Legacy Academy thwarts top-ranked Santa Rosa

BERNALILLO — In just its second of season of 11-Man football, Legacy Academy won the District 2-2A championship with a grind-it-out, 6-0 win Thursday over Santa Rosa at Bernalillo High School.

“We challenged the defense all week,” said Silverbacks coach Joey Romero. “We told them it was going to be an every-down, four-quarters game. And we can't let up and we have to earn every tackle, earn every play. And they did have a great week preparing, but mostly, they did a great job understanding how they had to show up. So I'm so proud of every single one of them.”

There was no bigger instance of them all showing up than midway through the third quarter when Class 2A's top-ranked Lions (8-2, 3-2) had a first and goal from the 9-yard-line. Three plays later, it was at the 1-yard-line. And the Legacy defense absolutely stuffed Santa Rosa quarterback David Chavez, denying the score on fourth down.

“We were telling the boys, and I told them, we've spent all offseason, we spent all summer working for moments like that,” Romero said. “And I told them early in the offseason, there's gonna be a day with the game on the line, fourth-and-one and we have to earn showing up on that play. And they definitely did it well.”

Silverbacks lineman Grady Dlugonski said that play and the whole effort by the defense was something that was built over time.

“It's just the toughness that we have, all the hours in the weight room that we spent,” he said. “We were in the mentality. We had a mentality that we wanted to win, and we knew that they were going to run the ball, and we knew that we were gonna be ready. And we were gonna stop it, and we knew that.”

The No. 4 Silverbacks (9-1, 5-0) came up big early in the fourth quarter, when Santa Rosa reached the 12 on first down, but after nailing Adrian Zavala for six-yard loss on the first down, the drive fizzled.

The Lions had one more opportunity in the closing minutes, reaching the Legacy 38-yard-line before a holding call and a third-down sack for a 10-yard loss thwarted that drive, as well.

Legacy scored early in the second quarter on a short run from Bryant Scales, who also had five catches for 45 yards. Silverbacks quarterback Lorenzo Sedillo-Urban threw for 126 yards and ran for 53.

Xander Chavez ground out 78 tough yards on 13 carries, but also lost two fumbles.

“It definitely was a roller coaster of emotions, for sure,” Chavez said.

He credited his faith and his teammates for helping him keep going.

“Just having the teammates I have, they were really Christ-centered,” Chavez said. “And they pick you up. And my coaches, my sidelines, my fans, my teammates. They all contributed to that part, or they really helped with that. They all lift you up when just when you need it.”