By Craig Dunn
Logan Daily News

LOGAN — Moral victories don’t count on the scoreboard and they certainly don’t keep winning streaks alive.

 That said, however, on the night when they finally went down to defeat for the first time in their still-new home stadium, the Logan Chieftains could nonetheless look back and be pleased with a lot of things they accomplished — other than a win — Friday night.

 Visiting Lancaster outscored the Purple & White 37-24 in the season opener for both teams in Logan Chieftain Stadium and, in so doing, became the first Logan opponent to beat the Chieftains in the two-year-old facility.
 Although Lancaster built what turned out to be an insurmountable 23-3 halftime lead, the Chieftains — who were 12-0 in Logan Chieftain Stadium since christening the facility with a 35-10 win over the Gales 24 months ago — came oh-so-close to drawing within less than a touchdown in the second half.

 After narrowing the gap to 23-10 late in the third quarter, the Chiefs recovered a Lancaster fumble on the Gales’ 33-yard line and appeared to capitalize immediately as quarterback Jordan Jurgensmier connected with Isaac Lindsey, who made a terrific leaping catch over a Lancaster defender in the back corner of the end zone, for an apparent touchdown.

 The play was called back, however, due to an illegal block in the Logan backfield and the Chiefs were eventually forced to punt.

 Lancaster then regained its 20-point lead on its ensuing drive, capped by a 33-yard halfback option pass from Connor Smith to Justin Sharp — a gutsy call on fourth-and-8.

 “We’ll see on the film,” new Logan coach Kelly Wolfe said of the devastating penalty. “I know what (the official) was calling, so we’ll be looking for it.”

 Although the Chieftains only committed one turnover, they were guilty of 13 penalties for 131 yards, negating nearly half of their 256 yards of total offense.

 “That’s what we talked about at halftime — that we had made way too many mistakes and we had to cut them down. We preach all year it’s not about how you start, but it’s about how you finish,” said Wolfe, the Chiefs’ first head football coach other than the retired Dale Amyx since 1989.

 “We finished this game and we won the second half three touchdowns to two — maybe four touchdowns to two (had it not been for the score called back on the penalty),” he added. “Then it’s a different game.”

 The Gales not only snapped a streak of two-straight season-opening losses at the hands of the Chieftains but also became the only varsity team other than Logan (and Columbus Ready, which won a neutral-site playoff game over Portsmouth West in 2008) to win a game in Logan Chieftain Stadium. Plus, it was the 500th football victory in school history.

 And although he somewhat downplayed it afterward, it was a game that Lancaster coach Rob Carpenter and his Gales desperately wanted to win for a number of obvious reasons.

 “We worked hard,” Carpenter said. “Our kids were focused and we had a lot of extra-effort plays, especially out of our running backs, squirming for extra yards.

 “I’m just glad (Jurgensmier) didn’t come out throwing deep in the first quarter like they did at the end,” he added, “because he’s got a nice arm throwing deep.”

 The Gales amassed 426 yards of total offense, including 353 on the ground, where three different runners had at least 79 yards — led by Smith with 102 yards on 10 carries — and two others rushed for 43 and 41. Lancaster runners proved elusive once they got past the line of scrimmage, making the Chiefs miss several tackles in the open field.

 “That’s the wing-T offense, run inside and get outside, mis-direction plays and try to confuse them,” Carpenter stated. “We don’t have the big power back like we’ve had in the past, but we’ve got some smaller backs who have quick feet, spin, twist and turn and do all the things to get extra yards and first downs to keep our offense on the field. And that’s the key to our offense — staying on the field.”

 That’s something Wolfe noted his team will have to improve upon as the season unfolds.

 “Defensively we had guys in position, we had guys hit… and then we didn’t get any help and (Lancaster runners) would spin off,” Wolfe said. “We have to get more than one guy to the ballcarrier. We had guys make plays and get hits but we didn’t wrap and didn’t get anyone there to help out.”

 Yet he was far from discouraged with his team’s effort. Despite the home winning streak and back-to-back undefeated regular seasons, it was not a game the Chiefs were favored to win.

 Logan lost all but two full-time starters from last year’s team while the veteran Gales returned 24 lettermen and several of their starters.

 “I’m proud as heck,” Wolfe said, “and I can’t wait to see what we do over the next nine weeks. We challenged them at halftime and we cut out the mistakes. We still had a ton of penalties, but we cut out the mistakes on defense and on offense.

 “We just stuck with our original game plan,” he added. “We made some adjustments at halftime.”

 After junior cornerback Kelly Long made a diving interception of Lancaster quarterback Nolan Flowers on the Gales’ third play from scrimmage, the Chiefs were in good enough position to get a couple first downs and set up Derek Montgomery for a 28-yard field goal and a quick 3-0 lead.

 “We got the pick on defense and our offensive game plan worked great,” Wolfe stated. “We got what we wanted — we got the 3-0 lead and it was a perfect start.”

 Five of Lancaster’s six scoring plays on the night were the result of drives of at least 61 yards, including drives of 84, 79, 79 and 80.

 The Gales went 84 yards on 11 plays — aided by a crucial Logan offsides penalty when the Gales were facing third-and-5 deep in their own territory, resulting in a first down — to take a 6-3 lead on a 27-yard scoring run by Christian Long with 2:07 left in the opening period.

 Logan then put together a solid drive, keyed by Jurgensmier passes of 15 yards to Dylan Cavinee and 13 to Brandon Graham and a nifty 19-yard run by Graham around right end.

 However, on third-and-6 from the Lancaster 21-yard line, Jurgensmier was rushed heavily and a Lancaster lineman hit him as he threw. Christopher Seymour picked off the pass to squelch the drive, and the Gales would capitalize with two touchdowns and a field goal in the last eight minutes of the half to open their 23-3 halftime edge.

 “We drove all the way downfield and had a mental lapse (on a penalty on third-and-1), then they get that freaky interception,” Wolfe said.

 Graham scored twice in the second half. His 2-yard scoring run with 2:58 left in the third quarter, following an 18-yard keeper by Jurgensmier, pulled Logan within 23-10, then he broke a 45-yard scoring jaunt with less than two minutes to play. Jurgensmier capped off an 11-play, 60-yard drive with a fourth-and-1 QB keeper TD with 3:34 to play.

 The halfback option pass, however, proved to be the killer. It was the right call at the right time, according to Carpenter.

 “We don’t throw a lot and they know it,” he said. Logan “played 11 guys pretty close to the line of scrimmage most of the night, which kind of hurt them when we threw the halfback pass. It was a well-timed call (by) our coaching staff.”

 The Gales open their season with four teams (Logan, West Chester Lakota, Cleveland St. Ignatius and Pickerington Central) who were 38-2 in the regular season in 2009. Their road certainly gets no easier.

 “We have to be ready every week, and this (Logan) team is as tough as any team we’re going to play,” Carpenter said, praising the Chiefs for playing “with a lot of heart and a lot of passion. They were well-prepared and played a really good game.”

 Wolfe agreed.

 “We told them ‘you got your (bad) first half out of the road — now forget about it and let’s play some ball, and I think our kids did,” he said. “We won the second half. We got better as a team and we grew a lot, especially in the second half.

 “They rose to the challenge,” he added. “They could have quit in the second half, but they didn’t. I’m proud of them for that.”

 The Chiefs hit the road for a non-league game next Friday night at Pickerington North, which lost its season opener to Division III powerhouse Youngstown Cardinal Mooney 31-14 Friday night.