LOGAN — One of the many things Logan coach Dale Amyx likes about his Chieftains is their ability to remain focused.

Coming off a pair of tough games against state-ranked foes in back-to-back weeks, the undefeated Chiefs (6-0) must maintain that focus Friday (7:30 p.m. kickoff) when they host Marietta (1-5) in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game.

“We consider every one one of our (SEOAL) games league championship games, and this is one of them,” said Amyx. “The kids have done a really good job staying focused, and that has to continue every week.
“We’ve really stressed the importance of every game and every single play,” he added. “We’ve had a couple slow starts, but (the Logan players) come ready to play and have been taking care of business.”

Marietta blasted winless Morgan 59-20 in its season opener, but has since lost its last five games — all on the road — with three of them at the hands of teams (New Philadelphia, Warren and Jackson) who are currently undefeated.

Friday night’s game in Logan Chieftain Stadium thus marks the Tigers’ sixth-straight road contest. They wind up their season with three home games at Don Drumm Stadium.

Marietta can score. The Tigers are averaging 22 points per game, but they’re allowing more than 37 points a game on defense.

Under the previous coaching regime, the Tigers were a pass-happy group who threw, threw and then threw some more. Quarterback Cody Westbrook was an exceptional talent behind center for the Tigers in recent years, setting several school passing records.

However, not being able to pull back from that fast-break passing offense was the primary reason behind a resounding 76-20 shellacking at the hands of the Chiefs two years ago at Bill Sauer Field.

Amyx says the Tigers have reached a better balance under second-year coach Andy Schob.

“To me, their offense is a wing-T but they run it out of a shotgun,” Amyx said. “They’re pretty well-balanced. They run a little more than they pass — our scouts saw them run around 80 times and pass around 60 — but they will throw the ball.”

Just not nearly as often as they used to.

“Their fullback (Perry Wheeler) is their best player,” Amyx said. “They’ll make a direct snap to him and the quarterback (Matt McKitrick) will fake as if he took the snap, or they will hand the ball to a guy in motion. But the fullback gets most of their carries.

“McKitrick is a good athlete and he throws the ball well. We have to be alert because he can scramble, too,” he added. Split end Billy Grizer “is their best overall athlete and their top receiver (and returns) punts and kicks, too.”

However, Grizer is out for the season after breaking a foot last week against Jackson.

If the Chiefs can defense the Tigers the way they did the Zanesville Blue Devils last week, however, they’ll be in good shape.

Suffice it to say that, of all teams on Logan’s schedule, shutting out the Blue Devils — as they did 26-0 last Friday — was the last thing the Chiefs expected.

While it was a pleasant surprise, to say the least, it was also a testament as to how much the Chiefs have improved in that aspect of the game. Zanesville’s offense never got past the Logan 31-yard line, and the Purple & White took full advantage of three ZHS interceptions, a lost fumble and several special-teams miscues.

“They know more and more what they’re doing” as the season progresses, Amyx said of the Logan defense. “We’ve got players like (defensive end Ryan) Sigler who are gaining confidence and making plays.”

Sigler leads the Chiefs with eight quarterback sacks. Amyx noted that sometimes he likes to take chances… but, also like all defenders, taking chances can leave them out of position.

“Our defense is getting more and more confidence and wants me to turn them loose,” Amyx said with a laugh. “But sometimes when you do that, you give up big plays.”

Case in point: as the Chiefs watched film of Zanesville’s 29-13 week-two victory over Licking Valley, some defenders felt they could blitz the Blue Devils into oblivion.

“Licking Valley was blitzing almost everybody,” Amyx noted, and the Blue Devils were having a hard time handling it. However, “Zanesville also made some big plays against (those blitzes) and wound up winning.”

The message: sometimes it’s better to err on the side of caution.

Last week, the Chiefs did a tremendous job maintaining control of the line of scrimmage and not giving Zanesville quarterback Cole Hudson much time to set up, much less get the ball away. He was just 5-of-20 passing for 41 yards and in so doing was picked off by Mason Mays, Michael Snider and Zach McDaniel.

“Our linebackers are doing a really good job reading (the opposing offense),” Amyx praised. “Patrick (Angle) and Mason are both defensive backs who have been moved to linebacker, and they’re still learning the concept of reading. Our defensive line is doing a good job staying on the line of scrimmage and plugging gaps. We’re getting better and playing sound defense.

“Our offense will almost always put points on the board,” he added, “but I’m also a firm believer that you win with defense. If you don’t let a team score, you win.”

So true. Just ask the Zanesville Blue Devils.