After struggling to score at all—especially in the second half, the Logan County Cougars will take their vastly improved offense to Brownsville Friday to meet the Edmonson County Wildcats on the football field. This will provide them a chance to upgrade their scoring defense before returning to Class 5A action the following three weeks.
The Cougars (1-4) scored only 29 points in their first three games, all losses, and just seven of them had come in the second half. In the last two games, however, they have scored 69 points, 48 of them in the final two quarters. The results were mixed—a 35-12 win at Metcalfe County followed by a 62-34 loss to undefeated Greenwood.
The Edmonson County team awaiting the Cougars started strong, winning its first two games. But Coach Kyle Pierce’s team has lost three straight contests and has given up 88 points in the last two, 46-23 to Hancock County and 42-14 to South Warren.
The scary stat is that the Wildcats scored 14 points against South, which had allowed only 29 total points in its first four games, including shutouts of the Cougars and Russellville.
Logan had trouble stopping the Gators from scoring Friday. GHS quarterback Josh Dyer connected on a pair of touchdown passes to Dakota Madison before Logan got going. Then after the Cougars cut the lead to 17-14, Greenwood scored 21 points in the final three minutes of the half. They added 24 more points in the second half.
Still, Coach Dain Gregory told WRUS’ Zack Woodall after the game that he could not be more proud of his team. They had played hard against one of the state’s better teams, had scored five touchdowns, and had never given up.
The Cougars’ first touchdown came on quarterback Justin Rone’s 25-yard pass to Gage Hales. Rone and fullback Ian Woodall had rushed for sizable gains to set up the score, and Landon Stratton kicked the first of two extra points.
After Tyler Wood’s sack of Dyer forced the Gators’ Dylan DeWitt to kick a 35-yard field goal, the Cougars scored again. Rone ran for 12 yards to the Greenwood 40, and then raced 30 yards to the 10. After a penalty on the defense, he hit Woodall with a 5-yard touchdown pass.
In the third quarter, Rone passed 25 yards to Jon-Clarc Todd to the four, and then ran the ball into the end zone himself to cut the lead to 45-20 with 6:46 left in the period.
Hales electrified the crowd with a 97-yard kickoff return, and Rone ran the two-point conversion. He also ran for another touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter. The senior quarterback scored 14 points and passed for another 12. Hales had 12 points to add to the total.
Rone ran for 69 of the Cougars’ 114 rushing yards. He also completed 19 passes of 43 passes for 281 yards. He was intercepted five times, but Coach Gregory noted that four of the picks came on tipped balls.
Mason Robertson was credited with 7 of the catches for 110 yards. Taylor Blakemore caught 4 more for 77 yards, Todd had 2 catches for 30 yards and Hales two for 47. Woodall and Brennan Rostampour also caught a pass each.
Wood was credited with 17 tackles, including 12 solos. Jerry Hendrkx had 14 total tackles, 6 of them solos. Woodall also had 6 solos on the way to 13 total. Aaron Baldwin got 7 solos, 11 total, Jared Hall and Rone also had 11, and Luke Woodall 8. Ian Woodall recovered a fumble.
Defensive standout Chris Neal was injured early in the game, and Michael Sydnor, who had caught three touchdown passes the week before and also is a defensive starter, was also sidelined in the first quarter.
Game time in Brownville is 7 p.m.