The Rebels’ passing attack has gotten most of the attention with four-star quarterback and Purdue commit Marcos Davila under center.
But it was the ground game that was the storyline on Friday night, as three running backs had noteworthy performances to lead No. 25-ranked Legacy to a 63-34 win over Amarillo Tascosa in a non-district football game at Astound Broadband Stadium.
Damien Johnson carried the ball 13 times for 103 yards and a touchdown; Madden Milloy rushed 18 times for 100 yards and three TDs, and Tommy Johnson ran 19 times for 95 yards and two scores during a night when LHS (2-0) amassed 382 yards on the ground.
“We all have our own special abilities,” Damien Johnson said. “Tommy, he is the power back. He’s going to get the grimy yards for us. Madden, he can do a little bit of both. I’m just a speedster. I just one to get in there and get active. We all have our own special talents and I love all of them.”
Davila and the Air Raid passing game made their presence felt, too.
Davila passed for 266 yards, which leaves him with 6,303 career yards. Davila needs only 159 passing yards to surpass Mikey Serrano (6,461 yards) for the all-time lead in school history.
Davila has a chance to set the record when LHS visits historical rival Abilene High (2-0) at 7 p.m. on Sept. 8.
At the start of the third quarter, Davila launched a deep ball to Aiden Serrano for a 75-yard TD pass to give LHS a 35-13 lead. Serrano had 115 receiving yards on four catches.
“Marcos is going to draw attention, so it’s our job to take some of that pressure off of him,” Damien Johnson said. “Allow him to be able to pass and open up the passing game for him.”
Tascosa (1-1) scored on two fumble recoveries to lead 13-7 after one quarter.
The first touchdown happened when Tascosa fumbled the ball on a run play, which was picked up by sophomore quarterback Coltyn Fulton, who traveled 27 yards for the score.
Later in the quarter, LHS fumbled the ball on the exchange following the snap.
The loose ball was scooped up by defensive end Jaden King for a 45-yard fumble recovery return, pushing Tascosa to a 13-7 lead with 1:37 in the first quarter.
“There’s a lot of things we have to clean up to be a great team and I’m going to drive them,” Legacy head coach Clint Hartman said. “I’m going to drive this football team like no other because they can do it.”
LHS seized the momentum in the second quarter, as Damien Johnson scored on a 12-yard run, Tommy Johnson had a 3-yard TD run and Milloy capped it off with a 5-yard run.
Legacy went into halftime with a 28-13 lead following the three rushing scores in the second quarter.
“Hat’s off to (offensive line coach) Boe Smith and the offensive line,” Hartman said. “I told them all three of them are good backs, but with the offensive line we’ve got, anybody can be a good back. They’re all good backs. I’m proud of them. I’m proud that our offense is different, but we can still run the football. We’re a spread offense. Mike Leach was the best when I watched them practice. They were tough. They blocked their tails off. That’s when I said, ‘I can do that.’ I’m very proud all of three backs.”
Tascosa made the game interesting again in the third quarter on a fourth-and-10 play.
Tascosa defensive back TJ Tillman pulled the ball away from a Legacy receiver on a short pass and scored on a 64-yard interception return. Tillman’s second interception of the game cut LHS’ deficit to 35-19.
Later in the quarter, Tascosa fullback Andrew Merrell broke loose on an 80-yard TD run to narrow the deficit to 42-27.
However, LHS answered when Milloy scored on a 39-yard run in the early part of the fourth quarter.
The LHS defense, outside of the big play from Merrell, did a respectable job by holding Tascosa to only nine first downs.
Esus Robledo intercepted a pass for LHS for the second consecutive game.
Legacy blocked a field goal for the second straight week and has three field goal blocks in two games.
Brex Stevens set up Legacy’s first touchdown with a 67-yard reception from Davila.
Milloy cashed in on the long play with a 1-yard TD run.
LEGACY 63, AMARILLO TASCOSA 34
Tascosa 13 0 14 7 -- 34
Legacy 7 21 14 21 -- 63
First Quarter
LHS – Madden Milloy 1 run (Jason Maltos kick), 6:10
TAS – Coltyn Fulton 27 fumble recovery run (Rual Lin Cung kick), 5:17
TAS – Jaden King 45 fumble recovery return (run failed), 1:37
Second Quarter
LHS – Damien Johnson 12 run (Maltos kick), 11:27
LHS – Tommy Johnson 3 run (Maltos kick), 7:33
LHS – Milloy 5 run (Maltos kick), 2:20
Third Quarter
LHS – Aiden Serrano 75 pass from Marcos Davila (Maltos kick), 11:16
TAS – TJ Tillman 64 interception return (kick failed), 6:38
LHS – T. Johnson 1 run (Maltos kick), 0:38
TAS – Andrew Merrell 80 run (Merrell run), 0:01
Fourth Quarter
LHS – Milloy 39 run (Maltos kick), 10:12
LHS – Zyquwan Young 11 run (Maltos kick), 6:56
LHS – Mason Daehling 1 run (Maltos kick), 2:54
TAS – Jack Gilbert 3 run (Cung kick), 0:15
TAS LHS
First downs9 32
Rushes-yards 32-281 65-382
Passing yards -3 266
Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-15-1 9-21-2
Punts-avg. 6-31.7 0-0.0
Fumbles-lost 4-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 6-78 4-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Tascosa, Andrew Merrell 6-141, Treshun Wilson 1-46, Geordan Humphrey 5-34, Coltyn Fulton 10-22, Jack Gilbert 2-15, Za’Cory Fisher 3-11, Cassius Carter 1-4, Tate Oakes 1-3, Shepherd Stapp 1-2, Zaq Edwards 1-2, TJ Tillman 1-1. Legacy, Damien Johnson 13-103, Madden Milloy 18-100, Tommy Jo... Click here to read full article
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