Lake View Pours it On 63-40, Leveraging Brownfield's Turnovers

SAN ANGELO, TX — Two losses in as many weeks had the Lake View Chiefs hungry for a win tonight, September 25, when they took on the Brownfield Cubs at San Angelo Stadium. Hoping to correct the two-game skid, quarterback Albert Rodriguez and the rest of the Chiefs offense put up an explosive effort. Aided with eight takeaways by the Lake View defense, the Chiefs won tonight in a big way, 63-40.

After both teams traded punts on their first drives, the Lake View offense struck first on a long 74-yard march. Including a big run on 3rd down by RB #21 Ricky Ramirez, QB #6 Albert Rodriguez connected with WR #10 Brandon Herrera on a 40-yard catch and run to put the Chiefs up 7-0.

Lake View’s defense made their presence felt on the following Brownfield possession. On a 4th and two at the Lake View 33-yard line, DT #78 Juan Ortiz blasted his way into the backfield, disrupting the play and causing a fumble. The big man then scooped up the fumble and took it 20 yards in the other direction, setting up the Lake View offense at midfield. The Chiefs’ offense wasted no time scoring again on a five play, 51-yard drive. Albert Rodriguez threw a deep pass in the vicinity of WR #12 Tristan Franklin, but was well short. The defender bobbled the interception attempt only to pop the ball up and into the waiting arms of Franklin. After making the circus catch, Franklin scampered the rest of the way to the endzone on another 40-yard touchdown.

Brownfield managed to put points on the board after having little success on their previous drives midway through the first quarter. Behind RB #5 Neil High III’s hard running, the Cubs’ offense scored two touchdowns on their two subsequent drives, tying the game 14-14.

During the extra point attempt on their second touchdown, a penalty on Brownfield forced the Cubs to kick from their own 25. #2 DB Austin Bandy ripped off a huge return setting the Chiefs’ offense up at the Brownfield 30. Lake View made quick work of the short field and capped off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run by Albert Rodriguez. The Chiefs took the lead back 21-14.

Both offenses continued to trade scores the rest of the half. The Cubs scored a pair of long touchdown drives refusing to let Lake View pull away. The Chiefs, capitalizing off of another interception, this time by #88 OLB Zeke Davila, scored one more touchdown before heading back into the locker room tied, 28-28.

Another Lake View takeaway on Brownfield’s opening possession of the second half started the Chiefs at midfield. This time a five-play, 50-yard drive, punctuated with a 3-yard touchdown run by #21 Ricky Ramirez, put the Chiefs back on top 35-28. Brownfield refused to go away, however, stringing together another long drive and scoring another touchdown. Lake View’s defense had the Cubs in a 3rd and long situation on more than one occasion, but could not come up with an answer for QB #7 Nikko Vela. A missed extra point kept the Chiefs on top 35-34.

WATCH: Lake View vs. Brownfield second half highlights:

The Chiefs’ offense continued to dominate the Brownfield defense the rest of the game, adding four more scores, including three more touchdown runs by QB Albert Rodriguez and a 25-yard touchdown catch by WR Brandon Herrera.

Lake View pulled away in the 4th quarter and won the game in a dominating fashion, 63-40.

The key to victory for the Lake View Chiefs tonight was their defense. The Chiefs had eight takeaways throughout the night. Even though the defense gave up big plays, many yards, and too many points, they made the most out of the opportunities the Brownfield offense gave them.

It does not matter how explosive or effective an offense was, no team can turn the ball over eight times like Brownfield did and expect to win. Other than that, the Chiefs put on an offensive clinic. Through the air or on the ground, Lake View could not be stopped.

When asked about his team, Lake View Head Coach Hector Guevarra said, “We just took what they gave us...Albert and the rest of the kids put it together and did a good job.”

Quarterback Albert Rodriguez led the way tonight and finished with three passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns. Rodriguez spoke briefly about the offense after the game.

WATCH: Lake View Head Coach Hector Guevara on his team's win over Brownfield:

“After the last two games we did not play very well, we knew we had to come out and hit them hard in the mouth. I have to give a big shout out to the O-line,” Lake View’s QB1 said.

The offensive line did indeed play well, keeping Rodriguez clean for much of the night and opening up the huge running lanes that led to all of the production on the ground.

The Lake View Chiefs (3-2) take on the Fabens Wildcats next week, October 2, in Fabens.