By MATT VINES, Journal Sports
COUSHATTA – Lakeview’s offensive scheme is designed to score points in bunches, to overwhelm its opponent.
But on Friday, Red River fit that description as the Bulldogs scored nine touchdowns in just 12 minutes of possession.
Red River scored four of the first five touchdowns and handed Lakeview a 68-14 loss.
Lakeview (3-4, 0-2 District 3-2A) running back Kaleb Collins was able to play after an injury at the beginning of the Winnfield game this past week, but the Gators were missing two starting linemen.
“The two starting linemen out killed us,” said Lakeview coach Andy Boone, who explained that both of the linemen played on the offensive and defensive fronts. “We had to play with a receiver in that role because we didn’t have any more bodies.”
Red River (2-5, 2-0) averaged nearly 15 yards per carry as the Bulldogs rolled up 341 rushing yards.
The Bulldogs scored two first-quarter touchdowns, one on a 43-yard touchdown pass and the other a 9-yard run.
Lakeview hung around as Collins scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 5-yard touchdown run to cut Red River’s edge to 16-6.
But the Bulldogs responded emphatically with two touchdowns in the next two minutes to put the game out of reach, leading 30-6. The second touchdown came via a 52-yard fumble return.
“They were much more talented than we were,” Boone added.
Collins plunged in from 1-yard to cut Red River’s advantage to two scores (30-14) midway through the second quarter, but the Bulldogs scored twice more in the first half and three times in the second half.
Lakeview running back Omarion Pierr led the Gators with 125 rushing yards on 18 carries while Collins added 60 yards on 16 attempts.
It’s the fifth time in seven games that Pierr has crossed the 100-yard mark, which includes three games of 200-plus yards for a back that ranked No. 7 in the state (1,063 yards) entering Week 7, according to geauxpreps.com.
The Gators will try to pick up the pieces with school back in session this coming week as Lakeview prepares for a three-game homestretch to end the season, starting with Mansfield.
Boone said about half of his 20-25 players didn’t attend practice during fall break.
