By Craig Dunn
Logan Daily News Sports Editor
LOGAN — Locally, at least, there may be as much interest in the Logan Chieftains’ M*A*S*H report this week as the television sitcom’s cable reruns, which remain very popular to this day.

Well, without giving away the plotlines, the Chiefs will be without a pair of key two-way starters when they make their second-straight trip up U.S. Route 33, this time for a non-conference game Friday (7:30 p.m. kickoff) at Hamilton Township.

Senior defensive end/tight end/punter Jon Neff will miss the game with a moderate concussion he sustained late in the second quarter of last weekend’s weather-delayed 35-14 victory at Pickerington North and a knee strain will keep senior tailback/linebacker Clay Morgan’s out of action as well.
“He’s a little stiff, but he’s walking on it,” Logan coach Dale Amyx said of Morgan. “The doctors told him to rest it this week.”

While their status is listed as week-to-week, it’s hoped this will be the only game each Chieftain standout misses.

However, the Chiefs did receive some good news on the injury front when they got word senior offensive tackle David Schneider, a starter last season who missed the first two games with a knee injury, has been cleared to play but likely won’t do much more this week than shuttle in for a few plays.

So the Chieftains’ depth will again be put to the test — they regrouped without Neff and Morgan in the second half last Friday night/Saturday morning at Pickerington North — but the players who filled in last week (and who will play full-time this Friday) already had plenty of experience.

“What it does is strain our depth a little bit,” said Amyx. “We have to jockey things around a little, but we put them in and away we go… they’ve all played those positions in practice.”

Junior Zach McDaniel takes two positions, filling in as tailback on offense and taking Mason Mays’ place at cornerback. Mays shifts to linebacker, and senior Ryan Sigler takes over at defensive end and will share tight end with Ralph Robinson. Junior Jordan Rutter will also step in to spell the defensive backs.

When necessary, quarterback Patrick Angle will stay in the game to punt. He averaged 43.5 yards on a pair of kicks — including a 50-yarder early in the third quarter — in place of Neff.

So it’s not like those replacement Chieftains step in cold. Heck, they’d probably be starting at most other area schools.

“Mason Mays played the whole second half (at Pickerington North) at linebacker and McDaniel and Sigler were in there too,” Amyx said.

Both Logan and Hamilton Township enter their first-ever meeting 2-0, with the Rangers coming off season-opening road wins at Madison Plains and Johnstown Northridge.

Like the Chiefs, the Rangers’ road game at Northridge last Friday was delayed by the weather… but rather than wait out a three-hour delay like the Chieftains and Panthers did, that game was suspended at halftime and completed Saturday night, offering Amyx a rare first-hand scouting view of his next opponent.

“Hamilton Township pretty much runs the ball,” he revealed. “The main thing is to try to stop their quarterback and stop their option. They’re a 2-0 football team and you have to respect that.”

Considering the events of last Friday night/Saturday morning, the last thing Amyx expects from his team is a letdown Friday night as the Chiefs prepare for South-eastern Ohio Athletic League foes the rest of the season.

“We’ve told the kids we’re playing a quality football team to be reckoned with,” he said. “We need to go out and play hard, prove what we can do and continue to build our depth for the future.”

We’re number one (so far)!: Although it’s way, way, way too early to be making any kind of playoff plans, the Chieftains are the unofficial No. 1 team in Region 7 of OHSAA playoff Division II through two weeks of the season, according to football rankings expert Joe Eitel (joeeitel.com). Only 11 of the 30 R7 teams (Logan, Columbus DeSales, Louisville, Uniontown Lake, Columbus Marion-Franklin, Columbus Whetstone, Columbus Beechcroft, Alliance, Tri-Valley, Columbus Independence and the Chiefs’ foe this Friday, Hamilton Township) are undefeated through two weeks of play.

Hall of Fame nights: Logan football fans will witness Hall of Fame activities each of the next two weeks. The Rangers, playing their first home game of the season, will induct three HT graduates and two school boosters into their Hall of Fame prior to Friday night’s game; next week, Logan High School inducts former LHS standouts Joey Conrad, James Hummel, Coy Lindsey and Jim Robinson into the school’s athletic shrine prior to the Gallipolis game.

No turf practice: Unless something changes today, the Chieftains won’t practice on the Logan Chieftain Stadium turf this week. The stadium is off-limits for athletic events this week while the rubber track that surrounds the football/soccer field is being put down. Hamilton Township has an artificial turf surface similar to that at Logan Chieftain Stadium.

Read More in the Logan Daily News.