Fullback Rhian Stowers scored the first try of his MLR career in his first start and played a role in another in the San Diego Legion’s 31-12 win over the Miami Sharks.

He ran in for his first try off a pass from left wing Ryan James in the 32nd minute. He had another opportunity soon after in the 36th minute that he passed off to right wing Tomas Aoake for the score.

“It makes it a lot easier when the boys around you are doing their job,” Stowers said. “I was able to capitalize on a few opportunities made from the boys.”

Stowers signed in November but was a late arrival to the team and only appeared in his first match on March 8 when they beat LA 36-28. Still, he’s made a big impact on the Legion already.

“He’s full of energy and he’s electric at training and I wasn’t surprised what he did tonight because I saw it at training the last couple of weeks,” captain and flanker Brad Wilkin said.

He was replaced by Marcel Brache in the 75th minute.

Christian Poidevin opened the scoring in the 24th minute.

Poidevin and Aoake tied James for the team lead with their fourth tries of the season.

The “big red wall” was in full force when the Legion lost both Tavite Lopeti and Aoake for 10 minutes to yellow cards. Miami threatened repeatedly during that time but a knock-on and penalties committed by Miami at the 5-meter line helped San Diego stop the Sharks.

Soon after the dust settled from the penalties, Klein scored the Legion’s fifth try of the night. He scored twice in as many matches.

The Legion have won each of their first five matches and secured the bonus point with at least four tries in each of those to get a perfect 25 points. The most by any other team in the stat that ultimately decides the table is 20 from the Utah Warriors.

Up next: The Legion will travel to face the Houston SaberCats, one of the most consistent teams in the West, on Saturday, March 29 at 5 p.m. in Houston.