Lake View Chiefs Host Lampasas Tonight to Open Playoffs

SAN ANGELO, TX— The Lake View Chiefs hit the playoffs coming off a tough loss, but they look to right the ship against the Lampasas Badgers tonight and win a playoff game.

Lake View (7-3) hosts Lampasas (8-2) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, at San Angelo Stadium.

Last week, the Chiefs dropped their district finale to Andrews 35-28. The loss gave the Chiefs the No. 2 seed out of District 3-4A Division I, which means they match up with the No. 3 seed of District 4-4A, and Lampasas is a strong third-place team.

The Badgers were on a six-game winning streak to start the year until they ran into Brownwood and lost 42-39. Their only other loss was against No. 2-ranked Stephenville (49-7).

Against a Burnet team that finished 3-7, Lampasas won 28-23. The Chiefs lost to Burnet 46-36, and the ground game did the majority of the damage as the Bulldogs had 309 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

If the Chiefs manage to fix the run defense, they can win this game.

That’s much easier said than done, and Lampasas has watched film and knows it can run the football this week. Senior running backs Wesley Stephens and KJ Reed have split carries for the Badgers and have combined for 1,769 yards and nine TDs. Quarterback Bryson Roberts is averaging 4.2 yards a carry and has 366 yards and two TDs.

Through the air, Roberts has gone 122-of-186 for 1,531 yards for 22 TDs and 10 interceptions. His favorite target, Jaden McElwain, has caught 48 passes for 688 yards and seven scores. 

Defensively, the Badgers can do some damage behind the line of scrimmage as they have 51 tackles for loss, and three different players have 4.5 sacks. Jonathan Bowling has a nose for the football and has 102 tackles on the season. Sean Smith and Coulter Sellers each have two interceptions, while four other players each have one.

For the Chiefs, quarterback Chris Alvizo has been playing awesome. He has 2,678 yards on the season and has completed 71.3% of his passes. He has thrown 36 touchdowns to nine INTs, and he has rushed for 163 yards and three scores.

The real rushing threat is Izaiah Rios, who has 1,468 yards and 19 TDs. He has averaged 10.4 yards per carry. He also has 29 catches for 312 yards and three TDs.

Through the air, Alvizo has a ton of weapons as nine different players have caught TDs, including freshman Andrew Young, who stood out against Andrews with two scoring grabs. The main threats are Braylon White, Nick Leyva and Chris Rodela. White has been the go-to receiver with 54 receptions for 744 yards and 13 TDs. Leyva has 44 catches 44 catches for 581 yards and two TDs, while Rodela has 39 grabs for 332 yards and five TDs.

Defensively, the Chiefs have to stop the run. They have 13 interceptions when teams have decided to throw it, but opponents haven’t encountered as much resistance when running the ball. Lake View only has 25 tackles for loss. They have 10 sacks when quarterbacks go to the air.

Isaac Monreal leads the team in tackles with 69, and Conner Williams comes in second with 59. He also has four sacks.

Lake View is trying to win its first playoff trophy since 2018, when the Chiefs beat Clint Mountain View 28-21, scoring the winning TD with 2:48 remaining on a run by David Tanguma.