Edwards sparks Longhorns

Legacy star running back Deshae Edwards was held to one yard on his first five carries in Thursday night’s home game against Arbor View.

But Edwards burst through the line for a 50-yard touchdown on his sixth carry to help the fifth-ranked Longhorns to a 32-7 victory over the No. 9 Aggies.

“They were really coming hard and trying to bring it to us, but our (offensive) line really stepped it up and got holes open for me and I started to get loose,” Edwards said.

The long scoring run propelled the senior to a 212-yard, three-touchdown game, his second consecutive 200-yard performance.

“It really (gave me some confidence),” he said of the early touchdown. “The whole week my coaches have been telling me to step it up during the game. A lot of people said I wasn’t really playing to my potential, so I had to really show them that I’m one of the best out here.”

Edwards finished the first half with 159 yards, but it was the Legacy defense that stood out as the Longhorns took a 19-0 halftime lead.

“It was a huge effort by our defense,” Legacy coach David Snyder said. “We were on a short week this week with just two days to prepare for them. They’re a good football team. They’ve got some good athletes over there. We were just bending but not breaking.”

Legacy (4-0, 3-0 Northwest League) wasn’t bending much as Arbor View (2-2, 1-2) managed just 107 total yards in the first half.

The Longhorns defense also added to the point total as Marcus McCollum ran an interception back 50 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Taylor Wooten ran for 89 yards for the Aggies. Arbor View scored its touchdown on an 8-yard pass from Austin Anderson to Jordan Miller in the fourth quarter.

Andres Ortiz added two field goals for the Longhorns, who sit atop the Northwest League standings. Despite the win over a tough division rival, Snyder knows his team’s road doesn’t get any easier.

“We’ve got some tough games coming up with Cimarron and Palo Verde back-to-back,” he said. “Those are going to be tough weeks, but we can get through them and hopefully pull out wins there, too.”

Legacy first has a trip to Virgin Valley before starting the difficult stretch of divisional foes Oct. 1 at Cimarron.