Early turnovers put the Lake View High School football team in an early hole during a 52-14 loss to Lampasas in the bi-district round at San Angelo Stadium on Thursday.
A fumble and goal-line interception gave the Badgers (9-2) a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and the Chiefs (7-4) were unable to recover. They did respond to the tough opening quarter with a 7-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chris Alvizo to Cristian Esparza. However, on a promising offensive drive, Alvizo suffered an upper-body injury and was ruled out of the game midway through the second quarter.
Alvizo got off the field under his own power but appeared shaken up after spending some time on the turf. After the game, coach Hector Guevara did not give details on the nature of Alvizos injury.
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Backup quarterback Chris Shumpert came into the game and led the Chiefs to their second scoring drive that was capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass to freshman wideout Andrew Young.
Turnovers continued to plague the Chiefs throughout the game, though, finishing with four interceptions and two fumbles. Before the Chiefs could blink, the Badgers were up 42-7 after scoring on their first six drives.
Lampasas had three fumbles but recovered them all.
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I think the kids played with their hearts, and our community should be proud of them for all theyve done and continue to do, Guevara said. They played with a lot of class and a lot of love and a lot of effort, and they played for each other. That was the most important thing.
Lake Views season ended with a 7-4 record, which is the best since 1996. Guevara said he credits the senior class for this years historic season and the excitement surrounding the program.
Its been a phenomenal year, Lake View running back Izaiah Rios said. I have no regrets with this team. All these seniors grew up together since we were kids, and it was just awesome to be able to play four years with them and this season with them. Theyre just my family. I have no regrets at all with them.
Lampasas improved to 9-2 and will face off against No. 4 West Plains in the area round.
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@gosanangelo.com. Follow him on X @Paul_Witwer, Instagram and TikTok at pwitwer_sast.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Lampasas takes down San Angelo Lake View in bi-district game