Chiefs recorded second-ever undefeated season 50 years ago
By SPENCER WAUGH for The Logan Daily News
Editor’s note: Logan football historian Spencer Waugh is in the process of writing a complete history of Chieftain football, chronicling each season along with the players, coaches and characters that are a part of the Logan football tradition. The following is an example of what to expect.
Fifty years ago, the Chieftains went undefeated for just the second time in school history, duplicating the feat of the 1934 team 30 years earlier. Here’s a look back at that ‘64 team.
* * *
Fifty years ago, Logan capped off just the second perfect season in school history while clinching the school’s seventh Southeastern Ohio Athletic League title.
Editor’s note: Logan football historian Spencer Waugh is in the process of writing a complete history of Chieftain football, chronicling each season along with the players, coaches and characters that are a part of the Logan football tradition. The following is an example of what to expect.
Fifty years ago, the Chieftains went undefeated for just the second time in school history, duplicating the feat of the 1934 team 30 years earlier. Here’s a look back at that ‘64 team.
* * *
Fifty years ago, Logan capped off just the second perfect season in school history while clinching the school’s seventh Southeastern Ohio Athletic League title.
It was the final feather in the cap of longtime Chieftain coach Mel Adams, another inaugural inductee into the LHS Athletic Hall of Fame.
The Chieftains outscored their opponents 338-40 overall — and their SEOAL foes 226-34 — while finishing 11th in the final Associated Press football poll.
Future LHS Athletic Hall of Famers Jim Brandt (halfback), George Hummel (halfback), and John Gasser (quarterback) led the team, along with All-Ohio selections Steve Mowery (first team end), Merl Beery (honorable mention guard), Dale Brenning (honorable mention fullback), and Bob Courter (honorable mention defensive tackle).
Adams was named SEOAL and Southeast District Coach of the Year and finished as the runner-up to Earle Bruce for the AP’s Coach of the Year award.
Hummel was selected to play in the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association North/South All-Star game.
Logan allowed only 18 total points and recorded four shutouts through the first seven weeks. Considering Logan had to replace Rob Johnson — by then, the league’s 1963 most valuable player was playing for Woody Hayes at Ohio State — it’s safe to say that Logan was off to a good start.
The season opened with non-league wins over Bexley (32-0) — just Logan’s second victory in 13 tries against the Lions — and Maysville (34-6).
The league season started with shutout victories at Gallipolis (44-0) and Wellston (16-0), followed by a 32-0 home win against Middleport. A trip to Jackson saw Logan’s scoreboard dented for the first time in league play, but the Chiefs dispatched the Ironmen 38-6.
A pair of rivalry wins — a 34-6 thrashing of Nelsonville and a 44-22 doubling up of Athens — set up a championship tilt between a pair of undefeated teams when Pomeroy visited Logan in the season’s ninth week.
A near-record crowd of 4,500 attended the title match on the Hilltop as Logan limited Pomeroy to just four first downs and 76 yards of total offense.
Afterward, coach Adams told The Logan Daily News that the game was “Tremendous, tremendous. The boys were disappointed in themselves last week, but they made up for it tonight.”
The Chiefs finished their season with a 46-0 whitewashing of Hillsboro — their sixth shutout of the season.
Adams later called the ’64 Chiefs “the best team I ever coached.” The Purple & White also caught the eye of Ohio University football coach Bill Hess, who called the Chiefs “one of the greatest disciplined teams I ever saw.”
Adams, who finished his Chieftain coaching career the following season, compiled a 57-24-3 overall record that included a 46-14-3 mark (three championships) against SEOAL foes.
By the end of the 1964 season, Logan was riding a 17-game overall winning streak and a 15-game win streak against SEOAL foes. It was also the first time that Logan secured consecutive SEOAL championships.
The Chieftains outscored their opponents 338-40 overall — and their SEOAL foes 226-34 — while finishing 11th in the final Associated Press football poll.
Future LHS Athletic Hall of Famers Jim Brandt (halfback), George Hummel (halfback), and John Gasser (quarterback) led the team, along with All-Ohio selections Steve Mowery (first team end), Merl Beery (honorable mention guard), Dale Brenning (honorable mention fullback), and Bob Courter (honorable mention defensive tackle).
Adams was named SEOAL and Southeast District Coach of the Year and finished as the runner-up to Earle Bruce for the AP’s Coach of the Year award.
Hummel was selected to play in the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association North/South All-Star game.
Logan allowed only 18 total points and recorded four shutouts through the first seven weeks. Considering Logan had to replace Rob Johnson — by then, the league’s 1963 most valuable player was playing for Woody Hayes at Ohio State — it’s safe to say that Logan was off to a good start.
The season opened with non-league wins over Bexley (32-0) — just Logan’s second victory in 13 tries against the Lions — and Maysville (34-6).
The league season started with shutout victories at Gallipolis (44-0) and Wellston (16-0), followed by a 32-0 home win against Middleport. A trip to Jackson saw Logan’s scoreboard dented for the first time in league play, but the Chiefs dispatched the Ironmen 38-6.
A pair of rivalry wins — a 34-6 thrashing of Nelsonville and a 44-22 doubling up of Athens — set up a championship tilt between a pair of undefeated teams when Pomeroy visited Logan in the season’s ninth week.
A near-record crowd of 4,500 attended the title match on the Hilltop as Logan limited Pomeroy to just four first downs and 76 yards of total offense.
Afterward, coach Adams told The Logan Daily News that the game was “Tremendous, tremendous. The boys were disappointed in themselves last week, but they made up for it tonight.”
The Chiefs finished their season with a 46-0 whitewashing of Hillsboro — their sixth shutout of the season.
Adams later called the ’64 Chiefs “the best team I ever coached.” The Purple & White also caught the eye of Ohio University football coach Bill Hess, who called the Chiefs “one of the greatest disciplined teams I ever saw.”
Adams, who finished his Chieftain coaching career the following season, compiled a 57-24-3 overall record that included a 46-14-3 mark (three championships) against SEOAL foes.
By the end of the 1964 season, Logan was riding a 17-game overall winning streak and a 15-game win streak against SEOAL foes. It was also the first time that Logan secured consecutive SEOAL championships.
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