Seasons and streaks are on the line tonight when the two football teams from the Land of Logan play semifinal games in the First Region of their classes. The Logan County Cougars entertain Hopkinsville for a rematch of their Oct. 5 thriller, and the Russellville Panthers head to Campbellsville for their semi-regular Round 2 encounter.
The streaks:
Logan County: The Cougars are 11-0 on the season and have forged a 12-game winning streak, both school records. They have won five straight Class 4A games.
Russellville: The Panthers need this win to keep their hopes alive for a third straight Class 1A regional championship. The school is also 6-0 all-time against Campbellsville, including a 57-7 beat-down in last year’s first round.
Hopkinsville: The Tigers have won four straight games since losing 13-12 to the Cougars on the last play of the game at LCHS six weeks ago. Veteran coach Craig Clayton has his team playing much better, which means the Cougars will have to up their game, too.
The rewards:
A Cougar win would not only continue the winning streak but send Coach Todd Adler’s team where no Cougars have gone before, to a regional championship game. (This is the Cougars’ third trip to the regional semifinals in 34 seasons of varsity football.) If Logan wins, the game would be at LCHS against either Franklin-Simpson or a Madisonville-North Hopkins team they beat on a field goal in the final 10 second of the game last month.
A Panther win would not only keep the season alive, but put Coach John Myers’ Panthers in their fifth straight regional finals. If RHS wins, the Black and Gold would travel to Crittenden County for a rematch of a one-point loss in late October. If the Rockets lose to Bardstown Bethlehem tonight, the championship game would be played at Rhea Stadium.
The Panthers are 16-1 against regional competition the past three years and 30-9 over the seven seasons since the school dropped back down in Class 1A to start the 2011 season.
Meanwhile the Cougars have become a media darling with their remarkable turnaround from a 42-game losing streak to a 12-game winning streak in 13 months. The Lexington Herald-Leader is the latest big-city media outlet to do a major feature on Adler and his team.
WRUS will carry the Russellville-at-Campbellsville game live on WRUS tonight with Countdown to Kickoff beginning at 6:30. Fans at the game will be able to hear it on their WRUS app. The Hopkinsville-at-Logan game will be recorded for airing at 2 p.m. Saturday.