Logan County has been known over the past two years to dominate on both sides of the football. Friday evening was just another one of those nights.
After giving up an early touchdown and trailing 7-0, the Cougars dialed in and fired off 49 unanswered points to take a humbling 49-7 win over Russellville, their second straight win over their cross-town rival.
It looked as though it would be a back-and-forth shootout when Panther quarterback Jacob Naylor found Lennon Ries wide open over the middle to put Russellville (3-2) on top first with 5:37 to go in the first quarter, but it was all uphill for Logan County at that point.
“A lot of nerves came into play in the first quarter with the rivalry game and the huge crowd,” Logan County head coach Todd Adler said. “After we gave up the long touchdown pass, our kids settled in and got rid of those nerves and we got our offense and defense rolling after that.”
Following the Panther score, the Cougars (4-0) wasted no time answering the bell, using a nine-play, 80-yard drive to set up a one-yard quarterback keeper by Tyler Ezell, knotting the score at 7-7.
Minutes later, Logan County added another score as Anthony Dancer’s interception set Gary Hardy up for the first of his three touchdown runs from 10 yards out, giving the Cougars a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Cougars added 21 more points in the second quarter on a 24-yard run by Ezell, a two-yard run by Hardy and a 21-yard pass from Ezell to Anthony Woodard to blow open a 35-7 lead going into the halftime break.
“(Ezell and Hardy) are special kids,” Adler said. “They work hard; they’re good at what they do. They work hard in the weight room and in practice, and they know that they’re leaders of this offense. Once they get going, it kind of sparks all of the other guys to get going too.”
Russellville totaled 110 yards of offense, 90 yards passing and 20 yards rushing, which proved to be another big win for a Cougar defense that has given teams headaches throughout most of the season.
“We’ve still not had a good defensive prep practice just because we haven’t all been together,” Adler said. “Our defensive coordinator has been at the hospital with his daughter over the last few weeks, and that’s what tonight was about.”
Naylor completed 5-of-16 passes for 90 yards and a score while tossing two interceptions. Edward Barber led the Panthers on the ground with 12 carries for 28 yards
The Cougars racked up 492 yards of offense, 237 through the air and 255 on the ground.
Ezell completed 19-of-27 passes for 237 yards with one touchdown and one interception while adding 84 yards and two scores on the ground on eight carries. Dontavius Blann caught five passes for 76 yards.
Hardy rumbled for 127 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries.
“Most of it was just our offensive line doing what they needed to do,” Hardy said. “Once they got that block, it was all up to me on what was going to happen next.”
Logan County will return to action next Friday evening as they travel to McLean County. The Panthers return home next Friday to host Trigg County.
Logan County 49, Russellville 7
Russellville 7 0 0 0 – 7
Logan Co. 14 21 14 0 – 49
| 1st Quarter | RUS | LC | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RUS | 5:37 | Jacob Naylor pass to Lennon Ries for 65 yards (PAT by Hunter Mcdowell good) | 7 | 0 |
| LC | 3:09 | Tyler Ezell 1-yard run (PAT by Lucas Arevalo good) | 7 | 7 |
| LC | 1:41 | Gary Hardy 10-yard run (PAT by Arevalo good) | 7 | 14 |
| 2nd Quarter | RUS | LC | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LC | 7:38 | Ezell 24-yard run (PAT by Arevalo good) | 7 | 21 |
| LC | 2:59 | Hardy 2-yard run (PAT by Arevalo good) | 7 | 28 |
| LC | 0:46 | Ezell pass to Anthony Woodard for 21 yards.(PAT by Arevalo good) | 7 | 35 |
| 3rd Quarter | RUS | LC | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LC | 10:41 | Hardy 46-yard run (PAT by Arevalo no good) | 7 | 41 |
| LC | 6:23 | Safety by Russellville special teams | 7 | 43 |
| LC | 1:44 | Carson Bradley 9-yard run (PAT by Arevalo no good) | 7 | 49 |
Clay Manlove; @ctmanlove58
