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Sabers outlast Magi football

Will Kincaid/Bismarck Tribune Bismarck Legacy's Lyric Hoffman carries the ball over the goal line in the first half against Minot High Friday at Sanford Sports Complex in Bismarck.

The Legacy Sabers’ defense set the tone early. And then it came up with one more big stop late.

All in all, a winning game plan for a young team.

“We have such a young team and we’re playing a lot of young kids and it’s learning how to win right now, so I’m proud of the way we fought,” Legacy coach Chris Clement said after his team built a big lead and hung on for a 35-27 West Region victory over Minot on Friday night at Sanford Sports Complex.

“I’m proud of the way that we didn’t give up. We knew it was going to be four quarters. We didn’t think this game was over by any means. We just had to keep grinding.”

Legacy’s defense helped the Sabers grab the lead early.

The Sabers forced a pair of first-quarter fumbles, setting up their first two touchdowns of the game.

Taking over at the Minot 16 for their second possession of the game, it took Legacy just three plays to take a 7-0 lead on a Lyric Hoffman 1-yard TD run.

On the next possession, Cooper Glenn scooped up a Minot fumble and returned it to the Magicians’ 5. Two plays later, Matt Kraft ran it in from 3 yards out for a 14-0 lead.

“Any time you get turnovers and it puts you in the plus column that way, it’s good,” Clements said. “Our offense took the ball and capitalized on it, which is always good. We got a little bit of breathing room but we needed all of it in the end.”

Minot put together a 73-yard, 11-play drive, capped by a Jaxon Gunville 2-yard TD run to get the Magicians on the board, pulling within 14-7.

Legacy answered with a 12-play, 76-yard drive capped by a 17-yard TD run by Hoffman. Twice on the drive, Rhett Clements came up with a big play to extend the drive – hitting Hoffman on a 6-yard rollout pass on fourth-and-3 and a 12-yard keeper to convert a third-and-11.

Minot drove 73 yards in 11 plays, pulling within a touchdown with 57 seconds left in the half on a Gunville 4-yard touchdown.

But Clements responded, marching Legacy down to score right before intermission. Clements connected with Keagan Woodbury on an 18-yard scoring strike three seconds before intermission.

Clements completed 11 of 15 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed 14 times for 44 yards.

Kraft led the Sabers with 57 yards on nine carries. Lyric Hoffman added 38 yards on the ground, caught six passes for 56 yards and scored three touchdowns – two rushing and one receiving.

“We’re doing a good job of distributing the ball to a bunch of different kids,” Clements said. “We’ve got some young kids that can make plays for us and hopefully that continues for us.”

The Sabers drove 80 yards in eight plays on the opening possession of the second half, with Clements hitting Hoffman on a 5-yard TD pass for a 35-14 lead.

Legacy’s defense forced three turnovers, with Patrick Doan intercepting a Gunville pass in the third quarter.

But Minot mounted a late comeback.

Gunville connected with Kyler Stenberg on a 17-yard strike with 4:29 left, making it 35-21.

After Legacy went three and out, Minot struck again. On fourth and 10, Gunville’s pass was tipped into the air, right to Mason Sys, who had broken loose deep. He sprinted the rest of the way on a 76-yard scoring pass. Minot missed the to-point pass attempt, but the Magicians were within one touchdown at 35-27.

The Magicians recovered the ensuing onside kick and gained seven yards on their first two plays, before Legacy stopped Gunville for no gain on the ground on third down. Legacy halted Gunville short of the line to gain on a fourth-and-3 at the Sabers’ 40.

Legacy improved to 2-3, 2-0 in West Region play, and picked up its first win over Minot.

Gunville completed 12 of 23 passes with one interception for 164 yards for Minot (2-3,1-2 West Region). Sys rushed for 83 yards on 14 carries and caught five passes for 103 yards.

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