No high school football was played in Kentucky this weekend because of COVID-19 concerns. The playoffs are scheduled to begin next Friday. This is the story of Logan County’s final regular season game.
The Logan County Cougars did many things right in the first half of their homecoming game with fellow Class 4 A Region 1 team Warren East on Nov. 6, building a 28-20 lead at the half, highlighted by a Davin Yates-to-Rooster Woodard touchdown pass with 0:03 remaining on the clock. WRUS Sports calculated that the Cougars had accumulated 355 yards in total offense to go along with those 28 points.
The second half was a complete turnaround. The Cougars didn’t score a single point in the last 16 minutes and finished with only 386 yards, according to team stats. Meanwhile they allowed the Raiders 19 points after intermission, ending in a 39-28 win for the visitors.
Veteran Raider senior quarterback Nolan Ford took over the second half. Two of the Raiders’ three touchdowns came on his passes; he ran for the other. For the game, he finished with 388 yards total offense, including hitting 10 passes for 254 yards and 5 touchdowns He rushed on 16 snaps, picking up 144 yards and the Raiders’ other score. The winners managed only 23 yards on plays the plays he handed off. Ford had accumulated almost 2,500 yards as a junior and over 1,900 yards as a tenth grader.
Veteran baseball observers contend that any major league pitcher who loses 20 games in a season is a “pretty good pitcher.” That’s because the manager has enough confidence in him to keep handing him the baseball on the mound, despite the losses.
Freshman quarterback Davin Yates received that kind of honor in this game. He threw an interception on the Cougars’ first three possessions of the game. He added a fourth and fifth INT and a fumble that set up the Raiders’ winning score.
And, yet, Coach Todd Adler kept sending him out on field for every snap, even though Logan had three other athletes who can play quarterback available. Adler was, in effect, reassuring the youngster, “Shake it off. You are our guy.”
Yates responded with many positives. He threw a pair of touchdown passes among his 11 completions for 134 yards in 19 attempts. He also rushed for 73 yards on 16 carries and scored a touchdown on the ground. In fact, his long run on a third and 10 set up that TD pass he threw to Woodard at the end of the half.
And there were plenty of other Cougars who can share the blame for the loss. The Cougars had three touchdowns called back on penalties, mostly for holding, personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct calls. Senior center and first-team All-SKY player Thomas Kash had to leave the field four times in the first half and a fifth for the game because his helmet kept coming off. Senior Woodard’s interception in the end zone which he carried back 100 yards for an apparent touchdown was brought back 86 yards because of a pair of Cougar penalties. The game dragged on and on because of a combined 40-plus penalties.
The first Cougar score came after Wyatt Blake deflected a Raider punt. Then his 26-yard sprint to the 4 yard line set up the score. One of those penalties moved the ball back five yards, but Yates passed to Woodard for the touchdown. Lucas Arevalo kicked the conversion.
The home team was rolling again behind back-to-back 11-yard runs by Yates and Maurice Gordon. But Yates’ pass was picked off at the 28. Ford hit freshman Tray Price for a 72-yard touchdown on first down, and the Raiders had the lead 13-7.
The Cougars had to march 92 yards to regain the lead after Gordon was on his knee when he fielded the kickoff. Blake had runs of 15 and 13 yards on consecutive plays, and Yates ran for 7, 11 and 18 yards. Gordon appeared to have scored on a 19-yard run, but it was called back on a hold. Then Yates and Jaden Sells combined on a 19-yard pass to the Raider 2 yard line. Yates took it in from there on first and goal. Arevalo’s kick gave the Cougars the lead with 3:56 left in the half.
The Raiders scored quickly on a run by K.J. Alexander, and suddenly the Raiders led 21-20
Logan was impressive on its next possession. This time Gordon not only fielded the kickoff cleanly but also ran it back to the East 40. Yates put together consecutive 13-yard plays, running on the first and hitting Blake on a pass for the next. Two plays later he connected with Woodard on a 12-yard pass to the 7.
Sophomore running back Ryan Rayno bulled his way to the 1 yard line on first down, and then scored on the next play. Arevalo’s third straight successful kick put Coach Todd Adler’s team up 21-20 with 50 seconds left in the half.
The Cougars weren’t through, though. Jesse Buchanan recovered a fumble on the ensuing Raider return at the East 41. Of course, a Logan hold on first down made the job tougher, but Yates ran for 24 yards to the 17. On the last play of the half, Yates hit Woodard inside the 5 yard line. The magnificently athletic Woodard is known for his quickness and finesse, but this time he used power and determination to bull his way into the end zone with 0:03 showing on the clock. Arevalo’s fourth kick made Logan’s halftime lead 28-20.
Logan County had scored 21 points in less than five minutes. The home fans looked forward to more in the second half. It didn’t happen.
Blake rushed for 153 yards on 13 carries, averaging almost 12 yards per carry. Following Yates’ 73 yards on 16 totes. Rayno added 28 yards on 6 rushes. Yates and Rayno each scored a touchdown.
Woodard caught 4 of Yates’ passes for 36 yards and 2 touchdowns. Blake pulled in 3 of them for 39 yards. Sells caught 2 passes for 44 yards and Gordon 2 for 15.
Yates’ older brother, senior Zach Yates, dominated the defense with 16 tackles—12 of them solos. He had 4 tackles for losses. Logan Gipson added 9 tackles and Blake 8; both of them were credited with 5 solos, 1 each for a loss. Woodard was second in solo tackles; 7 of his 8 were by himself.
Clifton Faughn had 4 tackles, Jacob Moore and Cade Johnson 3 each, and Davin Yates and Zane Batten 2 each. Adding 1 each were Kash, Clary Warden, Aaron Hinton, Isaac Poe and Buchanan.
“Plain and simple we got out-coached and out-played last night. It’s easy to make excuses and say what if, but reality is we have to own our mistakes and find a way to learn from them. The regular season is over and everyone is 0-0. It’s time to put it all on the line, it’s win or go home. I love our team!” Coach Adler wrote the day after the game.
The top-seeded Cougars begin district play at home Friday, Nov. 20. Who their opponent will be is always in question because of pandemic concerns. Currently it’s expected to be Hopkins Central, which Logan beat 42-16 on Halloween.