By Craig Dunn
Logan Daily News Sports Editor
MARIETTA — Coming off a too-close-for-comfort victory over Zanesville last week, the Logan Chieftains wanted to send a message — to the host Marietta Tigers, the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League and, in a sense, to themselves — Friday night.

Message received. On all fronts.

The Tigers, before they really knew what hit them, found themselves down 27-0 less than nine minutes into Friday’s SEOAL game at Don Drumm Stadium. And while the final score wasn’t nearly as bad as the 56-point beat-down they absorbed last fall at Bill Sauer Field, it was lopsided enough as the Purple & White scored an easy 49-14 victory.
“The kids really came out and played,” said Logan coach Dale Amyx. “We were on them hard about our performance last week and we wanted to come out and prove we could play a lot better. I think they did. Defensively and offensively we played like we’re capable of playing. Now hopefully we can work from there, get back to where we were, and keep improving each week.

“I think we took a step backward last week — even with the win — and the kids were focused and we had great practices all week,” he added. “That (narrow 16-14 win over Zanesville) woke a lot of people up. I think we got their attention this week. I think the focus on the game plan all week was great and it carried over into the game.”

The Chieftains, ranked fourth in the state in Division II, remained undefeated both overall (7-0) and in the SEOAL (3-0) and appear to be on a week-10 collision course with Chillicothe (4-0) for the conference title.

And while the Purple & White aren’t looking past 4-3 Warren or 5-2 Jackson the next two weeks, they know what awaits them — if they maintain their focus — can and will be very special.

“The kids realize this could be a very special season… we don’t want to stub our toe,” Amyx said. “We had to battle through a lot of things last week and hopefully that will serve us well down the road. We also proved we can come back and play the way we’re capable of playing.”

They did just that. The Chiefs rang up 27 points in the space of 191 seconds midway through the opening period to put the game away before it even reached the second quarter.

The Chiefs drove 46 yards on eight plays, with quarterback Patrick Angle (12-of-17 passing for 185 yards) completing a couple key passes to Mason Mays (five receptions for 70 yards) and Zach McDaniel (three for 33) and tailback Clay Morgan (85 rushing yards on 12 carries) looking sharp in the backfield. Morgan scored on a 1-yard run with 6:50 to play in the opening stanza.

Logan’s special teams — particularly Jon Neff — then took over. Just 55 seconds later, Neff blocked a Marietta punt that fellow senior Jaushua Huntsberger recovered in the end zone; then, on the very next series, Neff blocked still another Marietta punt and Ralph Robinson recovered at the Marietta 20-yard line.

From there, it was a matter of Angle making a twisting, churning 18-yard run to get the ball into scoring position for Morgan, who scored his second touchdown of the night on a 2-yard run with 5:00 left in the quarter and a 20-0 lead.

It would not be Morgan’s last six-pointer, either.

One play and one Marietta penalty into the Tigers’ next series, Morgan picked off a Cody Westbrook pass and easily brought it back 27 yards to paydirt. It was 27-0 with 3:39 left in the opening stanza.

Game over, for all intents and purposes The Chieftains increased their margin to 41-0 at the intermission after Angle threw a pair of second-quarter touchdown passes — one to Mays (29 yards) and the other to Morgan (19 yards) for his fourth touchdown of the night — giving him 17 for the season and marking his seventh-straight game with a scoring toss.

“The special teams (played well). The blocked punts… we’ve been close (to blocking one) all year,” Amyx said. “And on the second one we didn’t even have the block on… that was just (supposed to be a regular) punt return and (Neff) got in there and blocked it again. He blocked both (punts), and how many passes did he bat down? He played a heckuva game tonight.”

Logan led 41-0 at the intermission despite turning the ball over three times, but Neff’s two blocked kicks and interceptions by Morgan and Huntsberger more than made up for them.

“That (the turnovers) was a little disappointing — we carried that over a little from last week — but I think overall the execution and blocking was pretty crisp,” Amyx said. “Clay ran the ball hard (and) we tried to limit Patrick’s carries a little tonight. We knew if we got (a lead) we didn’t want him carrying it at all. He carried too much (31 times) last week and we’re trying to get back where we’re spreading it out more.

“We’re back to what we were doing before, mixing things up… I don’t think people can sit there and say ‘they do this’ or ‘they do that’, they’re not going to know what we’re going to do, and that’s what we want,” he added. “We’re pretty balanced.”

One other thing the Chiefs did — or, rather, didn’t do: they were whistled for just one penalty for five yards.

Logan again held an opponent without a first-half touchdown — the Chiefs have now outscored their opponents 163-6 in the first half, including 71-0 in the second quarter alone — and the Chiefs pressured Westbrook, the Tigers’ top all-time passer, into a 10-of-35 night passing for just 116 yards. They also limited his record-setting receiver, Sean Munfield, to just two catches.

Westbrook sets up so deep in the Marietta shotgun that he’s hard to track down, and sacking him thus became a team goal. Stephen Miller and Robinson brought him down for a 9-yard loss and a sack late in the opening quarter.

“That’s something we haven’t done in the past and that was a big goal for us to sack him. The kids were excited about that,” Amyx said. “That tells me the (pass) coverage was good. He didn’t have a chance to throw right away.”

Logan led 49-0 less than four minutes into the second half following a Michael Snider scoring run and a two-point conversion pass (off a bobbled placement hold) from holder Huntsberger to Robinson.

The win not only marked Logan’s sixth-straight over the Tigers, but it also extended their SEOAL winning streak to 26, tying the school record, which is second all-time to Ironton’s 34.

The Marietta players, in a terrific show of class and respect, sported purple stickers with a white number “45” to honor Corey Kissling, the standout Chieftain linebacker who died tragically earlier this summer.

Amyx and the Chieftains truly appreciated the gesture.

“Their whole team wore stickers for Corey. I went into their huddle and told them how much we appreciate it,” Amyx said. “I knew it was tough for them tonight, but that was a heckuva thing for them to do. That’s what makes high school football so great, when you have one team that supports another team in a time of need.”

The Chieftains move on to host Warren, which has a winning record this late in the season for the first time in several seasons, next Friday in Logan Chieftain Stadium. It will be the Chiefs’ final regular-season home game — a potential week-11 home playoff game notwithstanding — and Senior Night for the Purple & White.

Logan has beaten Warren 10 consecutive times.

“We’re not going to take anything lightly,” Amyx said. “It’s our last home game. (The Warriors are) a wing-T team, and that’s something we haven’t seen a lot this year. It’ll be Senior Night and another important league game for us.”

Read More in the Logan Daily News.