Hughes’ long runs help Longhorns down Mojave

The Legacy football team struggled to sustain drives Thursday night. It didn’t matter thanks to Casey Hughes.

Hughes ran for 192 yards and two long touchdowns to lift the seventh-ranked Longhorns to a 27-6 victory over host Mojave.

After Legacy (2-1) slogged through the first half, Hughes scored on a 65-yard run on his team’s first offensive play of the third quarter to give the Longhorns a 14-6 advantage.

Legacy had a chance to take control of the game midway through the third after Erin Spaight fell on an errant snap on a punt at the Rattlers’ 20-yard line, but the Longhorns came away with no points.

Mojave (2-2) was unable to take advantage of the break, and the Longhorns pulled away in the fourth quarter. Damion Robinson-Stallings intercepted Zack Arave and returned it to the Mojave 19. Three plays later, Legacy quarterback Devin Williams hit Spaight for a 15-yard touchdown that gave the Longhorns a 21-6 lead with 8:41 to play.

Legacy’s DeMichael Walker added a 68-yard touchdown run late in the fourth. Walker finished with 100 yards on 10 carries despite two fumbles.

“I’ve said it the last couple of weeks, those guys are playmakers,” Legacy coach Dave Snyder said. “Athletes make plays, and they did tonight.”

Ty Flanagan led Mojave with 107 yards rushing, and Arave finished with 104 yards on the ground, most of which came in the fourth quarter. The Rattlers also committed four turnovers.

Mojave’s only score of the game came with 8:37 remaining in the second quarter when Elijah Smoot picked up a fumble and returned it 89 yards to cut Legacy’s lead to 7-6.

“We were a play away all game,” Mojave coach Joe Delgado said. “What it comes down to is consistency on offense and discipline on both sides of the ball.”

Hughes, who came into the game averaging more than 12 yards per carry, showed off his explosiveness on his first carry of the game when he bolted 78 yards up the middle for a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter. Hughes has 583 yards rushing in the first three games.

“It was a weird night. We didn’t play particularly well,” Snyder said. “I feel like we let them hang around from the first snap. Nothing seemed to really click.”