Fields are the stuff dreams are made of, whether it involves farmers or athletes.
On the football field: When the Logan County Cougars were on the precipice of leaping over the goal line and diving into the Class 5A playoffs with a
last-minute score against visiting Barren County during their final home game of the season on Oct. 14, I flashed back 17 years to Nov. 18, 1994.
For the record, the 2011 Cougars faced a third and less than one in the final minute of a tied game. A score most likely would seal a win. Instead,
they fumbled the ball away and then lost the game and a berth in the playoffs in overtime.
In the Rhea Stadium pressbox Terry McKenzie and I were broadcasting over WRUS the Russellville-Heath Class A regional championship[ game, which
had gone into overtime. The Tigers had possession first, and the Panther defense held. If the Panthers scored on their turn on offense, they were
headed to the state semifinals, just two seasons after having won a regional cghampionship and four years after capturing their third state
championship in 11 years. “They should go ahead and kick the field goal now,” Terry said over the air.
I wasn’t sure. What if they miss? Wouldn’t a touchdown be less risky? They can always attempt the field goal on fourth down. “Kyle Schlegel has
been the starting kicker for three years; he’ll make it.What if they fumble?” Terry asked ominously.
The Panthers fumbled.
The air was sucked out of Rhea Stadium. Coach Ken Barrett and his team were shaken. Schlegel did kick a field goal in the second OT, but Heath
scored a touchdown on third down won the game. The Pirates went on to the state semifinals. The Panthers went on to a decade of being only a shadow of
what they had been until the arrival of Coach John Myers in Pantherland .
“That fumble was the second worst thing that happened tonight,” I told Terry on the air. “The worst was that you were right,”
When the Cougars were so close to winning the biggest game of their young 5A lives so far, I found myself wondering if they should go ahead and kick.
Sophomore placekicker Landon Stratton is an excellent young athlete, an accomplished soccer player, and the nephew of the late legendary
Russellville and Logan County coach Stumpy Baker. Yet the Cougars had endured a failed extra point kick early in the game. The natural tendency,
too, is to eat up as much clock as possible to give the Trojans only a few seconds to try to salvage the game. So kicking would have been a push-it
could have gone either way. We’ll never know what would have happened if they had kicked early.
I don’t think this loss will haunt the Cougars in the long run. It’s the first year of what could become an exciting time in LCHS football. The
players, parents and school community seem excited about the direction the program is taking under new coach Dain Gregory. Repeatedly they have
talked about how much fun football can be. Competing with Bowling Green and Warren Central for the top spot in this top-heavy district is always going
to be tough. They are among the state’s best in any class. There’s no reason, however, that Logan can’t build a program over the next few years that is
competitive with Barren County and Greenwood.
Come to think of it, the Cougars were more than competitive with the Trojans. They were within an inch of winning. Or maybe within a field goal of the
playoffs..
The LoJo
Speaking of coming close, we can look at a sport played on another field, but not one devoted to football. Two Panther seniors came within a stroke of
going to state in golf. Davis Pardue and Caleb Wills would have been in a playoff for one of three at-large berths at state if they had
covered the 18 holes in one fewer stroke each.
Pardue would like to play college golf and has had some small college offers. He might opt instead to walk on an Western Kentucky University, though,
where Russellvillian Phillip Hatchett is head coach. There aren’t many local golfers who wouldn’t love to play for Hatchett, who is a friend,
mentor and hero to most young golfers in the area. If Davis’ basketball skills improved as much in his senior season as they did last year, he may get
looks from some colleges for that sport as well.
Wills has a paid college education guaranteed if he chooses many Kentucky public schools, since he was a Governor’s Scholar this summer. He has
ambitions for a professional career, Yet he probably will have to choose between a big school or playing golf or baseball for a smaller, private
school. He’s been a standout for the Panthers for three years.
Russellville, which was dominating regional golf just a few years ago, couldn’t compete for the boys team championship this year because there were
only three golfers on the team.
Logan County fielded a very young boys golf team in 2011. Coach Ethan Meguiar entered an eighth grader, two freshmen, and two sophomores in
region. The Cougars were led in the postseason by sophomores Adam Wilkins and Carson Zibart at 92 and 93, respectively. Joining them were
freshmen Ben Wright and Wesley Estes along with eighth grader
Kenton Howard.
Six seniors were on the girls team and three of them-Molly Clark, Shannon MacAlister and McKenzie Young-played in regional competition. The Lady
Cougars were led by sophomore Grace Harris (108) and junior Taylor Tinsley (117).
The other seniors were Ashley Barton, Kelsey Blick and Megan McKinney. Most of the seniors only had a couple of years’ experience playing golf,
Meguiar notes.
Another golf note: A brother and sister who are RHS alumni had Septembers to remember on big-city golf courses. Kristie Grace King fired a
hole-in-one on the legendary Belle Meade Country Club course in Nashville. Meanwhile her brother, Joe(y) Grace, forged an eagle three on a
par-five hole at Wildwood Country Club in Louisville.
They are the offspring of Russellville’s Joe and Shirley Grace. Joe, who is a former Russellville Country Club match play finalist, is taking
credit for their success on the links.
The LoJo
A third field provides a site for soccer. It was a sad year for Russellville in which Coach Nathan Thompson, Athletic DirectorPhil Todd
and the principal, Coach Myers, determined that not enough boys were interested in playing varsity soccer for the Panthers to field a team this year.
Panther soccer, which was competitive with most teams in the region while Nathan was the star and his dad, Tom Thompson, was the coach, is in a
lull now. The current Coach Thompson is now working with junior high players to build a new program.
Meanwhile Logan County was experiencing its first-ever varsity soccer seasons, fielding not only a boys team but also the first-ever varsity girls team
in the Land of Logan. (RHS girls who want to play soccer have been a part of the boys team, including Hall of Famer
Sara Schauberger.)
Coach Eric Evans’ Cougars had a 5-12 record, which was better than 6 other of the 14 teams in the region. Coach Daniel McCarley’s Lady
Cougars went 4-9, better than 4 of the 15 teams in the girls region.
Our family got to see the soccer teams work out often, since their practice field is adjacent to where some of our pumpkins, peas and beans were
growing. The soccer Cougars and Lady Cougars were obviously having fun, too.
Team cameraderie was demonstrated in a Pink Out in honor of the late Christy Phillips,
mother of Logan soccer players Rachel, Caleb & Isaac Phillips. The beloved Mrs. Phillips died recently after a long battle with cancer.
According to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association website, the following were members of these historic teams:
Cougars
Seniors:
Avrey Collier, Phineas Parsons
Juniors:
Dakota Bray, Devon Cross,Aaron Foster, Diego Garcia, Korey Jaynes, Taylor Rittenberry, Fredy Santiago, Jacob Smith, Tyler Vaughn, Josh Vazquez,
Jared Young
Sophomores:
Zach Elamon, Logan Johnson, Dustin Lee, Cody McClellan, Jacob Moberly, Spencer Parsons, Blake Pittman, Landon Stratton
Freshmen:
Tanner Chapman, Tahmire Graham, Caleb Phillips
Lady Cougars
Seniors:
Lexie Harris, Jaylin Jones
Juniors:
Megan Heffelfinger, Clara Hopkins, Morgan Johnson, Kelsey Markham, Hayley Mayher, Kaytlyn Penny
Sophomores:
Taiya Collier, Anna Holman, Laura Hunt, Megan Lindsay, Courtney McReynolds, Monica Rust
Freshmen:
Brittany Barton, Rachel Cunningham, Sarah Edgar, Mikayla Fagan, Rachel Phillips, Samanthan Rittenberry, Molly Wharton
The LoJo
Okay, I admit I can’t continue the field theme with this one. We’re going indoors for Russellville volleyball.
The first two seasons for the Lady Panthers with former star athlete Terricka Quarles have shown marked improvement over the previous four years
for the team. The 2011 Lady Panthers went 14-22 overall and 8-18 in the region. Six teams among the 16 in the region had worse records. Quarles’ team
beat Todd Central in the postseason play to earn berths in the district finals (played at their own Jim Young Gymnasium) and regional tournament.
Last year RHS went 13-17, which is much better than the 6-21, 8-25, 11-20 and 9-22 (34-88 overall) of the past four seasons. This was the best record
for the Lady Panthers since Coach Eric Gorham’s 2005 team went 18-15 overall, 9-5 in the region and 5-3 in the district. Gorham, who had to give
up being head coach because of a bad back, was able to assist Quarles this year.
Making region is especially meaningful because the team was without one of its standouts, junior front-liner Kesi Neblett, was rarely available
because she is attending the prestigious Gatten Academy at WKU.
Still the Lady Panthers had two athletic front line players in Imani Hampton and Khalia Hampton and a tremendous outside hitter in Kathleen Noe, one of the hardest working girls I’ve known in a long time.
Here’s the Lady Panther roster, according to the KHSAA website.
Seniors:
Kaneitha Bigbee, Imani Hampton
Juniors:
Nathasha Haskins, Kesi Neblett, Kathleen Noe
Sophomores;
Kayla Costellow, Chynna Covington, Khalia Hampton, Shea Hampton, Sydney Hendon, Devonna Sydnor, Jayla Townsend
The LoJo
The following note came to The LoJo from former Logan County coach and Russellville resident R.B. Mays, who is principal of his alma
mater, Graves County High School and having served as its athletic director. It’s about Doug Gloyd, who played football for LCHS and
Campbellsville University.
“I have hired me another Logan County boy! My athletic director, Jim Simmons, decided to take his Kentucky retirement and accept a job as head
basketball coach at his home school in Pope County, Ill.. He accepted the job four days before school started. I was very fortunate to get connected to
Doug Gloyd, who has lived here in Mayfield for seven years, but has been driving to Trigg County as assistant principal the last five years. He was
driving to Hoptown as a football coach the two years prior. He went to work on Aug. 21 as my full-time athletic director.
“I feel very fortunate to have him. He is very active in First Baptist here, and actually found out about the job from Lyndon Dunning, who used
to coach at Logan, goes to church with him and has coached here for almost 20 years. He had instant credibility with basketball through Lyndon, and, of
course, (LCHS grad, Graves head football coach) Lance Gregory was excited to see him come on board.
“He is obviously a fine Christian man and has a great work ethic. Folks have already really been impressed with him. He is very passionate about
opening doors for kids in college through athletics, has hit the ground running trying to help us expand our sports, and has some great ideas for
growing revenues. I think I am going to have a good friend as well.”