From Day One when the Logan County High School enrollment grew into Class 5A dimensions, the two most important games on the Cougars’ schedule have been district opponents Greenwood and Barren County.
Two of teams in their district, Bowling Green and Warren Central, are just about out of reach for most teams in Kentucky.
One of others, the Greenwood Gators, comes calling Friday night. Since Greenwood has stumbled somewhat and Barren County seems to be playing better than they have the past few years, this could be Logan’s best chance of earning a berth in the Class 5A playoffs, especially since this game will be played at LCHS.
When Greenwood lost to Franklin-Simpson 28-6 last week, Coach Chris Seabolt’s team fell to 1-3 on the season and 4-11 in its last 15 games.
Greenwood has a couple of capable backs in DeMichael Bibb and Aaron Smith. Noah Pillow, the grandson of Jocille Pillow of Russellville, is important to the offense. Defensive leaders are Stone Bettersworth, Malcolm Johnson, Will Adams, Matt Davis, Jacob Page, Spencer Windham and Stewart Windham.
Logan has lost 17 in a row, including all four games so far this season. None of this year’s games has been close with a “running clock” in all of them. Three of those 36-point deficits have been in the first half, including last week to visiting Russellville.
“We seem to make more mistakes early than we do later in games,” says Coach Steve Duncan, who is in his first year of directing the Cougars’ fortunes. “Maybe we’re too excited starting out.”
The same has been true of Greenwood. “We waited until the second half to start playing,” Seabolt told Chad Bishop of the Park City Daily News after the Franklin game.
Everyone who has seen Logan in action this year comes away praising the effort and desire of this young team. “They show tremendous courage and tremendous heart,” Coach John Myers told Chris McGinnis on WRUS’ Coaches’ Corner this week. “They never give up. They’re putting everything they’ve got into it. I can’t say enough about them.”
Andy Woodall, who calls every Cougar game on WRUS along with his son Zack, says, “They play hard and they’re a scrappy bunch of young men.”
Just as people notice the effort of the players, they are impressed with the dedication of the parents and fans. These people support the team no matter how far behind the Cougars are on the scoreboard. They delight over every yard gained, every first down, every tackle.
Doug Thompson, publisher of the Sporting Times magazine, wrote on Page 3 of this month’s issue:
“I was watching Logan County play and they were getting trounced, but they never gave up. They never hung their heads, or argued between each other on the field. They played the game as hard as they could until the final whistle ended the fourth quarter. If anyone would have a reason to give up you would think it might be the 0-3 team this season that went 0-10 last season. Even though the Cougars’ record in terms of wins and losses is not impressive, the character and resolve the players showed on the field reflects a team of winners.
“Eventually the Cougars will be on the flipside of the win/loss column because of their efforts. In sports we measure success by wins and losses, which is why we play games, but there is also much to be learned in dealing with the game itself, and Logan County is a great example of that.”
To see a team that has earned so much respect, be at Cougar Field Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m., but you can bet lots of people will be in the parking lot much earlier than that tailgating and looking forward to watching the Cougars again. THEIR COUGARS!
The Woodalls will have the pregame show at 6:30 followed by live action on WRUS and on the internet at https://www.network1sports.com/station/wrus