Lake View Chiefs hope to stun 2-4A favorite Andrews in district opener

This is what the Lake View High School football team has been preparing for since the start of two-a-days on Aug. 1.

District 2-4A play begins for the Chiefs at 7 p.m. Friday on the road against Andrews. It'll be carried live on KWFR 101.9-FM.

The Chiefs (3-3) will try to snap a two-game losing streak with a big upset on the road against the Mustangs (4-2) in the 2-4A opener.

Lake View dropped a 31-6 decision at home against Midland Greenwood in the nondistrict finale last week. Andrews is coming off a 44-30 loss on the road against Canyon High.

"Offensively, we just couldn't get it going throughout the ball game," Lake View head coach Hector Guevara said. "We had some good things happening, we just couldn't put it together, whether we didn't block well or we didn't hit the right path or we'd throw a good ball and we just didn't catch it.

"Or we threw the ball well and we didn't execute on the route. It's just things we've got to work on -- timing. But give credit to Midland Greenwood's defense. They're pretty aggressive."

Senior quarterback Bryce Medley was back in the starting lineup for the Chiefs after getting injured early in Week 2.

Naturally, Medley is trying to shake off some rustiness.

"He struggled early," Guevara said. "He settled in a little bit. We haven't had him for awhile, so he's getting his timing back with his receivers. We thought he did good. Obviously, we'd like to play a little better, but his competitiveness was good."

As for injured senior running back Ricky Ramirez, Guevara says, "It's still week to week. We're getting closer, hopefully."

The Chiefs finished nondistrict with a .500 record, with wins against Lamesa, Sweetwater and Lubbock High. In addition to Greenwood, the other losses were against Vernon and Levelland.

"We definitely played a competitive schedule," Guevara said. "Our kids played well and they competed in every ball game. We faced different offensive schemes and a lot of speed.

"We faced some good defenses that give us different looks and give us trouble. Hopefully it prepared us for the games coming up in district."

Now that they're in a five-team district, there's no guarantee that the Chiefs will make the playoffs like in the past several years.

Texas Football magazine projected Lake View to finish fifth behind Andrews, Brownwood, Lubbock Estacado and Big Spring.

2-4A is considered one of the toughest 4A districts in Region I, but the Chiefs are hoping to surprise some folks.

"We expected it to be a tough district coming into the year and things haven't changed," Guevara said. "I think it'll be very competitive.

"We're in that district, so we consider that we're going to be there and we're going to challenge everyone. We respect all and fear none. Our kids know that when they suit up, they're ready to play."

Lake View will try to beat Andrews for the first time since 2002. The Mustangs topped the Chiefs 45-24 last year in Andrews.

"They're big, fast and multiple, and obviously, they've had a lot of success, a lot of football tradition," the Chiefs coach said. "We expect a tough game and we expect to play hard and we expect our kids to be up to the challenge.

"They run the ball a little bit more than they did last year. They're probably 60/40. They do a good job on the ground, so we've got to be ready for a physical ball game."

Guevara says the Chiefs have a good game plan coming into this one, and he talked about what it would mean for Lake View to find a way to get it done.

"It would be a big one," Guevara said. "Andrews is ranked pretty high, but our kids are up to the challenge. We're not looking at records and we're not looking at what happened in the past. It's what we do now and moving forward."

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Lake View Chiefs embrace underdog role against 2-4A favorite Andrews