Snyder football taps into late game magic against Lake View in Anthony Gonzales's first win

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It has become cliché to say football is a game of inches.

But, for the Lake View (0-2) and Snyder (1-1) football teams, the Tigers' 40-34 win at San Angelo Stadium on Friday was decided by that old adage.

Tied at 34-34, Tigers quarterback Aedyn Claxton's knee was inches away from touching the turf for a would-be sack on third down. Instead of a negative play, and seeing the offensive drive come to a halt, he found running back Denin Smith wide open for a check-down and flipped it to him. Smith broke a few tackles and scampered for a 20-yard touchdown out of a broken play.

The Tigers led 40-34 with less than a minute left, and stayed that way.

Having to march his team 80 yards for the win, Lake View quarterback Chris Alvizo took his first sack of the game which backed the Chiefs up for a win-or-go-home 4th-and-15. Alvizo dropped back and hit wide receiver Braylon White at the chains, but was ruled inches short of the line to gain.

For Lake View, a win would have ended a year-long skid and been the first with sophomore signal caller Alvizo at the helm of the offense. And for the Tigers, it marked the first triumph under new coach Anthony Gonzales, who took over in May.

Snyder's response to adversity was exactly what Gonzales wanted to see from his team, after last week's 40-7 loss to Pecos.

"They're starting to trust each other," Gonzales said. "When I walked in the door day one, we had separate groups. There was zero unity amongst the group, and that's been a big focus for us, is to be able to trust each other. That check down route (for the final touchdown) was there a lot last week, and we didn't throw it because we weren't trusting each other."

How it happened

The Chiefs took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter with some explosive plays through the air, capped by a 20-yard touchdown scramble from Alviso.

Snyder tied up the game right before halftime by scoring 14 unanswered points.

The Chiefs struck first in the third quarter with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Alvizo to Ramirez. Snyder responded with Denin's second touchdown run of the night and trailed 21-20 after a failed 2-point conversion attempt.

The Tigers then scored 14 unanswered points to take a 34-20 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Chiefs rallied back to tie the game 34-34 after a 68-yard touchdown catch and run from Braylon White.

Snyder responded by marching down the field, scoring the game's final points to win 40-34.

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They said it

Lake View coach Hector Guevara on how Alvizo played in his first start: "He's learning as he goes and he gets more reps. He knows the playbook, but we just got to get him more game reps. He's done a great job and I'm proud of him."

Snyder coach Anthony Gonzales on his first win: "Our kids didn't choose me or the two coordinators I brought in, but we chose them. ... We've thrown everything at them, but the number one thing we had to develop was relationships. Schemes will take care of themselves, but if they don't know that we would run through a wall for them by now, we got a problem. So, getting this win, for them, means more to me than anything."

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, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @Paul_Witwer.

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Snyder football taps into late game magic against Lake View in Anthony Gonzales's first win