The Lubbock High Westerners are 2-1 in week three of the high school football season with wins over El Paso Soccoro and Levelland sandwiched around a loss to Big Spring. New coach Juan Rodriguez has the team poised to take a step forward in 2022 after looking improved as a team early in the season.

The Westerners did start 2-0 in 2020, before losing seven straight. The 2-1 start is their best start, other than 2020, since 2006 when they started 3-2.

Lubbock High wasn't perfect, but the penalties and mistakes that tanked the team in years past were mere blips in the road against the Lobos on Thursday night. DJ Jones took the opening kickoff back for the Westerners to take a 7-0 lead, and for most of the half that looked like it might be enough to win the game.

Two times in the first half the Westerners forced the Lobos to punt, while Lubbock High fumbled back to Levelland on the following play. The second of those fumbles came inside the five-yard line leading to a one-play drive to tie the game at 7-7. That would be the score going into halftime.

To open the second half, the Westerners didn't look great allowing the Lobos to drive the length of the field before Keagan Davis got into the face of the quarterback forcing a wild throw that fell into the hands of Caed Barron for the interception.

What followed was arguably the best drive of the game. Keith Ramirez and the offensive line marched down the field in dominant fashion with Ramirez finishing off the drive with a touchdown. The Lobos responded with a touchdown drive of their own to knot it back up at 14-14.

The Westerners would then trade punts with the Lobos before getting the ball on the 48. A near 40-yard run was erased by a holding penalty early in the drive. The old Lubbock high would have stacked penalties and moved even further back. The new Lubbock high ran the same play, but to the opposite field and got another big gain. Keith Ramirez finished off the drive behind the beefy left side of the offensive line in Jaime Villa and Davis who opened the red sea for Ramirez to walk his dog for 15 into the endzone.

A strong defensive stand followed the possession after the Westerners took the lead. They stopped the Lobos on 4th down and ran out the clock with three Keith Ramirez runs and a kneel down.

Lubbock High didn't lead in any statistical categories except for the one that counted.

Looking ahead to 2022 there's a possibility that Lubbock High could enjoy their best season since 2012 when they finished 4-7 and made the playoffs. The Westerners dropping divisions to 5A Division II provides a different feel to the schedule over the final stretch as opposed to finishing with schools like Coronado and Monterey locally.

Their next game is against the San Angelo Lake View Chiefs, a team that Lubbock High had a tremendous amount of success against in the middle of the last decade. The 4A Chiefs also line up with the Westerners homecoming on Thursday, September 15th. A short week for Lake View, but a whole week for the Westerners.

Levelland @ Lubbock High 2022

The Lubbock High Westerners are 2-1 after beating the Levelland Lobos 21-14.

101 Awesome Pictures That Show How Lubbock Has Changed Over the Years

See how some of Lubbock's best known restaurants, venues and more have changed over the past 15 years.

More From KFMX FM