DISTRICT PREVIEW: Tough District Could Leave Lake View Outside of Playoffs

SAN ANGELO— The first half of the High School Football season is nearly over and teams in the Concho Valley will be looking to dominate district play to hit the playoffs running. The Lake View Chiefs have the odds stacked against them in one of the better districts in 4A football.

4A-1 District 2 features some powerhouses like Lubbock Estacado and Brownwood. One might have expected the Lions to take a step back after graduating nearly their entire offense, but one important piece remained, quarterback Ike Hall Jr. Estacado features a trinity of players at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver in DJ Johnson, Bobby Ross, and Cedric Ross. Andrews’ super sophomore Jaesean DeBouse has over 1000 rushing yards and the Chiefs feature two quarterbacks with Auston Perez and Jalen Chavez.

OVERALL

1. Brownwood Lions: 5-1
2. Lubbock Estacado Matadors: 5-1
3. Andrews Mustangs: 3-3
4. Lake View Chiefs: 1-5
5. Big Spring Steers: 1-5

The Brownwood Lions are coming off their first loss of the season to the Stephenville Yellowjackets in the Battle of 377. The Lions had 10 offensive players graduate but returned their quarterback, Ike Hall, who is extremely talented. Brownwood did return nine players of defense including defensive tackle Quinton McCarty and defensive back/wide receiver Marcello Hooker.

The Lions have played some talented teams although the overall records of those teams might not look impressive. Brownwood beat Glen Rose, who is 1-4 this season but went extremely deep in the playoffs last year, and Abilene Wylie, who is currently 3-2.

In district, the Lions will have to lean heavily on the defense to stop some good offenses like Lubbock Estacado, which has put up 307 points in six games.

Speaking of Estacado, stopping their running game is easier said than done. The Matadors has a few underclassmen who are playmakers. At running back, junior Bobby Ross has 845 yards and 13 touchdowns and sophomore James Bozeman, who has 345 yards and five scores. At receiver, sophomore Cedric Ross leads the team with 314 yards and three scores. He averages 24.2 yards per reception as well.

On defense, senior Kei’Sean Harris is the big dog with 52 tackles, six for loss, four sacks, and three forced fumbles. Senior Nate Orta is the other guy with 53 tackles and two interceptions.  Overall, the Matadors have 10 sacks, four interceptions, 10 forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. Back to the young guys, sophomore Donivan Torrez has the other two interceptions for Lubbock Estacado.

Stopping Andrews is going to be difficult as well as run sophomore Jaesean DeBouse has 107 carries for 1101 yards and 10 scores. Overall, Andrews has a young backfield as four of the six players who have over 15 rushing attempts have over 130 yards and are all, outside DeBouse, juniors. Quarterback Aidyn Olivas is the only senior in the backfield and has 47 attempts for 325 yards and four scores. The pass catchers are also juniors, Kade Adams and Cole Ivison, has 142 yards together and three touchdowns.

The Chiefs are set in a tough district and also have a tough pre-district schedule. After beating Lamesa to start the season, they have dropped five straight games. Thing is, the Chiefs have players who have put up respectable numbers. Junior Auston Perez and senior Jalen Chavez have thrown for 860 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Running back Ian Cortez has toted the rock 74 times for 294 yards, a four yard per carry average, and two touchdowns. Out wide, Wyatt Henry, Michael Duran, Braeden Packard are holding down the fort with 713 yards combined with eight scores.

Esaias Salazar, a senior, leads the Chief’s defense with 33 tackles. The Chiefs have only gotten to the quarterback once and have snagged two interceptions. Lake View has one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.

The Big Spring Steers returned All-Star quarterback Gavin Padron who threw for 3411 yards and 28 touchdowns last season. Kavien Ford is the running back and out wide Zyrie Franklin are his targets. The Steers did return nearly their entire offense from last season so they should be much improved.

The problem is they have played a pretty tough schedule so far which should continue into district. The Steers have given up just over 45 points a game and have score 24.5 points per game.

DISTRICT LEADERS

Passing Yards

1. DJ Johnson- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 765
2. Auston Perez- Lake View Chiefs- 632
3. Jalen Chavez- Lake View Chiefs- 228
4. Aidyn Olivas- Andrews Mustangs- 142

Rushing Yards

1. Jaeseasn DeBouse- Andrews Mustangs- 1101
2. Bobby Ross- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 845
3. Merqucio Saiz- Andrews Mustangs- 359
4. James Bozeman- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 345
5. Aidyn Olivas- Andrews Mustangs- 325

Receiving Yards

1. Michael Duran- Lake View Chiefs- 378
2. Cedric Ross- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 314
3. Wyatt Henry- Lake View Chiefs- 230
4. Devoryea Boyd- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 201
5. Kade Adams- Andrews Mustangs- 118

Total Yards

1. Jaesean DeBouse- Andrews Mustangs- 1101
2. DJ Johnson- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 970
3. Bobby Ross- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 867
4. Austin Perez- Lake View Chiefs- 688
5. Cedric Ross- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 469

Scoring

1. Bobby Ross- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 78 points
2. Jaesean DeBouse- Andrews Mustangs- 64 points
3. James Bozeman- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 36 points
4. Leeroy Millan- Andrews Mustangs- 28 points
5. Cedric Ross- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 24 points

Tackles

1. Nate Orta- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 53
2. Kei’Sean Harris- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 52
3. Isaiah Belgara- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 35
4. Mehki Williams- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 34
5. Esaias Salazar- Lake View Chiefs- 33

Sacks

1. Kei’Sean Harris- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 4
2. Jamar Shaw- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 2
3. Crespin Orosco- Lubbock Estacado- 1
4. Diego Paez- Lake View Chiefs- 1
5. Mehki Williams, Donivan Torrez, Z’Ryan Robinson, Jacob Delgado- Lubbock Estacado Matadors-1

Interceptions

1. Michael Duran- Lake View Chiefs- 2
2. Nate Orta- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 2
3. Donivan Torrez- Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 2

Next Game

• Andrews Mustangs @ Lake View Chiefs- 10/6
• Brownwood Lions @ Big Spring Steers- 10/6

• Andrews Mustangs @ Lubbock Estacado Matadors- 10/13