Tyler Legacy goes to air often in scrimmage against Marshall

Published 11:28 pm Friday, August 19, 2022

Tyler Legacy head coach Joe Willis has been adamant that the Red Raiders will look to throw the ball more in 2022 and will take shots down the field.

That was evident from the get go in Friday’s scrimmage against Marshall at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.

After Marshall’s opening series, Tyler Legacy had its first offensive series starting at its own 25. On the first play from scrimmage, Luke Wolf launched it deep to Nate Crockett. The ball fell incomplete and a pass interference was called. A penalty was also called on the Red Raiders for offsetting penalties.

Legacy attempted a run and then another deep ball to Crockett. Wolf then connected with a short pass to CJ Johnson that went for a 12-yard gain, followed by another incomplete pass. The Red Raiders then ran it twice before two straight throws to end the series.

So in nine plays, Legacy had six passing plays and three running plays. That was just one series, though.

On defense, the Red Raiders came up with a fumble recovery. On the last play of the series, Marshall had a one-handed catch for a 34-yard gain.

On the Red Raiders’ second series, junior left-hander Landon Miller took over at quarterback. Pass, sack, quarterback run — where Miller picked up 11 yards — pass, pass, pass.

While it was just a scrimmage, it was pretty evident that the Red Raiders will attack through the air more this year. Yes, they will still run the ball. Sterlin Burleson had seven carries for 25 yards, and Ladarius Yarber had six carries for 16 yards. Miller had two carries and Wolf had three rushing attempts.

But the Red Raiders weren’t afraid to take their shots in the air, and it paid off big twice.

After Marshall scored on a 50-yard touchdown pass to end its offensive series, Legacy answered on the very next play as Wolf found Crockett for a 75-yard scoring strike. Those were the only two touchdowns scored in the controlled portion of the scrimmage.

In the live two quarters, there were seven punts in the first quarter. Marshall punted it back to the Red Raiders early in the second quarter, and Wolf quickly completed a 38-yard pass. On third and 7, Wolf threw one up into the end zone, and sophomore Za’Bryan Hood went up and got the ball for the touchdown to give the Red Raiders a 7-0 lead.

With 4:14 left in the quarter, JQ Davis scored on a 1-yard run to tie the score at 7.

Legacy was on the move, looking to score the go-ahead touchdown. Wolf completed a 35-yard pass and then an 11-yard pass. On that second completion, it appeared the ball carrier was down before the ball came out, but Marshall picked up the loose ball 55 yards to the Legacy 18-yard line. Three runs by Davis put the Mavericks into the end zone with a 9-yard touchdown carry with 1:46 remaining to give Marshall a 14-7 lead in the live portion of the scrimmage.

“We saw some good things, some bad things and some ugly things,” Willis said. “That’s what you expect. The scrimmage is really just an extended practice is all it is. We get a chance to play a lot of players, get them on film in a game situation and evaluate them from there. We feel really good about the guys we have out there, especially the starters obviously. We’ve got some holes to fill in depth. We knew we would. We’re young in some spots. Some of these guys, it’s their first time under the bright lights. We made plenty of errors that we will have to fix along the way, but overall, I think our ones did a pretty good job.”

Wolf finished 12 of 28 through the air for 250 yards and two touchdowns. Six of the incomplete passes were dropped balls.

“Luke looked really good at times,” Willis said. “I thought we got some good things out of our young receivers. Zay Hood, I think he’s going to be a really good one. And really all of our receivers, I like what we have there.

“We had some explosive plays out there tonight. We were in a situation where we were trying to work a lot of different plays and not just trying to concentrate on what we could execute on them. Overall, I felt pretty good.”

The Red Raiders will officially open the season Aug. 26 when Lufkin visits Rose Stadium.