By Lucas Gordon Special to the Review-Journal
August 21, 2026 - 9:52 pm
With the crippled connected the enactment aggregate times, the defence of Palo Verde made the stops it needed to decorativeness disconnected a Week Two triumph implicit Legacy.
En way to its 28-26 victory, the Panthers made a goal-line basal and forced a turnover wrong the past 2 minutes and sealed the game, becoming 1 of the lone 2-0 teams successful the city.
“I’m truly blessed for these boys,” said Palo Verde first-year caput manager Dru Smith. “This crippled is simply a testament to what I’ve been preaching since I took over.
“Football is an 11-month-of-the-year sport, and we’ve worked our tails disconnected from January to now.”
Going into halftime up 14-6, Legacy’s tally crippled took implicit arsenic the Longhorns controlled the crushed crippled and possession passim the 2nd half. In the 2nd fractional alone, Legacy ran the shot 20 times for 85 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Senior Cameron Turner accounted for 80 yards and some touchdowns, finishing with 119 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns.
His 2nd touchdown of the crippled came aboriginal successful the 3rd 4th to necktie the crippled astatine 14.
The Panthers went three-and-out connected their lone third-quarter possession, portion the defence kept the crippled close. It took until the 4th fourth for the Palo Verde offesne to get going.
After a 21-yard drawback from inferior X’Zavier McZeal, inferior James Eliason caught his 2nd 1-yard touchdown walk of the game.
With a 21-14 pb midway done the fourth, Legacy continued to tally the shot against Palo Verde’s defense. The Longhorns fooled Palo Verde with a heavy walk to elder Dayshawn Bucklew, who caught a 34-yard touchdown from inferior Jaelynn Love-Carter.
Legacy got stuffed connected a tally astatine the extremity enactment to neglect connected its pursuing two-point conversion effort and way 21-20.
Legacy attempted an onside kick, but Palo Verde recovered with 5 minutes left.
On the adjacent play, elder backmost Dillon Carrol recovered McZeal for a 52-yard touchdown transportation to enactment the Panthers up 28-20. McZeal finished the crippled with six catches for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Legacy continued its beardown 2nd half, scoring with 2 minutes remaining connected Turner’s 3rd touchdown to marque it 28-26.
With nether 2 minutes remaining, Legacy attempted different onside kick, which it successfully recovered.
With clip winding down, Love-Carter went to the air, but his walk was tipped adjacent the Panthers’ 10-yard enactment and intercepted by Eliason.
Following the win, manager Smith praised his team’s quality to enactment focused passim the ending series of the game.
“I’ve been doing this for a while, and I’ve seen a batch of stuff. We conscionable person to support it chill and judge successful the squad to marque plays erstwhile it matters most.”
English (US)·