Lamesa Learned Tonight That San Angelo Lake View is Back!

SAN ANGELO, TX — Offensive fireworks and staunch defensive play defined the night for the Lake View Chiefs who kicked off their 2020 football campaign this weekend at San Angelo Stadium. Following a 3-8 season the previous year, the Chiefs started this season strong with a win against the Lamesa Golden Tornadoes.

The first quarter saw Lake View’s defense make an early impact by forcing a fumble inside their own 20 against a driving Lamesa. The takeaway led to an impressive 80-yard drive, capped off with a monster 60-yard touchdown catch and run from QB Albert Rodriguez to WR Tristan Franklin. On Tornadoes’ ensuing possession, a failed 4th down fake punt by Lamesa gave the Chiefs excellent field position at their own 40-yard line. Two big catches by WR Davashtian Manley set up a 1-yard touchdown run by QB Albert Rodriguez.

The Chiefs led 14-0 as the first quarter came to a close.

The suffocating Lake View defense defined the second quarter as the Chiefs smothered Lamesa’s attempts at any meaningful offensive production. Broken plays and a Lake View sack of Lamesa QB Christian Ruiz forced Lamesa to punt again. On the possession following the punt, Lake View drove the ball down to the goal line and ended the drive with WR Tristan Franklin’s spectacular catch in the end zone. As the half wound down, Lamesa’s defense finally came alive and managed to stop the Lake View offensive assault. With Lake View knocking on the goal line yet again, the Golden Tornados picked off Rodriguez in the end zone. Immediately afterwards, however, the Lake View defense answered with an interception of their own. DB Jacob Chappa intercepted a tipped pass from Lamesa’s QB Christian Ruiz, and the Chiefs headed into the locker room up 21-0.

Albert Rodriguez and the rest of Lake View’s offense continued to pour it on in the 3rd quarter adding another two long touchdown passes. The first was to WR Tristan Franklin, his third of the night, and another to WR Austin Bandy. Up 35-0, the Lake View offense took the foot off the gas.

Although the Lamesa offense produced with their running game throughout the night, penalties and turnovers killed any momentum they built. The lone bright spot for this offense tonight was their only score at the end of the game. Lamesa successfully pushed the ball into the end zone and then converted a two-point conversion with less than a minute left in the game.

The Lake View Chiefs won tonight with the final score of 35-8.

The Lake View Chiefs excelled on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the quarterback play by Albert Rodriguez was impressive. He finished with 231 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, and one interception. He also added one more touchdown on the ground in the second quarter. The wide receiving core as a whole also played outstanding. Most notably, Tristan Franklin finished the game with 121 yards on 3 catches, all for touchdowns. The Lake View defense played just as much of a vital role in the team’s success by forcing 2 turnovers and multiple sacks. Most importantly, though, the defense kept Lamesa out of the end zone until the 4th quarter.

If Lake View continues to play at this level in the following weeks, they could well be a force in their district this year.

When asked about his team’s performance tonight, Head Coach Hector Guevara said, “We are excited. We definitely could have played better, but for our first game, we executed quite well. There are a lot of improvements. We are looking forward to the next one.”

WATCH Interview with Lake View's head coach:

Lake View looks to improve to 2-0 next week, Sept. 4, 2020, against Pecos High School, at Eagle Stadium in Pecos.