (Patrick Colby and Westin Smith) and lost a third to during the game (Lark Sidle). And when Ditta looked his way, he delivered.

“We worked on winning those 1-on-1 matchups all week,” Thomas said. “We figured out how we were going to get open and we put in the work, the study during the week.”

“He was a big part of the game plan,” Carter said. “We wanted to get him matched up with some of their defenders in the second level, and give credit to Chaston. Chaston got him the ball and then he made some plays. He’s playing like a wild man and I’m proud of him.”

Clicking on All Cylinders – Mostly – Heading into Round 2

Led by Thomas’ big night, Lake Travis racked up 486 yards of offense. That included 300 yards passing and 186 rushing. Vann Hopping rushed for 88 yards and Ditta – heavily involved in the running game for the first time this season – added 56 yards and a touchdown.

“Josiah played unbelievably, and I thought Vann played at a high level too,” Carter said, “but we made too many mistakes as a football team.”

The Cavaliers turned the ball over twice, including a muffed punt which led to Round Rock’s first touchdown, and committed 11 penalties on the night. Carter said they’ll go back to work during the week to clean up the things that could have been costly.

“Some of those mistakes were because Round Rock’s a good, physical team, but others were just lack of focus on our part. We had some special teams miscues that were disappointing and we’ve got to get that going.”