RUSSELLVILLE – Logan County kept their magical undefeated season alive on Friday night, scoring 47 unanswered points after trailing 12-7 as the Cougars charged past Warren Central 54-18 in the first round of the 4A Playoffs at Cougar Field.
It seemed that the Dragons would hold strong with Logan County within the first few minutes of the game as Jamale Barber connected with Justin Borden for a pair of touchdown passes to put the Cougars in the 12-7 hole with 5:26 remaining.
“They brought something that we weren’t expecting them to bring,” Logan County head coach Todd Adler said. “It has been a tricky week because of the weather, so we were expecting them to run the football. They came out and spread us out a little bit. They have some shifty and athletic guys.”
After the second touchdown by the Dragons, the Cougars started off a 47-0 run by returning a pair of onside kicks after the next two touchdowns.
“Our kicker does a phenomenal job on getting the bounce on that onside kick,” Adler said. “We have Gary Hardy who loves contact, so he’s going to be hitting the guy catching the ball every time. We’ve been fortunate enough to get on some of those fumbles.”
After the Dragons took the 12-7 lead, Logan County’s Reggie Powell took the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to give the Cougars a 14-12 lead, a lead which they wouldn’t lose for the rest of the evening.
The Cougars recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff to set up Tyler Ezell’s 7-yard touchdown on a quarterback keeper, giving Logan County a 21-12 advantage with 1:47 to go in the first quarter.
Logan County recovered a squib kick on the next play to set up another 1-yard quarterback keeper for Ezell, expanding the Cougars’ lead to 28-12 with 1:03 to go in the first quarter.
“We were fortunate enough to be running on all cylinders offensively to get away with the lead tonight,” Adler said.
The Cougars put the running clock into effect with :19.6 to go in the second quarter as Ezell hooked up with Chandler Silvey for a 10-yard score to give Logan County a 48-12 lead going into halftime.
Logan County (11-0) finished with 386 yards of offense on the evening, 251 on the ground and 135 through the air.
Hardy scampered for 83 yards and a touchdown on nine carries while Maurice Golden and Third Bell ran for 53 and 34 yards, respectively, each with a score.
Ezell completed 10-of-16 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Silvey caught four passes for 81 yards and a touchdown while Dontavius Blann finished with two catches for 22 yards and another score. All starters were replaced by the JV squad in the second half.
Warren Central had 98 yards of offense as Jamale Barber completed 6-of-12 passes for 52 yards and three touchdowns, all three to Borden. DJ Tyner ran for 51 yards on seven carries.
Logan County advances to host red-hot Hopkinsville in a rematch of Oct. 5th’s contest, which saw the Cougars escape 13-12 on a last second touchdown run. The Tigers defeated Warren East in Bowling Green 21-7 on Friday evening and are on a four-game winning streak since falling to Logan County.
“It’s a great opportunity [to play Hopkinsville again],” junior defensive lineman Caden McKinnis said. “They’ve been playing great, and so have we. We just have to continue to play our game.”
Clay Manlove; @ctmanlove58
