Chieftain Defense Keys 10-6 Win Over Marietta

If you're a fan of smash-mouth, knock-down drag out, defensive struggles, Friday was for you. The Chieftain offense struggled all night long, much to the credit of the Tiger defense, but aside from one play, the defense was superb.

The Tigers struck pay dirt on the third play from scrimmage. Tony Huffman busted up the middle and rumbled 57 yards to put the Tigers on top 6-0. The extra point went wide left. The Tigers would not score again.

The problem was, Logan would not score either. After one quarter, the Tigers still led 6-0. Both teams stood out like two heavy weight fighters, trading blows. Logan put together one drive, resulting in an Adam Puhl 32-yard field goal. The half would end with the Tigers leading 6-3.

The third quarter was more of the same. In fact, so would most of the fourth quarter. The Logan offense sputtered and were beat around by the Tiger defense. Logan would end up winning for one reason, they believed all night that they were going to win.

The Logan offense would, like the Tigers, use one play to win the football game. Logan had the ball with three minutes to go in the ball game. The drive began sputtering, and it was fourth down for the Chiefs. Then Jim Robinson reached in his bag of tricks and pulled out the spot pass. Penrod found Kratzenburg, who avoided two Tiger defenders and heaved a pass to a WIDE open Jeremy Coakley. Coakley scrambled into the end-zone, and the crowd at the hilltop went berzerk. With just 2 minutes to go the Chieftains led 10-6.

The last two minutes were not uneventful. First the Chieftains held the Tigers on four downs. The punt was taken by Logan. The Chiefs began driving down the field and were getting close to scoring. That's when Harden found his feet in the air and the ball was on the ground. Marietta took over once again. But, the Logan defense held strong, and on 4th down Noah Yates picked off Amigo. The game was over.

The Chieftains gained 14 first downs in the game, while the Tigers had only six. The Tigers gained 57 yard on their third play, and only 55 more for the rest of the game. Logan gained 262.

Alex Penrod was 11-19 for 102 yards. He also had one interception. Harden ran 21 times for 74 yards. Marietta QB Braden Amigo was held to 19 yards on 19 carries.

PLayer of the game honors go to two guys this week. Chad Kratzenburg, who played excellent on defense and made the pass on the spot pass for the win. And Trent Woodgeard, who had 2 sacks and 5 tackles for loss.

The Chieftains will have a home playoff game and an SEOAL Championship on the line Friday when the Gallia Academy Blue Devils visit the hilltop.

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