Vann Hopping rushed for 183 yards and five touchdowns to carry Lake Travis to a 51-12 win over Arlington Martin at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington on Friday night.

After trailing 10-7 late in the first half, the Cavaliers (1-0) took control when Martin quarterback Brooks Brigance left with an injury. Without him, Martin managed just 100 yards of offense in the second half. The offense struggled early but found its footing with Hopping. Chaston Ditta was 11-for-19 for 134 yards, and he connected with Josiah Thomas and Patrick Colby for touchdowns.

Here are some takeaways from the season-opening win for the Cavaliers, who host Rockwall next week:

Now, about that running game ...

Early in preseason practice, head coach Hank Carter predicted his offense would “probably throw it a lot more.” Maybe so, but not Friday night. Hopping ran virtually untouched through Martin’s defense behind an offensive line that featured four new starters. After a slow start, 157 of Hoppings' 183 yards came on his final five carries, four of which were touchdown runs.

“To (Martin’s) credit, they made some plays with their offense, and because of that our offense wasn’t on the field much early in the game,” Carter said. “We mainly just stayed with what we were doing. We were in our spread formation, so there was space, and our line did a good job of fitting things up. Then Vann made some good cuts.”

Did he ever, though don’t expect him to take all the credit.

“Our offensive line really started clicking,” Hopping said. “I mean, four out of the five of them were playing their first games on varsity. They were probably pretty nervous, but once they got past that, they did great.”

Hopping said he was always confident that the line would open holes, but the room they created as the game went along surprised even him.

“Obviously I knew they’d do great, but I didn’t expect them to blow it out of the water like that,” Hopping continued. “They made the right calls and it all worked out.”

Déjà vu all over again

For the second year in a row, Lake Travis’ defense knocked Martin’s quarterback out of the game. This year, Brigance took a big hit from Cavaliers defensive end Carter Buck in the second quarter. After sitting out a few plays, Brigance came back to finish the half but then didn’t return after halftime.

More: Lake Travis wants to revive its passing game this season

Brigance had been responsible for 130 yards of offense. Without him, Martin punted five times and turned the ball over on downs once.

“The quarterback going out of the game was part of it, but it was the first game, and we had some jitters,” said linebacker Easton Aird, who had a key sack in the third quarter and also had a leaping sack in an early stop. “We got locked in at halftime and everyone was on go after that.”

Not so special special teams

Lake Travis and Arlington Martin are historically strong in the kicking game, but they both struggled. The Cavaliers had an extra point blocked and returned for 2 points and failed to cover an onside kick early in the game. But Martin's struggles were more pronounced: The Warriors misplayed two kickoffs in the third quarter, both resulting in starts inside their own 10-yard line. They snapped the ball over punter Ben Walton's head twice. All four miscues led to Lake Travis touchdowns.

“Special teams is always a worry early because you just don’t get many live reps to practice it, especially when you play a team that does unconventional things like Martin does with its onside kicks,” Carter said. “Early on that is something that can really come back to bite you.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lake Travis beats Arlington Martin behind big game from Vann Hopping