The two local high schools and two of their closest neighbors will showcase their 2024 versions of Friday Night Lights on the same stage tonight.
Courtesy of Lewisburg Bank, the Russellville Panthers and Logan County Cougars will hit the turf of Cougar Field at LCHS, but not against each other.
Coach Mikie Benton’s Panthers will go against Warren Central at 5:30 with Coach Todd Adler’s Cougars will take on Butler County at approximately 8 p.m.
The Panthers are trying to regain the success they experienced three seasons ago when they were Class 1A state runner-up. The last two seasons have not resulted in many wins, and Benton believes this team can reverse the downward flow. Central is a former Class 4A powerhouse which has struggled for several seasons. Each one would love to start 2024 with a win.
As is usually the case when they are playing a much bigger school, the Panthers will be greatly outnumbered on the sidelines. Central’s roster includes 59 players and Russellville’s 28.
The Cougars have 68 players on their roster, and Adler announced on WRUS’ Coaches’ Corner Tuesday that plans are to run a platoon system. Only two Cougars are slated to start on both sides of the ball. It’s a good year for that experiment, since the Cougars lost a lot of starters to graduation.
The Cougars, who are consistently among the top teams in the region, went 8-4 last season, which ended in the second round of the playoffs. That’s a little below average for LCHS, and it gives the team and coaches motivation to make this much more than a rebuilding season.
Butler County had been a competitive Class 2A program for years, but now they are in their second season in a very good Class 3A district. Coach Josh Robins’ roster is about half the number of the Cougars with 33,
Parking at LCHS tonight could be an adventure. Major construction at the high school includes doing away with the main parking lot. Many of the available parking places will be at the Logan County CTC and near the tennis courts and the baseball/softball complex. Shuttle buses will be running from those locations.
See the parking graphics on this page.
WRUS will broadcast both games live at 104.9 FM.
A look at the Cougar field can be seen in this video:
https://www.facebook.com/Logancountyfootball/videos/1006604930946617