Tyler Legacy Football

Friday night will mark the final home game for 33 Tyler Legacy football seniors when the Red Raiders host Mesquite at 7 p.m. at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium for the regular season finale.

Those seniors are Jeremiah Sheffie, Adam Mitchell, Jamarion Miller Kelly Humber, Bryson Donnell, Jett Stanger, Jordan Ford, Ja’Kambrin Turner, Aaron Sears, Cayden Starks, Ja’Kaleb Turner, LaDavion Butler, Elijah Howard, Zander Johnson, Bruce Bruckner, La’Brendo Flowers, Kenneth Hawkins, Triston Jones, Devarius Howard, Montrail Williams, Jonathan Hamilton, Jequavian Whitaker, Christian Hesse, Kade Fry, Donavan Jordan, Malakai Bradley, Eithan Wallace, Le’Travian Whitmill, Tariq Robinson, Corey Lawrence, Jaelon Wickware, Ben Costanza and Anthony Jiles.

“This is a special class to me,” second-year Legacy head football coach Joe Willis said. “All senior classes are special, but this one is really special to me. I got here, and right after that, we canceled school (due to COVID-19) and were away from each other from a long time. And this was a junior class that basically worked through all of that. I got to know them a lot better because of the offseason and spring, and I got to see them work, not just play, so it’s a big difference. We’ve got a lot of guys that obviously are great playmakers that we’re going to miss.”

“Going on the field, I will probably have everything running through my head,” senior linebacker Stanger said. “Coming off of the field, I’ll probably be crying.”

“It’s going to be emotional,” senior offensive lineman Wallace said. “I’m looking forward to playing my last game at Rose with my brothers and these amazing coaches.”

Legacy and Mesquite enter the game with identical 5-4 overall records and 3-2 marks in District 10-6A.

The Skeeters have only scored 192 points this season, but the defense has been the calling card, allowing just 193 points this season.

“They’ve got a great plan defensively and a really good head coach that came from Cedar Hill as the defensive coordinator,” Willis said. “What they do is not very complexed, but what they do is very good. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They’ll probably be the best defensive team that we will see all season. It’s a really good chance to go out and see exactly how good we are on offense.

“Offensively, they’ve got some big receivers they also use at tight end. They’re going to mix the looks up on you quite a bit. The quarterback is a big kid, and he does a good job of extending plays. And they’ve got a couple of receivers that have really had great seasons for them. You match that up with the run game, it will be a task to get them slowed down.”

Something to keep an eye on will be Miller’s chase to break the school record for rushing yards. Miller enters the game with 4,675 yards, needing just 74 rushing yards to break the school record of 4,748 yards set by Tyrone Ross.

“First off, if I break the record, I just want to thank the O-line and my teammates for getting me to break that record, and it really showed the work I put on and off the field for me to be a great back. I don’t know much (about Ross), I just know they won state that year, and I’m trying to win a state championship too.”

“It’s obviously awesome to see a kid get a chance to break a record like that because that record is not easy to break,” Willis said. “That was an outstanding record that was put up here several years ago. For him to be able to do it in front of his home crowd on senior night is a special deal. When you look at Jamarion and you look at how selfless he is and how humble he is and making sure his teammates feel a part of that makes it even better. If you look at the rushing record, that’s one thing, but if you looked at his overall yard production, that’s one of the best performances in Texas high school history.”

What will happen when Miller breaks the record?

“I’m probably going to pull him out, congratulate him and say let’s go back to work,” Willis said.

Legacy will open the playoffs against Garland at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at Williams Stadium in Garland.

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