San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Southwest 26, Southwest Legacy 7
Quick take: Southwest used a stingy defense and a grinding rushing attack to wear down and eventually knock out Southwest Legacy 26-7 in the Fire & Armor Bowl Friday night at Legacy. The victory gives Southwest (7-3, 7-1) the No. 2 seed from District 13-5A-I in the state playoffs, while Legacy (5-5, 5-3) falls to the No. 3 seed for the postseason. It is also Southwest’s first victory over Legacy since 2018, snapping the Titans’ three-game winning streak in the series.
Highlights: Legacy took a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter after a 7-yard touchdown run by Fabian Ramos, but Southwest got a touchdown run of 47 yards by fullback Angel Hernandez and a 1-yard plunge by Tyson Shamsid-Deen early in the second period to take a 12-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. Midway through the third quarter, the Dragons set up another score with their second interception of the game, and backup quarterback Tim Olague scored on a 1-yard run of his own to make it 19-7 Southwest. A short punt by the Titans set up the Dragons’ final score, as Southwest only had to go 41 yards before Aazeryuan Voss ran one in from 8 yards out to give Southwest a 26-7 lead going into the fourth quarter.
What it means: Southwest has now won six straight games since starting the season 1-3 with losses to Lockhart (27-20), Floresville (21-14) and Southside (20-7) sandwiched around a 30-0 win over Laredo Martin. Friday’s game was also the first time since the Laredo Martin win, back on Sept. 9, that the Dragons allowed less than 12 points in a game, a span of seven games. Meanwhile, Legacy sees its two-game winning streak snapped, and the Titans were held to seven points or less for the fourth time this year. However, the Titans do deserve credit for rebounding to make the playoffs after starting the year 0-2 with losses to Burbank (24-7) and LEE (21-7).
Quotable: “This was a big game for us. This wasn’t a situation where it was just another game,” Southwest coach Alex Franco said. “We came into this week wanting to win this game and nothing else mattered. That being said, it’s huge for us to be second in our district because that means we get a home game. We know that whoever we face from the other district will be tough, but it’s a lot better to be playing at home on a Friday night than it is to be going on the road on a Thursday.”
Game balls: Southwest’s defense limited Legacy to just 141 yards of offense and eight first downs in the game, forcing four turnovers (two interceptions, two fumble recoveries) in the process. Hernandez had 96 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, Voss finished with 48 yards and a TD on only four carries, and Brayan Lizama pitched in 47 yards on 17 carries for the Dragons, who rolled up 243 rushing yards in the victory. Fernando Flores had 82 yards on 21 carries, and Jeremiah
Sifuentes caught five passes for 57 yards for Legacy in the loss.
Up next: Southwest will host Victoria West (5-5) in an opening-round Class 5A-I playoff game at 7 p.m. Nov. 11 at 7 p.m., while Legacy will be on the road for its opening-round matchup, traveling to Corpus Christi Miller (9-1) at 7 p.m. Nov. 10.