Lake View Chiefs taking momentum into playoff opener with Clint

After playing their best game of the season in a 49-28 win against Big Spring last week in the District 2-4A Division I finale, the Lake View Chiefs will look to avenge back-to-back playoff losses to Clint this week.

The Chiefs rallied from a 21-14 halftime deficit last week before outscoring the Steers 35-7 in a dominant second half to snap a three-game losing streak.

"It's a great feeling," Lake View head coach Hector Guevara said. "All the credit goes to the kids. They hung tough throughout the whole game and believed in themselves and kept playing."

Kickoff for the showdown between Lake View (3-7), the 2-4A third-place finisher, and Clint (5-5), the 1-4A runner-up, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Brave Stadium in Iraan. It will be carried live on KWFR 101.9-FM.

Ricky Ramirez ran for 86 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries against Big Spring and he also intercepted a pass.

Lake View quarterback Jacob Chappa carried 19 times for 129 yards and a pair of scores, in addition to completing 2 of 4 passes for 58 yards and a TD toss to Wyatt Henry.

The Chiefs finished with 377 yards on the ground.

In the fourth quarter, Lake View's rushing game wore the Steers' defense out.

"A lot of credit goes to the offensive line," Guevara said. "Coach (Jonathan) Gonzales and coach (Jesse) Casarez did a good job preparing those kids, and those kids just played hard. And our running backs, they were able to run the ball quite well."

Wins haven't been easy to come by for Lake View in 2021, but the Chiefs have had a never-say-die attitude along the way.

"Obviously, we've been the underdog going into the district," Guevara said. "Our kids just kept fighting through it and they believe in what they can do. We always tell them, 'It's what you guys believe, if you can just put it in motion.' "

Juan Ortiz had a huge night defensively, with a forced fumble and a recovery and an interception.

Teammate Brandon Cruz also had a forced fumble and a recovery.

If not for a 35-32 overtime loss against Fort Stockton, Lake View would have finished 2-1 in district.

"Our kids represented our school well," Guevara said. "We let one slip away the first district game, but they kept battling. They went to Andrews and they had a rough start, but they finished strong. They finished the regular season strong."

Clint, which is 19 miles out of El Paso, finished the regular season with a 49-7 thrashing against San Elizario.

Clint has ended Lake View's season each of the last two years. The Lions won 30-14 last year and 34-21 two years ago.

The Lake View coach talked about the mood of the team heading into this year's matchup.

"Winning obviously brings up morale another notch or two," Guevara said. "With that being said, winning last Friday and going into the playoffs, the boys are more confident.

"But we understand that we're facing a very tough team, very sound and very disciplined. We know what's coming. We just need to do our job and be in position to win the game."

The only common opponent that Lake View and Clint have faced is Big Spring. The Steers rolled to a 42-16 win against the Lions on Sept. 24, and the Chiefs took care of business against Big Spring in the regular-season finale.

Clint plays smash-mouth football, running the ball the majority of the time.

"That's what makes them scary," the Lake View coach said. "They don't do a lot of things, but all the plays they do, they do them right and they're successful at it."

Lake View struggled with defending the run earlier in the season.

"We know we've gotten better stopping the run, but every week's a challenge," Guevara said. "We've just got to continue what we're doing and not get overconfident."

The Chiefs coach talked about how the Lions compare to some of the other teams that Lake View has faced that have strong rushing attacks.

"They're very physical," he said. "When people try to tackle them, they don't go down easy. We've got to make sure we rally to the ball as a team and hopefully we're in a position to stop them."

Time of possession will be a key for Lake View.

"It's critical for us to stop them," the Chiefs coach said. "They can chew up the clock pretty quickly if we're not careful."

Guevara said the biggest thing the Chiefs learned in last year's playoff loss to Clint was to "minimize mistakes."

Charles Bryce is a journalist covering sports in West Texas. Send him a news tip at cbryce@gannett.com. Consider supporting West Texas journalism with a subscription to GoSanAngelo.com.

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Lake View Chiefs taking momentum in playoff opener with Clint