By Craig Dunn
Logan Daily News Sports Editor

LOGAN — Two years ago, the Logan Chieftains were just happy to make the state Division I football playoffs for the first time in five seasons. Last fall, in their first go-round in Division II, they were a high seed but were upset by Dresden Tri-Valley in the opening round.

In 2008, although they find themselves in arguably the toughest playoff region in the state, the Chieftains not only want to win a first-round game for just the second time in school history but seek to make some noise down the road as well.

However, the Purple & White know they absolutely cannot afford to look beyond their Division II playoff opener against visiting Dublin Jerome Friday (7:30 p.m.) in Logan Chieftain Stadium.
The Chieftains (10-0) are coming off the sixth unbeaten regular season in school history as well as their fifth-consecutive Southeastern Ohio Athletic League championship. But with the playoffs comes the beginning of a brand-new season — one in which you turn in the helmets and shoulder pads after only one loss.

“It’s a new season,” said Logan coach Dale Amyx. “We’re not celebrating that we’re in the playoffs because it was expected by the kids, the coaches and the fans.

“We have high expectations,” he added. “We’re still pretty disappointed we didn’t advance last year — that’s been bugging me for a year now — and now we want to prove we’re a team that can advance.”

Tri-Valley rallied with a touchdown in the final minute to knock off the Chiefs 32-26 in the swan song for 83-year-old Bill Sauer Field last season. Amyx and his coaching staff have made lessons learned from that gut-wrenching setback a teaching tool all season, and the Chiefs have learned those lessons well.

In going 10-0 they’ve trailed just twice all season — for a grand total of five minutes and 25 seconds — and last Friday they rallied in the third quarter for the go-ahead touchdown after trailing Chillicothe for all of 22 seconds en route to a 23-13 victory.

“Our defense played great all night with that big goal-line stand and a couple big defensive plays,” Amyx noted. “On offense we got by with a couple mistakes, but the kids gained a little more confidence by coming from behind when momentum was on (Chillicothe’s) side big-time. No one panicked.”

Despite the rain and sloppy field conditions, there was a playoff atmosphere to last week’s winner-take-all SEOAL matchup with the Cavaliers. That should be the case the rest of the season.

Logan’s five-consecutive league championships coincide with the total number of seasons Dublin Jerome High School has been in existence.

Yet Jerome, an offshoot of sister schools Coffman and Dublin, is making its second playoff appearance in five seasons. The Celtics (6-4) lost to Louisville in 2005, their second season of prep football.

Although the Chiefs could have played Columbus Watterson in the first round — had the Eagles upset Youngstown Cardinal Mooney Saturday night — by Saturday afternoon the Logan coaching staff was breaking down film and other information about Dublin Jerome.

“We have tapes and plenty of good information on what we have to do,” Amyx said.

Now it’s a matter of putting all that homework to good use.

Jerome “will do a little bit of everything,” Amyx said, “but what they like to do early on is go with double-tight-ends with the fullback right next to the quarterback. It’s almost a wing-T and almost like a scrum where they pitch the ball.

“They will do that and see if you can stop it,” he added. “That’s what they want to do if they can. They ran that most of the night (in a 30-7 victory over Westerville South last Friday). When they run it, and if the other team can’t stop it, they’ll keep running it to keep the ball out of the other team’s hands.”

And yet the Celtics have a very diverse side as well.

“They also run a spread very similar to ours,” he added. “They do a little bit of everything out of it, and they’re good at it. They present some problems. But it helps with our defense that (nose guard) Seth (Sigler) is so versatile that he can jump into nickel or a 6-2 and we don’t have to take anybody off the field.

“We’ll have to get pressure on their quarterback. He’s quick and will take the opening if he gets it,” he added.

Yes, Friday night is a playoff game and, yes, it’s against an unfamiliar opponent. But Amyx says that really doesn’t come into play.

“We’ll go into this game the same way we have the other 10 games,” he said. “We’ve played new teams like Ironton, Portsmouth and Hamilton Township the last couple years. The kids keep seeing new teams, so that doesn’t play into the equation.

“We have a good game plan put together,” he added. “We know it will be a tough game.”

The Chiefs also know that, with a win Friday night, they would have 11 victories, which would make them the second-winningest team in school history behind only the great 2000 team that went to the Division I regional finals.

“We’ve told them all season they have a chance to do something special and be a team that people talk about the same way they talk about other (outstanding) Logan teams of the past,” Amyx said. “It means a lot to them now… but it definitely means more to you when you get older.

“Those types of (memorable) seasons don’t happen every year, and going 10-0 doesn’t happen every year, either.”
 
 

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