Nevada Preps Boys Athlete of the Week: Legacy’s Aidan Crawford

Legacy’s football team had just defeated Palo Verde to win the Class 5A Division III Southern League title on Nov. 10, and Longhorns coach Zach Monticelli gave quarterback Aidan Crawford some very high praise.

“Aidan Crawford is the most underrated player in the state of Nevada,” Monticelli said after the 34-18 win.

Crawford lived up to that billing in Saturday’s 5A Division III state title game. The junior completed 13 of 20 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns to lead Legacy to a 21-14 win over Northern champion Galena to claim the state title at UNR’s Mackay Stadium.

For his efforts, he was named Nevada Preps Boys Athlete of the Week.

Crawford needed some late-game heroics to lead Legacy to the title. With the game tied at 14 late in the fourth quarter, Crawford connected on a 57-yard touchdown pass to Keandre Ramsey with 1:27 remaining.

Crawford threw his first touchdown, a 10-yard pass to Jayson Schmidt, in the second quarter, and he added another on a 31-yard strike to Ramsey early in the third quarter.

On a rainy night in Reno, the Longhorns found a balance with running back Phoenix Jennings and Crawford, who made several timely passes.

Crawford’s lone mistake came in the fourth quarter when he threw an interception that Galena’s offense eventually turned into a touchdown to tie the game.

His touchdown pass to Ramsey made up for his earlier mistake, and the Longhorns held on for the win.

Crawford racked up 1,906 passing yards (15.5 yards per completion) and 16 touchdowns in Legacy’s nine regular-season games, according to MaxPreps. Postseason stats were not available.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.