By Craig Dunn
Logan Daily News

LOGAN — Coach Dale Amyx has said it before, he’ll say it again, and his Logan Chieftains will hear it many, many times not only this week but the rest of the season as well: do not look past this week’s opponent.

“We know we need to focus and not be caught looking ahead,” Amyx said as the Purple & White prepared this week for Friday’s non-conference game at winless Hamilton Township. “I’m a firm believer that any team can beat another on any given night, so you leave nothing to chance.”

The Chiefs (2-0) are coming off a harrowing 24-21 victory over Pickerington North, a game in which they let a 21-0 lead slip away before Derek Montgomery booted a 37-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining to cap a game-winning two-minute-drill drive.
“We hope we learned a lesson… 21 points is not a lot of points in a football game, especially when there’s still one half to play,” he said. “You have to continue to play like it’s a zero-zero game.

“I’m proud that when it came down to it, we stepped up and got the job done,” he added. “It was a situation where we hadn’t stopped (Pickerington North) the whole second half, but I still thought we could stop them knowing what was at stake.”

Most of the Chiefs’ victories in recent seasons have been by lopsided or fairly-comfortable scores, so knowing they could strike back when faced with adversity should be a real plus.

“It gives the kids confidence down the road that they can get it done if the game’s on the line,” Amyx said.

Friday night’s opponent, Hamilton Township (0-2), opened its season with a 17-9 loss at Chillicothe, a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League rival of the Chiefs, before being drubbed 41-16 by visiting London last week.

London, however, was the beneficiary of several transfers from the South-Western School District (Grove City, Central Crossing, Franklin Heights and Westland) when that school eliminated fall sports due to budget considerations and is expected to be a powerhouse this season.

The Rangers “will be as good as we let them be,” Amyx said. “They run the option, which (HT coach Bob Jacoby) always ran at DeSales, and they had a new quarterback last week different from the one we’ve seen on film.

“When you play against a team that runs the option you have got to be disciplined on defense,” he added. “They’ll go out of the gun (shotgun formation). They’ve shown signs of being a good team, then they would commit a turnover or penalty that would stop them. They had a chance to win the Chillicothe game.”

Making sure the Rangers don’t have a chance to win the Logan game is priority one for the Purple & White. As mentioned, Amyx said there’s no looking past Hamilton Township to Gallipolis, Ironton, Zanesville or any other team on the Chiefs’ schedule.

“Absolutely not,” Amyx reiterated. “We’ll tell the kids all week that we approach this as another big, tough game, and we’ll be our own worst enemy if we don’t. The preparation has to be the same (for Hamilton Township) as it is for every opponent. We approach every opponent with respect and not worry about (won-loss) records.”

Amyx felt the Chiefs had somewhat of an emotional letdown after striking for three early touchdowns in the first 15 minutes against Pickerington North… and it nearly came back to haunt them.

Pickerington North’s huge offensive line (averaging 267 pounds per man) dominated the second half. The Panthers scored on their first three possessions of the half, and it took a huge defensive stand at the Logan 25-yard line with under two minutes to play to salvage a chance at that eventual game-winning scoring drive.

“We can do better on both sides of the ball,” Amyx said. “We took a little step back on defense — I’m not sure how much of that was us or them, because they had a really good offensive line — but we weren’t doing things like staying low and protecting our gaps.”

Although injuries to Ralph Robinson and Mason Mays forced the Chiefs to shuffle their defense on the fly, there was an upside. Players such as Brandon Graham, Zach McDaniel, Caleb Valkinburg and Dylan Cavinee stepped up big and gained some valuable varsity experience.

“We were putting on band-aids out there for awhile and playing a lot of people out of position,” Amyx said. “We threw Zach in there at linebacker, more for coverage purposes, but he also has a good head on his shoulders and knows the (defensive) schemes.

“Caleb Valkinburg and Dylan Cavinee did well at outside linebacker,” he added. “Now we feel we have created some depth there with game experience against a very good football team.”

Injury report: Robinson, a two-way lineman, was out for much of the game against Pickerington North but was on the field at the end and should play Friday night at Hamilton Township; Mays has had ankle problems in the past, and an ankle injury forced him out of the game for good late in the first quarter, and quarterback Patrick Angle sustained a thigh bruise against the Panthers.

“Mason is a tough kid and I know he’ll want to be out there, but we’re not going to put him out there if he’s still gimping around,” Amyx said. “Pat’s a little sore too, but he’s okay.”

Road warriors: Friday’s game at Hamilton Township begins a three-game swing that includes road games at Gallipolis and Ironton the next two weeks. The Purple & White don’t return home until Oct. 2, when they host Zanesville, and they’ll play four of their last five games in the friendly confines of Logan Chieftain Stadium.

Hamilton history: After a lot of research, Logan football historian Spencer Waugh has determined the Chiefs’ series with Hamilton Township goes back much farther than just last season, when the Chiefs blanked the Rangers 31-0. He’s determined that a 48-9 loss at “Hamilton” in 1924 was in fact to Hamilton Township — not the Hamilton located in the southwest portion of the state toward Cincinnati — so the all-time series is thus tied 1-1 heading into Friday night.

After World War I, Logan played in a loosely-formed league that included Canal Winchester, Hamilton Township, Groveport, Nelsonville and Athens — schools that were basically located along what is now U.S. Route 33 — until Logan, Nelsonville and Athens became charter members of the SEOAL in 1925.

Speaking of the SEOAL, the league reaches a milestone of sorts Friday night when Ironton plays at Gallipolis: while it will be the 2,076th all-time SEOAL football game, the outcome will determine the 2,000th winner.

Of those previous 2,075 games, 76 ended in ties. Since overtime has done away with ties — and Ironton at Gallipolis is the only SEOAL game on Friday’s schedule — the winner earns the honor of league victory No. 2,000.

Gallipolis (535), Jackson (533) and Logan (522) have played the most conference football games; Logan (334) has the most all-time SEOAL football wins, followed by both Jackson and Gallipolis with 308 each.