Sports
Logan Drops Double-Overtime Thriller To Lancaster 43-42
By: Justin Holbrock
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An exhilarating Friday night shootout at Logan High School resulted in a 43-42 double-overtime victory for the Lancaster Golden Gales over the Logan Chieftains.
After the Golden Gales (1-0) scored on their first offensive play of the second overtime to make the score 42-41 Logan, the Gales made a bold decision to attempt a two-point conversion for the win. Lancaster quarterback Alex Butsko called his own number on the conversion and punched it into the end zone to give the Golden Gales the win.
After allowing 57 points and 520 rushing yards in a loss to Lancaster last season, Logan’s defense struggled again in the game, as they allowed Lancaster’s three-headed monster of Jerry King, Ryan Fitchpatrick and Harrison Taylor to combine for 394 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
All three running backs had at least 100 yards on the ground, and Butsko added another two rushing touchdowns in overtime to give the Golden Gales a total of six rushing touchdowns on the night.
The Chieftains (0-1) offense, however, performed valiantly as they were led by junior quarterback Lane Little, who returned to the field tonight after missing almost all of last season due to an injury sustained against Lancaster last season.
Little’s impressive comeback included 306 yards passing and five total touchdowns, one of which he caught on Logan’s opening drive on a halfback pass from Dean Jordan.
Both teams scored on each of their first three possessions to start the game, but then Logan and Lancaster were both unable to convert on fourth down attempts late in the second quarter to leave the score locked at 21-21.
With halftime quickly approaching, Logan decided to keep its foot on the gas, which resulted in a quick, five-play series ending in a 41-yard touchdown pass from Little to wide receiver Chance Cox.
This score was one of three touchdowns for the senior receiver Cox, who ended the night with eight catches for 147 yards.
The game remained close in the second half as these Route 33 rivals exchanged touchdowns to start the third quarter. Logan appeared to steal the momentum after Jordan recovered a Lancaster fumble and dashed 88 yards for a touchdown giving the Chieftains a 35-28 lead with 3:54 remaining in the third quarter.
But a quick Lancaster touchdown tied the game at 35-35 with 11:54 left in the fourth quarter, taking away any momentum the Chiefftains had gained. Neither team was able to score before the end of the fourth quarter, sending the game into overtime.
With Lancaster driving on the Chieftains in the first overtime, Logan’s struggling defense was remarkably able to stop the Gales three-straight times from the one-yard line, pushing the game into a second overtime.
After three incompletions, the Chieftains were down to a 4th-and-10 from the 20-yard line where Little connected with Isaiah Smith in the back of the end zone for a Chieftains 42-35 lead.
The game also marks the end of a rivalry series, as the two teams are not scheduled to play one another for the foreseeable future.
Logan will look to rebound next week on the road against Teays Valley (1-0) on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
'Gridiron Glory' airs every Friday night at 11:30 p.m. on WOUB. You can follow the show on Twitter @gridironglory, like the Gridiron Glory page on Facebook, and follow along on Instagram @woubsports. You can also join the conversation throughout the season by using the hashtag #GridGlory.