ERIE >> Erie junior Braylon Toliver muffed a punt with his first touch Thursday night.

Luckily for the junior, he didn’t have to wait long to redeem himself. And redeem he did.

The 2023 Class 4A championship game hero, who scored the clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter against Palmer Ridge in Fort Collins last December, had a career day on the ground as he led the Tigers past Legacy, 38-17, to claim the 5A Front Range League South crown.

Toliver nearly matched his previous high for rushing yards in a game — which was 162 from earlier this year — on two long, second-half touchdown runs alone. He sprung free from 79 and 75 yards after the halftime break, finishing with nearly 300 yards and three scores.

“The O-line definitely blocked phenomenally tonight,” Toliver said afterward. “And then after halftime, they picked it up even better.”

Tyler Anderson gave Legacy life in the fourth quarter, responding to Toliver’s long-distance runs with the third 75-plus-yard TD of the half. The senior hauled in a short pass from quarterback Andrew Gardner before racing to a 75-yard score to make it 24-17 with 10:52 remaining.

But Erie quarterback Ronin Ward sealed things over the final 6:30, scoring on a 14-yard run and a 33-yard pass to Owen Collard to push Erie (7-2, 4-0 5A FRL-South) to its fourth-straight league crown.

The Tigers are a perfect 17-0 in league play since coach Jeff Giger took over the program ahead of the 2021 season.

“We lost a lot of players last year and we realized people needed to step up,” said Toliver, whose team started the season 1-2 before rattling off six straight wins. “The leaders on the team, we got to bring the effort.”

Dylan Firebaugh had an interception for the second week in a row, and Steven Staff added his first pick of the season to lead another strong defensive performance from the Tigers.

After collecting four picks in a 48-13 win over Mullen in Week 9, Erie had two interceptions and two stands inside its own 5-yard line against Legacy (3-6, 2-2).

Following Toliver’s first TD of the night — a 9-yard run — the Tigers stopped the Lightning on fourth down from the 2. Then late in the half, they held Legacy to a field goal after the Lightning had a first down inside the 10.

After the break, Toliver and Anderson traded scores in the third, and then again early in the fourth. Ward faked a handoff to Toliver, going untouched into the end zone to make it 31-17 in the final minutes.

Heading into the last week of Class 5A’s regular season, the Tigers, who came into night ranked ninth, will try and lock up one of eight first-round byes in the 24-team playoff bracket. They’re home against No. 30 Horizon on Nov. 1.

No. 26 Legacy will likely need a win against No. 37 Vista PEAK Prep next Thursday to keep its season alive.