A Legg up on the competitors

Rick Devereux

His last name should have been an indicator that Tyler Legg would

excel in football.

The junior running back for Costa Mesa High has certainly used his

legs this season, rushing for 546 yards and six touchdowns on 112

carries. He rushed for a career-high 184 yards and three touchdowns

on 24 attempts in last week’s, 38-24, Golden West League win over

Santa Ana. Legg’s rushing allowed the Mustangs (1-5, 1-1 in league)

to secure their first victory of the season and earned him Daily

Pilot Athlete of the Week honors.

“I don’t go into games saying I’m going to run for 250 yards,”

Legg said. “I know if I do that I’m going to run for [a season-low 26

yards] like I did against Westminster.”

Legg’s previous high was 119 rushing yards against Corona del Mar

in the second game of the season.

“I think that CdM game was the best game we played all year,” Legg

said, despite the 35-9 loss. “Our defense basically stoped them. They

only time they scored was on big plays.”

Legg was averaging only 72 yards per game heading into the Santa

Ana matchup. He credits his coaches and teammates for the burst in

production.

“My coaches lined me up further away from the line of scrimmage

[against Santa Ana],” Legg said. “That gave the line more time to

make their blocks.”

The offensive line had been a major issue for the Mustangs,

allowing 33 sacks in the first five games. But against the Saints,

the Mesa O-line kept the defenders off quarterback Ryan French and

opened running lanes for Legg.

“Our line really picked it up and straightened things out,” Legg

said. “I know I wouldn’t gain any yards without them.”

Legg describes is style of running as “instinctive.”

“I run straight and try to find the hole,” he said. “I don’t watch

college or pro football, so I don’t have anybody else’s running

style.”

His coaches enjoy his style, and his production.

“Tyler just keeps getting better and better and better,” Coach Tom

Baldwin said. “When you have someone as talented as that, you keep

feeding him the ball.”

Legg, at 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds, isn’t the biggest running back

in the world, but he said he isn’t intimidated watching films of

teams he is going to play and seeing the size of the defenders he

will face that week. But when the teams take the field, sometimes he

realizes his size in relation to others.

“In the Westminster game I had to block [6-3, 250 defensive end

Ernesto Mora] and [6-1, 280 defensive tackle Michael Blackburn],”

Legg said. “I said to myself, ‘[Wow] these guys are huge.’ ”

Legg’s realized heading into the season he was going to be the

featured running back in a program known for its ground game.

“Our strength is our running,” Legg said. “We’ve never been a

passing team. It makes me happy because I get to run the ball more.”

Legg was a running back on the junior varsity team as a freshman,

but practiced at middle linebacker as a sophomore on varsity.

“I only played a little bit as a sophomore,” Legg said. “The

senior [running backs] from last year [graduated] and the coaches

told me I was going to get a lot of playing time at running back this

year.”

Legg said what he enjoys most about football is wining and

hitting. While the Mustangs have only won once, he said he is still

enjoying the season.

“You have to have fun,” Legg said. “I just go out and run the ball

as hard as I can.”