By Craig Dunn
Logan Daily News
CHILLICOTHE — It would be safe to say the Logan Chieftains' grid finale at Chillicothe High School Friday night was a microcosm of their entire 2011 football season.

The host Cavaliers bolted to a 22-0 lead less than midway through the second quarter before the Chiefs turned two excellent drives into touchdowns to pull within 22-13 late in the third period.

But the Purple & White just couldn't dig their way out of that 22-point hole and succumbed to the Cavaliers 29-19 in their last Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game of the season.
It was that kind of a year for the Chieftains.

“It was the same thing,” said Logan coach Kelly Wolfe. “The kids fought and got back into the game. It could have been a blowout.”

In finishing 1-9 on the season — nine being the most single-season losses for a Logan team in Chieftain football history — the Purple & White were outscored 205-55 in the first half, but the difference was just 108-90 in the second half and 23-14 in a pair double-overtime losses.

And in so doing, Logan finished last (1-4) in the SEOAL for the first time since 1984.

The holes were simply too deep.

But if there's a silver lining in a dark 2011 cloud, it's that the Chieftains got plenty of experience for a lot of underclassmen. A lot of them.

“If you take out the receivers (Isaac Lindsey, Sean Wotring and Jordan Sharb) and (Aaron Wolfe) at center, there were a lot of underclassmen out there on offense for us tonight,” Wolfe stated. “Even their coach (Ron Hinton) came over and said 'you've got some good young kids. You're going to be all right.' ”

Each and every one of the Chiefs' 196 rushing yards — their second-best statistical ground performance of the season — was amassed by a sophomore, with Isaac Schmeltzer leading the way with 145 yards on 24 carries and tallying all three touchdowns.

“Isaac was a great surprise,” Wolfe praised. “Isaac did some things well last week and we couldn't ignore that, so the plan was to go the first two series with Nick (Maniskas, another sophomore) and then get Isaac in on the third series. He got in there and we couldn't take him out.

“That's a tribute to him,” he added. “He got off to a slow start (on the season) and he buckled down and worked hard in practice every day and got rewarded for it these last two weeks.”

Schmeltzer scored a touchdown in the first overtime of last week's double-OT loss to Portsmouth.

Logan needed those sophs — Schmeltzer, Maniskas, quarterback Jack Music and fullback Nick Kost — with their leading rusher, junior Cory McCarty, on crutches as the result of a leg injury sustained against the Trojans last week.

Chillicothe (3-7, 2-3), which finishes in a three-way tie for third in the SEOAL with Portsmouth and Warren, scored on its first four possessions and had the Chiefs back on their heels for almost the entire first half.

The Cavs drove 70 yards on nine plays to paydirt on their first possession, taking the lead on a 2-yard scoring run by Tim Beard. Then, after the Chiefs fumbled the ball away deep in their own territory, Chillicothe capitalized with a 35-yard field goal off the foot of Noah Valentine on the first play of the second stanza to make it 9-0.

Logan went three-and-out, then Chillicothe quarterback Ryan Mathis busted a 77-yard touchdown run, escaping some tackles near the line of scrimmage, and just like that it was 15-0 Cavs.

And when Lindsey returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards into Chillicothe territory, the Chiefs got most of that yardage nullified by a holding penalty behind the play.

Again, it was that kind of season for the Chieftains.

“In the first half we had a fumble and an interception and a long kickoff return brought back on a penalty,” Wolfe said. “We had four guys get great blocks (on the kickoff return) up front — (the penalty) was a good call that needed to be made — but we had guys who got things done on that kickoff. You get one thing working, and then it's something else.”

And so it went for the Chieftains. Jalen Jones picked off a Music pass on Logan's first play from scrimmage and the Cavs again took advantage, with Jones scoring on a 1-yard run with 6:44 left in the half to conclude a five-play, 54-yard drive.

Down 22-0 and almost out, the Chiefs rallied back with a 12-play, 78-yard scoring drive to make a game of it and build some momentum.

Schmeltzer carried six times on the drive, including an 11-yard touchdown run with 1:06 left in the half, as Logan pulled within 22-7 at the intermission. Music also connected with Wotring and Lindsey with 14-yard and 7-yard pass plays, respectively, to pick up first downs.

Lindsey, who caught eight passes on the night, finished his LHS varsity career with 85 receptions, second only to Mason Mays (121) all-time. He passed Eric Cox (82) and Jose Medina (79) on Friday night.

“I'll tell you what I saw when we put together that great drive right before halftime,” Wolfe said. “I saw some offensive line guys coming together. They came off to the side after we scored and said 'we can do this.' I saw some guys coming together and believing in what they were doing up front. That's a good sign. You don't see those things all the time. That was good to see, showing some spark and some life.”

And, with the Logan defense holding Chillicothe to just two first downs the entire second half, the Chiefs drew even closer when Schmeltzer scored on an 8-yard run to complete an eight-play, 43-yard drive, aided by a 15-yard Chillicothe personal foul penalty after the Cavs had sacked Music for a 9-yard loss on second down.

Logan went for a 2-point conversion and failed, but the Chiefs were within 22-13.

However, Chillicothe answered with a 58-yard, nine-play scoring drive of its own that proved to be a back-breaker.

A 40-yard pass from Mathis to Adam Bixler — with 15 of those yards deducted for another Chillicothe personal foul — and a 16-yard run by Mathis moved the Cavaliers inside the Logan 10. Three plays later, Mathis scored on a 4-yard run with 10:30 to play for a 29-13 lead.

Not giving up, the Chiefs came back and scored what proved to be their final touchdown of the season at the end of a 69-yard, seven-play drive.

Schmeltzer, who had runs of 11 and 22 yards, took the ball up the middle from the Chillicothe 5-yard line and was momentarily stopped, but bounced it outside and made it to the end zone with 8:13 to play. Logan didn't convert the 2-point conversion and trailed 29-19.

And when the Cavs fumbled the ball away on their first play from scrimmage after recovering an onside kick, the Chiefs were in business. They drove to the Chillicothe 22 before giving the ball up on downs when a fourth-and-eight pass play from Music to Lindsey fell two yards short.

Logan later turned the ball over on down again at midfield and had a pass intercepted in the final minute.

“You hate to see the seniors go out like this,” said Wolfe. “Those guys have been here for three years. They've experienced it as sophomores when we were on top and got to ride that wave and be a part of that great stuff... and they've also been through this (a combined 4-16 record) the last two years, and you just hate to see that. They've experienced both sides of it. They've invested a lot of time in this program.”

And with that, Wolfe prepared to walk into the locker room to face his heartbroken team.

“I feel for the seniors,” he said. “I hate this night (the last game of the season) — no matter how you do it, it's hard. You've been through it, and you know how much they've put into it. It's the most demanding sport there is.

“Yes, we lost a whole bunch of games, and the seniors are going to be crying in there,” he added. “And I hate it.”