By Craig Dunn
Logan Daily News Sports Editor

LOGAN — Once a football team reaches the middle of the season, it’s usually chest-deep into a weekly routine.

“Routine,” however, would hardly be the word to describe what the Logan Chieftains have dealt with this season.

“I told the kids that we are not going to use any of the distractions as an excuse,” Logan coach Dale Amyx said earlier this week as his Chieftains prepared to begin defense of their Southeast-ern Ohio Athletic League championship Friday night against Ironton (7:30 p.m. kickoff) in Logan Chieftain Stadium.

Although distractions have become the norm — routine, if you will — for the Purple & White this fall, they’re still off to their best start in seven years (4-0) and are ranked No. 4 in this week’s state Associated Press Division II football poll… the highest ranking ever accorded a Logan football team.

So, as the Chieftains reach the midway point of their regular season this Friday, let’s take a quick look at what’s certainly been anything but a “routine” season for the Purple & White:

In an emotional season opener, the Chieftains christened their new home, Logan Chieftain Stadium, with a resounding 35-10 victory over Lancaster — Logan’s first win over the Gales since 1945 — in front of nearly 5,000 fans.

The following week, the Chiefs overcame injuries to two key players and a three-hour weather delay at halftime for a 35-14 victory at Pickerington North… a game that started on a Friday night and ended shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday morning.

With no classes being held last week during the Hocking County Fair, the Chieftains still easily dispatched visiting Gallipolis 40-7… but, due to work on and painting of the new track that surrounds the field, they haven’t been able to practice on the Logan Chieftain Stadium turf for nearly two weeks.

And when what was left of Hurricane Ike blew through Ohio on Sunday, causing plenty of damage and knocking out power service to hundreds of thousands of people all across the state — including many people here in Hocking County — it left most buildings in the Logan-Hocking School District without power, forcing the cancellation of classes Monday and Tuesday.

Thus, the Chiefs really haven’t been able to settle into much of a school/practice routine most of the season, either. The Lancaster game was played before school started and, through yesterday, there had been only nine days of classes, though school was back in session Wednesday.

“That’s kind of becoming our motto this year… to not to use the distractions as an excuse and to become closer as a team because of them,” Amyx said. “We went through that a couple years ago when we were road warriors.”

That mind-set helped carry the 2006 Chieftains, who played six of their 10 games on the road, to an 8-2 regular-season record (5-1 away from then-home Bill Sauer Field) and their first state playoff berth in five seasons.

From adversity comes strength, and the Chieftains are certainly getting stronger. Not only have they gotten back four key players who missed several games (and, in the case of two players, pre-season scrimmages as well) so far, but an injury that another key player sustained last week isn’t nearly as bad as first thought.

“It looks like we’ll get Zach McDaniel back a lot quicker than we thought,” Amyx said. “He has full range of motion in his shoulder. He wants to play Friday night, but we’ll play that by ear. If he doesn’t (play Friday), he’ll be back next week (against Zanesville).”

McDaniel, who filled in quite effectively at both tailback and defensive back while Clay Morgan and Jon Neff missed time due to injuries, sustained what was thought to be a separated shoulder in the first quarter of last week’s game against Gallipolis.

But the injury has since been determined to be a deep bruise, so instead of missing four or five games he’ll likely miss, at most, the Ironton game.

“That was definitely good news,” Amyx said.

Also among the good news, as the Chiefs prepare for what could ultimately prove to be a de facto championship game against the Tigers — Logan and Ironton were picked to finish 1-3 in a pre-season media poll, but are generally regarded in many quarters as the top two teams in the conference — is that Morgan will return to starting duties at tailback this week. He only played linebacker last week as the coaching staff held him out of playing on offense even when McDaniel went down in the opening stanza.

Neff came back with a vengeance last week with a solid game at defensive end, catching a pass at tight end, and throwing a 49-yard touchdown pass to Zach Adams in relief of starter Patrick Angle in the third period. He and Morgan were both injured in the first half at Pickerington North and both sat out the second half of that game as well as the entire week-three contest at Hamilton Township.

“What I’m most proud of is how so many people have stepped in when we needed them,” Amyx praised. “Mason Mays gets thrown in at tailback (last week in place of McDaniel), Tim King moves in at offensive tackle, Derek Shirey moves from guard to tackle and now can play both positions, and Cary Maclaughlin moves from fullback to guard in just one week.

“Jordan Rutter steps in at receiver and Ryan Sigler comes in at defensive end for Neff and has worked his way into the (defensive) rotation,” he added. “And McDaniel came in at tailback and defensive back and even had a little stint at nose guard.”

Offensive tackles David Schneider and Weston Andy, who started for the Chieftains in 2007, both missed the pre-season scrimmages and the first couple regular-season games due to injury and illness, respectively. For a long time it was thought they might miss the entire season, but they’re also back in the fold although not yet in full-game playing shape.

Still, they provide depth for a young but maturing offensive line.

“Right now we’re staying with the same five (on the offensive line) and we’ll gradually bring them in,” Amyx said. “We’re happy with them and now we’ve added some major depth. We can do so many things now. That will pay off down the road.”

It’s actually already paid off and may continue to do so this week when the Chieftains take on Ironton, a team they handled convincingly (53-14) last season in the final regular-season game ever played at Bill Sauer Field.

“The league will be tough,” Amyx pointed out. “Ironton is a better team this year. They will still be physical, and they’re still a (coach) Bob Lutz team that runs a wing-T and double-tight end but will also show some different formations. We haven’t played smash-mouth football for a couple weeks, so this will be a big game for us.

“This is a major, major test for us,” he added. “We’ve gotten by with a workman-like attitude the last two games, but this time we’re going to have to bring the fire like we did for the Lancaster game… we have to come out and play with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm.”

Passing fancies?: The Logan Chieftains, a passing-over-running team? So far, that’s how the numbers read. The Chieftains have gained more yards passing (824) than rushing (709), and have only had two rushers (quarterback Patrick Angle and tailback McDaniel) run for more than 100 yards in a single game this season. In fact, Logan has two receivers (Mays with 405 yards and Zach Adams with 175) with more yardage than Angle, the team’s leading rusher with 165. And the Chiefs have passed for more first downs (38) than they’ve rushed for (36) so far this season.

Another long trek for Tigers: Due to a quirk of the SEOAL’s two-year schedule rotation, the Tigers have to make the two-hour trip up state Route 93 to Logan for a second consecutive season. Although Gallipolis did the same (the Blue Devils came to Logan two straight seasons as well), the Blue Devils and Chieftains played last week’s game and will play next season in Gallipolis as non-conference games.
 

Read More in the Logan Daily News.