Opportunistic Lake View Falls to Brownfield in Dying Seconds

SAN ANGELO, TX-- In a game where the Brownfield Cubs and Lake View Chiefs held a deadlock for most of the second half, a last-second pass sank the Chiefs in a 34-27 thriller.

Brownfield jumped out to a 19-7 lead early in the second quarter before the Chiefs came back to take a 20-19 lead.

"We started off slow a little bit," said Lake View head coach Hector Guevara. "We were down two scores, but the kids bounced back and didn't give up. Brownfield had some good skill kids, hard to bring down."

The Chiefs were opportunistic, forcing six turnovers. The Chiefs tallied five interceptions in the loss. Four came from junior Johnny Espinosa and senior Ahmad Daniels had one. Dalton Ratliff had a fumble recovery for Lake View as well.

"That's very encouraging," Guevara said. "It's good that the kids are following their assignments and they're at the right spot at the right time...Those two young men [Daniels and Espinosa], they work hard on both sides of the field and they gave it all they've got."

Offensively, they posted just 294 yards of total offense. Kendall Blue was 13-of-27 passing for 171 yards and 1 touchdown with two interceptions. The senior QB also added 58 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns on 12 carries in the loss.

Earlier in the week, Guevara said he wanted to see the Chiefs get their timing down, starting with his quarterback. Even after Thursday's loss, Guevara was happy with Blue, who missed some of last week's game with an injury.

"He did good," Guevara said. "He bounced back from last week, from his injury. He went through his progressions. I was proud of him."

Sophomore Albert Rodriguez, who came in for Blue last week, also saw action in Thursday's loss. The sophomore was 5-of-12 passing for 33 yards and a touchdown for Lake View.

Brownfield ran rampant on Lake View with 451 yards of total offense. Chili Morin scorched the turf at San Angelo Stadium for 286 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Morin added another 26 yards receiving 

Lake View started hot on defense when Johnny Espinosa picked off Brownfield QB Brock Sires for the first time. Lake View’s drive would stall after three plays.

After the two teams traded possessions, Brownfield opened the scoring on a 7-yard run around the left side by Chili Morin to make it 7-0

The two teams once again traded possessions, both by interceptions.

After Daniels picked off Sires, Lake View went to work in Brownfield territory. Blue capped off the 7-play drive with a 9-yard touchdown run. Kevin Salas tacked on the extra point to make it 7-7 with 3 minutes, 13 seconds left in the first quarter.

Brownfield would score twice unanswered to regain a 19-7 lead over the Chiefs.

The Chiefs then capitalized on a fumbled punt snap and another turnover to take the lead.

Blue had another short touchdown run while Albert Rodriguez found Johnny Espinosa for a 5-yard touchdown pass to give the Chiefs the narrow 20-19 lead heading into halftime.

Out of the break, Lake View set the tone for the half with a three-play drive finished off by a 53-yard touchdown pass from Blue to Daniels to go up 27-19 early in the second half.

Brownfield, behind a 6-yard run and successful 2-point conversion by Morin, answered back to tie the game on their very next drive.

Later in the fourth, Sires found Ramirez for the game-winning touchdown pass to go up 34-27.

Lake View falls to 1-5 on the season and will travel to face Hereford next Friday in their nondistrict finale.