It came down to two overtimes in a shootout between Midland Legacy (10-2, 4-1) and the Euless Trinity Trojans (7-5, 5-2), but the Rebels are heading to the Class 6A Division 1 regional finals after a 57-55 nail biter won on a two-point conversion pass from Marcos Davila to Jordan Williams.
It was a monster day for running back star running back Damien Johnson, who led the way with 26 carries for 350 yards and four touchdowns for the Rebels. He also caught a pair of passes for 15 yards.
While it was a slugfest in the end, the game started as a defensive battle with the Rebels scoring the only touchdown in the first quarter on a 42-yard pass from Davila to Brex Stevens to go up 7-0.
Midland Legacy senior RB Damien Johnson ran for four scores for Midland Legacy.
| Twitter
In the second quarter, Alexis Chavez picked off a pass for the Rebels. Davis then hit Aiden Serrano on a slant route, where the receiver bounced off defenders and made his way to the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown catch to go up 14-0.
The Trojans scored on a one-yard Juntavious Harris run set up by a 42-yard bomb from TJ Tupou to Jarvis Heimuli, but then Davila connected with Serrano again on a dump off pass that he took for a 15-yard score to go up 21-7. Trinity started at the 35-yard line on the next drive, worked their way downfield and scored on a one-yard touchdown run by Tupou to cut the Rebel lead to 21-14 at halftime.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Trinity tied the game with a 69-yard rushing score by Josh Bell with 11 minutes left. Midland Legacy responded a minute later on another huge running play, with Johnson going all the way for an 80-yard touchdown run, to give the Rebels a 28-21.
Trinity started the next drive at their own 44-yard line and worked their way downfield, ultimately scoring on a three-yard run by Tupou to tie the game at 28-28 with six minutes left in the third. With three minutes left in the quarter, Davila took it in himself on a QB keeper for a one-yard score. It was a 35-28 lead for the Rebels after three.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter Trinity tied the game on a short rushing touchdown by Bell, but Johnson scored on a short run of his own to take the 42-35 lead. During the drive, Damien Johnson hit the 300 rushing yard mark, and was integral in the passing game with a key reception as well. The 300 yard mark put him in good company, as he was approaching a school record held by former NFL running back Cedric Benson.
With about four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Tupou tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Buddy Leota to tie the game. With time expiring in regulation, Trinity went for a field goal but missed, sending the game to overtime.
Johnson scored at the beginning of the first overtime on a 25-yard run, and Jason Maltos hit the extra point to go up 49-42. Trinity responded with a 25-yard touchdown run by Josh Bell, and the extra point tied the game.
The game would go to a second overtime, and Tupou gave the Trojans a lead on a short touchdown run. They could not complete the two point conversion, which proved to be costly. With under a minute left Midland Legacy tied the game on a 25-yard rushing score by Johnson, and then Davila connected with Williams for the game winning score.
Johnson's rushing total narrowly missed the school record, which was set in 1999 by the late Cedric Benson with 353 yards in a win over against Permian when the team was the Midland Lee Rebels. Benson went on to be a Texas Longhorn legend, as well as an NFL running back with three straight seasons of more than 1,000 yards with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Davila had an excellent day passing the ball, going 20-for-24 for 220 yards with three passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, and the two-point conversion. He also threw a pick. Serrano was the top receiver with eight catches for 82 yards and two scores. Nicalus Moore caught five passes for 50 yards, and he also had a kick return for 22 yards.
Stevens had one catch for a 42-yard touchdown. Williams hauled in three catches for 27 yards, and also had the game winning two point conversion snag. Caden Ellis had two catches for 12 yards.
Chavez recorded 11 tackles with one for a loss and an interception. Esus Robledo had a team high 13 tackles, a sack and two hurries. Trace Low tallied 12 tackles with three for a loss. Max Vera and Gilbert Hernandez each had 12 tackles, and Cole Neatherlin recorded 11 tackles in the win.
Bell led Trinity with three rushing touchdowns. Tupou found the end zone four times, with one touchdown pass and three rushing touchdowns.
Midland Legacy faces Allen (8-4, 5-2) on Nov. 24 at 4 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium in the regional finals.