Logan County is excited about its undefeated football team. That’s not just Logan County High School’s students and staff. All over the Land of Logan, long-suffering fans, alumni, and just the public in general find themselves hoping that their football century is about to get better.
You can’t blame them.
Very few sports programs have suffered to the extent of LCHS football in the 2000s. In the 17 seasons of the 21st century going into this one, Logan County football had a cumulative record of 37 wins and 139 losses (21 percent wins in the 21st century). That’s an average record of 2-8.
Included in that futility were three straight 1-9 seasons to start the century. In a bit of a believe-it-or not scenario, in two of those years the only win came over Russellville. That was during a four-year streak of Cougar victories in Clashes of the Cats from 2001-2004, which may have been the brightest spot of all/
Added to the Cougars’ woes: In only one of those 17 seasons did Logan finish with a winning record. Coach Lee Proctor’s fifth team finished 7-4 in ‘04.
It all culminated in a 42-game losing streak that stretched over five seasons and three coaches. One of them was Steve Duncan, who came to LCHS from Murray with an eye-popping resume that included multiple Coach of the Year honors. His two Cougar teams went 0-20.
Then things started turning around last year. New head coach Todd Adler, who was one of the best Logan County High football players in the program’s history, brought the enthusiasm and positive attitude with him from a successful run as the middle school coach. The team was highly competitive in many games, but losses kept mounting.
Then came the turnaround moment: The Cougars pounced on and pummeled the Todd Central Rebels 56-27 in the season finale. Not only was the weight of that long losing streak lifted from their shoulders, but the Cougars, their coaches, their parents and their fans went into the winter savoring their winning streak, albeit it was just one game long.
Now—less than three weeks into the 2017 season—that win streak has tripled. Adler’s team has opened the season with two convincing wins—by 42-24 at Butler County and 36-18 over visiting Muhlenberg County.
Wow!
This is the first time in 19 seasons that Logan County has won its first two games of the season. The last time came in 1998 when the Cougars’ best-ever team, which was coached by Les May, beat Greenwood and Allen County-Scottsville to open their 9-3 regional semifinalist season.
How does this three-game win streak fit into Cougar history? The last three wins in a row came in 2011. Coach Dain Gregory’s first Cougar team lost its opener 29-27 to Butler County before beating South Warren, Todd Central and Metcalfe County on consecutive weeks. But the Cougars had gone over 300 weeks without winning another three in a row until last Friday.
Now that the trifecta has been completed, the Cougars will go for four in a row Saturday at Breckinridge County, an old district foe of several years past. Coach Brent Hottell’s Tigers are 0-2, having started the season with back-to-back 14-6 losses to Todd Central and Grayson County.
How would a four-game win streak rank in LCHS football history? It’s been a while, that’s for certain. You have to go back 13 seasons to find one. Proctor’s ’04 team beat Allen County-Scottsville, Breck, East and Muhlenberg North in consecutive weeks. The Cougars had won over those same four the year before.
The Cougars have been piling up points in this win streak. They have scored 140 points in the three wins, an average of 37 per game. Breck is giving up only 14 points an outing, but so far the Tigers haven’t shown they can score in double figures yet.
In the opening win at Butler, running back Gary Hardy piled up 275 yards on 18 carries for three touchdowns. His 87-yard sprint at the midpoint of the first quarter set the stage for what was to come. Against Muhlenberg, he piled up 127 yards on 14 carries but didn’t score.
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Ezell connected on 6 of 19 passes for 59 yards and a touchdown in the opener. He also ran 15 yards for 108 yards, putting him at 167 yards for the night. He ran for a two-point conversion and passed to Chandler Silvey for another. Against the Mustangs, he threw for 3 touchdowns, going 10 of 19 for 162 yards. He also ran 13 times for 39 yards and 2 TDs. That totals over 200 yards and five touchdowns. He also threw successful conversion passes to Koby Wall and Dontavius Blann.
Silvey caught 3 passes for 81 yards and a TD against Muhlenberg and 1 for 33 yards in the opener.
Better known as a basketball player, Kelby Epley pulled in 3 passes, including a touchdown, against Butler County
Anthony Dancer has been versatile. He caught 3 passes for 42 yards and a score in the home win. In each game he rushed 5 times for an identical 14 yards and a score. He intercepted a pass and took it in for six points in that game. He also returned a kickoff 33 yards. He and Blann intercepted a pass each. His only punt against the Bears went 52 yards.
On defense in the opener, Caden McKinnis had 5 solo tackles and 2 assists plus 2.5 sacks. Dylan Penick also had 5 tackles and an assist. Zach Yates had 4 solos, 3 assists, a sack and 3.5 tackles for losses. Curtis Shelton added 4 tackles and an assist, and Joseph Peterson was in on 3 solos and an assist.
Against Muhlenberg, McKinnis totaled 5 solos, 3 assists and a sack. Ethan Steenbergen had 3 solos, 4 assists and 3 tackles for a loss. Getting 3 solos and 2 assists each were Alex Brown and Collier Kempf. Nate Woodall had a solo tackle and added 5 assists.
WRUS will carry the game at Hardinsburg live Saturday. Andy & Zack Woodall will have the Countdown to Kickoff at 6:30 on 610 WRUS, wrusam.com and via the WRUS Radio mobile app.