Kalen Shoemaker did it all for the unbeaten Legend football team Oct. 30 at Echo Park Automotive Stadium.
But by no means was Shoemaker the whole story. He had plenty of help as the Titans rolled to a 49-0 Douglas County League victory over crosstown rival Chaparral.
The senior quarterback passed for three touchdowns, ran for one and caught a scoring pass as Legend improved to 4-0 for the season, with a league game against Pine Creek (2-0) looming on Nov. 7.
“It felt great,” said Shoemaker. “The rivalry between the schools has been going on for a while. It’s always a big one and to come out and have a little bit of fun is always a fun deal. It’s taken us a little time to adjust all year and it took us the first half to get firing on all cylinders. But soon as it clicked and we got firing on all cylinders, it felt good.”
Interceptions by Chaparral’s Landen Tuccitto and Jack Schneider ended Legend drives in the first quarter but the Titans managed a 14-0 halftime lead after a 23-yard TD run by Shoemaker and his 13-yard scoring pass to Blake Doud.
“We credited Chaparral for playing real well especially in the first quarter,” said Legend coach Monte Thelen. “The two turnovers definitely stalled us out a little bit. We did get rolling later in the second quarter and I thought in the third quarter we played pretty impressively.
“We’re happy to be 4-0 and feel fortunate to be there. This is the second year in row we’ve been 4-0 but in this six-game season you’ve got to put a lot of emphasis on every single game. That will be the case for us next week.”
Shoemaker completed 16-of-23 passes during the game for 190 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He ran five times for 17 yards and caught a 29-yard TD pass from Colton Warner.
Senior running back Connor Eise gained 126 yards on 20 carries and had one TD run. He also caught two passes for 18 yards.
Doud was the Titans’ leading receiver with five receptions for 45 yards.
Legend’s defense, led by Jason Anderson with eight tackles, got interceptions by Jack Bruner and Pearce Kirchner, plus fumble recoveries by Clay Smith and Alex Trujillo.
JJ Nelson was the leader of the Chaparral defense with 11 total tackles, two more than Ryan Wilson.