LOGAN - As the cover of this football preview section indicates, while one important aspect of Logan Chieftain football undergoes a radical change this season, other areas remain quite the same.

The 2007 season was filled with both tremendous success and intense emotion. The Purple & White claimed their fourth-straight Southeastern Ohio Athletic League championship, earned the school's sixth post-season playoff berth, and said good-bye to 83 years’ worth of Bill Sauer Field and Hilltop history and memories.

But the great tradition of Chieftain football — not to mention another talented group of athletes — remains intact as the Chiefs take up residence in modern Logan Chieftain Stadium on the new Logan High School campus.
Yes, new location… same winning tradition.

Although the Chiefs lost 18 lettermen and more than half of their starters from a team that went 9-2 and posted some incredible offensive numbers (an SEOAL-record 378 points, a school-record 456 regular-season points and 71 total touchdowns, just to name a few), they may be more talented and perhaps even deeper.

Also remaining the same: Logan coach Dale Amyx, the most successful gridiron boss in Chieftain history, and his outstanding coaching staff.

“We feel we have good depth at every position… we’re an experienced team even if some of these kids didn’t start last year,” said Amyx, entering his 19th season at the helm of the Purple & White. Many kids “came in and played on special teams and spelled people last year.”

Although just nine starters return — and not necessarily at the position in which they were stationed a year ago — the experience to which Amyx alludes enables the Chiefs to slide plenty of talented athletes into spots vacated by the likes of Michael Angle, Justin Frye, Mark Potter, Lucas Wright, Seth Moritz, Jeshaiah Eggers, Alex Wallace, Grant Waugh, Jon Bapst and the late Corey Kissling (please see “Honoring a fallen Chieftain,” page 5B).

In all, the Chiefs return 21 lettermen, including seven seniors with two years’ worth of varsity experience, as well as 14 more with one year on the varsity… a figure that includes nine players who earned letters and gained vast experience a year ago as sophomores.

Testing the O-line depth
That depth gets put to the test right off the bat in the trenches of the offensive line, where the Chieftains have already lost two of those returning starters in seniors Weston Andy and David Schneider.
Andy has mononucleosis and his status for the entire season is up in the air. Schneider has a hairline fracture behind his right kneecap and might return in a few weeks.

Andy started at left tackle and Schneider was the starting left guard last fall. Both had been slated for tackle duty this season.

“On the offensive line, by losing two kids we (insert) a couple kids who don’t have experience… they’ll have to gain experience through coaching, scrimmages and practice,” Amyx said. “I think we have depth at every position… obviously we’ve whittled into our offensive line depth, especially at tackle, but there are kids we can still move to tackle and other kids we could move to the line if we need to.”
Junior center Bobby Russell (6-foot-2, 250 pounds) and senior right tackle Derek Shirey (5-11, 235) are back to anchor the line, with Shirey moving from right guard to take one of those tackle slots.

The rest of the line starts out with senior Cary Maclaughlin (5-10, 200) at right guard, sophomore Tim King (6-1, 213) at left tackle, and junior Jeff Murphy (5-11, 210) at left guard.

That line averages a little over 221 pounds. No matter what, however, the line will be smaller (the 2007 line, which included Wallace at 320, averaged 257 pounds) and less experienced than last season. But there’s still a lot of talent.

Amyx also has junior Kyle Andy (5-11, 190), junior Brock Thompson (6-1, 220), senior Taylor Maguire (6-4, 260) and sophomore Jesse Arnold (6-3, 240), among others, to fall back on along the line in case Weston Andy (6-2, 260) and Schneider (6-1, 270) miss all or at least good portions of the season.

Amyx had originally intended to use Maclaughlin as part of a three-man fullback rotation — in fact, his lone position on the original team roster was listed as fullback — but felt the Chiefs were better served with his experience on the line.
“We don’t have as many kids with experience, but that’s kind of where we were last year (at this time),” Amyx stated. “Will it hurt us somewhere down the line? Probably, but you can’t look at it that way. They’ll get experience as the season goes along and they will get better.”

Any coach, Amyx being no exception, will tell you injuries are a part of the game.
“Last year we would never have guessed Cary Maclaughlin would be out for more than half the season with an injury, but that allowed Derek Shirey to come in,” Amyx recalled. “In our minds we didn’t see Derek as a starter last year, but he came in and did a great job and was a solid starter. Now (Shirey) is a kid we have great confidence in.

“These kids will do the same thing,” he continued. “There’s no doubt in my mind. It may take a little bit of time. It did last year, but that’s football. One minute we’re a senior-oriented, veteran offensive line and the next minute we’re in there with sophomores and rookies and only a couple seniors. That’s the nature of the beast. It’s a physical game and there are injuries.

“We’ve definitely got better depth on the line than last year because a lot of those linemen are sophomores,” he added. “When Mac went down we just didn’t have sophomores who were ready to play line where this year I think we do. T.J. McCray (a 5-11, 255 junior) is a good example. He’ll be a guy who rotates on the line somewhere.”
As much as he hopes Weston Andy and Schneider are able to play, Amyx has to take a realistic approach to the situation.

“Weston’s situation was something kind of unprecedented… I’ve never had a kid get mono the whole season,” Amyx revealed. “We’re looking at both of them being gone so we have to move on. If the doctor clears them, then we get them back. But right now I’m looking at it like we don’t have either one of them.”

Another Angle at QB
Michael Angle did a terrific job managing the Logan offense for three seasons. As a junior he had a stretch in which he threw 85 passes without an interception and put together a string of 55 such passes last fall. He led the Purple & White to the last 19 of their 23 consecutive SEOAL victories and earned much-deserved All-SEOAL and All-Ohio honors.

Michael’s younger brother Patrick (6-1, 195), who completed 7-of-8 passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns in spot duty last season, not only takes over the position this fall but dons Michael’s uniform number 7 as well.

“Patrick has a great arm and outstanding feet… he’s got tailback ability with a quarterback arm,” said Amyx. “That translates into another rusher, more keeps off our base (setup), more spread (offense) and him running the ball. We’re going to spread and run a lot more option this year.

“(Opposing defenses are) going to have to defend our quarterback, and that’s going to take (a defender) away from something else,” he continued. “Something should be open. If we spread the offense it’s not going to be just to throw the ball, it’s going to be to run the ball.”

Angle’s a terrific overall athlete who also excels in basketball and baseball, earning All-SEOAL honors in those two sports as a sophomore.

“He can run around you (and) he has good speed,” Amyx said. “We’re going to utilize him in our offense. And in losing (Weston Andy and Schneider) at tackle, we may have to look at being a little bit more of a spread team… that may have taken some power stuff away from us.

“We want to make (the defense) defend the entire field anyway (and) create some lanes,” he added.

The Chiefs also have solid quarterback depth in senior Jon Neff and sophomore Jordan Jurgensmier.

“Neff was the quarterback for that freshman class,” Amyx noted. “He got a lot of reps this summer. He gets a lot of reps in practice and could step up there and do a good job. And Jurgensmier (5-11, 142) is throwing the ball well. He’s tough, he’s smart and he’s a good athlete.

“I think we have three pretty good quarterbacks,” Amyx surmised.

Talented receivers
Wright caught a team-high 28 passes for 596 yards and six touchdowns last season. As a result, returning pass-catchers only caught a total of 13 balls last fall… but the receiving corps cupboard is far from empty.

Neff (6-3, 225) takes over at tight end, with fellow seniors Zach Adams (6-3, 205) and Jaushua Huntsberger (5-10, 140) and junior Mason Mays (5-11, 175) rotating in the split end and flanker positions. Senior Seth Sigler (5-11, 170) should catch some passes as well.

“Neff rotated at tight end with Eggers last year,” Amyx pointed out. “Eggs was the starter, but if we were throwing the ball we made sure Neff was in there. He has great hands.

“(Adams and Mays are) interchangeable depending upon what side they’re on and what formation we’re in,” he added. “We don’t want to look at is as ‘you’re a split end and you’re a flanker,’ you’re just out there depending what side the tight end is.

“Huntsberger is in that rotation — we’ll send plays in with the receivers — and even after that we have Zach McDaniel (a 5-11, 165 junior), who actually is our backup tailback (and who) can play receiver. Ryan Sigler (a 6-3, 180 junior) is a good receiver too.”

Seven of those aforementioned 13 receptions were by Patrick Angle. Only Mays (four receptions for 82 yards) had more than one catch among the other holdovers.

Running backs aplenty
Frye turned out to be one of the most productive running backs in LHS history the past two seasons, compiling 2,997 career rushing yards and 43 rushing touchdowns (44 total). Still, the Chiefs are still blessed with an abundance of backfield talent.
Senior Clay Morgan (5-10, 180) would have started at tailback for just about any other team around last season. In fact, Morgan began his sophomore (2006) season as the starter before Frye came out of nowhere to make the position his own by the fourth game.

“Clay is an outstanding tailback,” Amyx praised. “He easily could have been the starter last year. He was just as good... (but) people also keyed on Frye a lot more last year.”

Even with Frye getting the lion’s share of touches, Morgan still rushed for 896 yards as a junior and sophomore with 11 rushing scores. Last fall he averaged a whopping 12 yards per carry with seven touchdowns.

“Clay’s the kind of kid (for whom) you may call for a play where he may be the lead (blocker) because he wants to take the lead,” Amyx said, noting McDaniel and Mays can also fill in at tailback. “Dylan Cavinee (a 5-11, 160 sophomore) had a couple nice long touchdown runs (in a scrimmage) against Circleville.”

The fullback does a lot of blocking in the Logan system but gets some carries and is usually both bruising and effective. Junior Michael Snider (6-0, 201) starts Friday night with senior Stephen Miller (6-0, 220) providing depth.

Both “are also defensive starters, so we’ll probably give them a series and we’ll come up with some kind of rotation for them,” Amyx revealed.

Solid defensive line
Although the defensive line isn’t nearly the question mark it was a season ago, there has been some re-shuffling. Neff and junior Ralph Robinson (6-0, 200) are the ends, McDaniel or Seth Sigler will be at nose guard, and Maclaughlin and Miller are the tackles, backed up by Maguire.

“If you count the defensive end we’ve got three starters back: Neff, Maclaughlin and Miller. Cary and Steve both played tackle,” said Amyx, noting nose guard is Maclaughlin's nature position. “Maguire’s a big kid and he can be physical, and Robinson’s starting at defensive end.”

Neff had a breakout season at end last fall, leading the team by breaking up 10 passes and tying fellow DE Patrick Angle for the team lead with nine quarterback sacks. He was involved in 36 total tackles and constantly put pressure on opposing lines and quarterbacks.

Ryan Sigler and sophomore Brandon Graham (6-0, 165) are also quality players who can play end for the Chieftains.

Linebacker high
In Potter, Kissling and Morgan, the Chiefs had three tremendous linebackers last season.

In fact, Logan had an all-time school best with seven All-Ohio honorees last season: Kissling (linebacker) and Wright (wide receiver) on the first team, Potter (linebacker) and Frye (running back) on the second team, and special mentions Michael Angle, Wallace and Moritz.

Morgan returns to anchor the linebackers, with the other two slots also having quality players with Adams on the outside and Snider in the middle.

Adams missed several games at the outset of the season with an injury but became a jack-of-all trades defender when he returned. That proved helpful in his overall development.

“Zach didn’t play linebacker last year because of all the guys we had, but was a starter the year before,” Amyx pointed out. “We moved Clay in there and he did so well that when Zach came back we really couldn’t take (Morgan) out. Clay wasn’t starting on offense anyway, so we were moving Zach around to get him on the field last year.

“But linebacker is (Adams') true natural position. He’s like Huntsberger — he’s such a smart player,” he added. If “you tell him something (such as) a formation, he’ll be calling the play out before they even run it. And Michael Snider came in and played quite a bit wherever we needed him to.”

Seth Sigler should be a quality backup for the Chieftains.

“We’re still trying to find a place for Sigler,” Amyx said. “We told him to learn all the positions. He’s a senior and he’ll play nickel (and) special teams. I know he wants to start. He’s a hitter and he plays smart.”

Filling the DB openings
Logan lost two key components of its defensive secondary with the graduation of Wright, a ball-hawking free safety who set a school season record last season with nine interceptions for 197 yards and a touchdown — he also holds the career mark with 18 pickoffs — and cornerback Moritz.

Mays returns at one corner and Huntsberger steps in at the other.

“Mason was a starter back there,” Amyx said. “Huntsberger is a really good athlete — he’s like a coach out on the field — and we have Patrick Angle at safety.”
While Angle was an outstanding defensive end last season, Amyx sees him playing an even-more valuable role as a DB.

“Patrick’s a center field, stay-at-home type of safety. He’ll do real well there,” he said. “I hate to move him from end, but we have kids who can play end. Safety’s a different story. It’s like having another Chad Zimmerman (one of Logan’s all-time best in the defensive backfield) and I feel confident knowing he’s back there.

“Mason can also play some outside linebacker and get Clay off the field, and McDaniel will come in and play some corner,” he added. “Seth Sigler will come in and do some things — he’s kind of like our nickel back. Zach is more of a corner type. 

Nickel back is more like an outside linebacker for us, a flat coverage guy.”

Special teams
Senior Ronnie Burcham took over starting placekicker duties a few games into the 2007 season and returns in that capacity this fall.

Although he didn’t make any of his three field-goal attempts, he converted 37-of-47 extra-point kicks… and converting PATs is the main thing Amyx asks of his kickers.
Angle will probably remain in the game and handle punting chores, although Neff would also be a quality booter if needed. And utilizing Angle in that capacity offers another weapon as well.

“He could run some fakes… like that Tri-Valley (playoff) game when they ran that fake punt on us,” Amyx said.

Adams handles kickoffs and Shirey is the backup placekicker.

When it came to returning kickoffs and punts, Wright was one of Logan’s all-time best — last season he had 735 return yards, brought two punts back for touchdowns, and had two scores on kickoff returns called back on penalties — but both Mays, who returned a punt for a touchdown himself last season, and McDaniel will be quite-capable kick-return men.

Read More in the Logan Daily News.