Sports
Nelsonville-York Hopes to Keep Ball Rolling Against Logan
By: Marisa Oberle
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Friday marks the 32nd meeting between Nelsonville-York (2-2, 1-0) and Logan (0-4, 0-0) in the “Battle of 33.”
The Chieftains dominated the Buckeyes last season 41-28. Logan leads the series 24-7. However the lopsided recorded isn’t hampering Nelsonville-York’s excitement about the game.
“Logan’s record is a bit deceiving this year,” Nelsonville-York head coach Rusty Richards said. “It(the game) is still going to be a challenge, they’re a good football team.”
However, deceiving is a bit of an understatement. Logan’s record is its worst start since the 2012 season. The Chieftains have struggled on both sides of the ball. The team didn’t score its first points till week three against Meigs. Most of the Chieftains rushing yards came from the Marauders as well. So far Logan has accumulated 367 yards rushing. 301 of those yards came from the matchup against Meigs.The Chieftains’ defense has lagged as well, allowing an average of 38 points per game.
A key to Logan’s success is its ability to get moving early. Most of the defense’s points allowed have come during the first half. Additionally, the Chieftains had not scored in the first half until last week.
On the other hand, Nelsonville-York hasn’t had any trouble scoring this season. The Buckeyes are averaging 27 points per game. A large part to their offensive success is Hunter Edwards and Alex Mount.
Edwards is 20 for 55 this season, totaling 406 passing yards and tallying four touchdowns. In just four games, Mount’s contributions at tailback have helped the Buckeyes immensely. Mount has 610 rushing yards on 54 carries so far this season.
Once the Buckeyes’ run game starts going, Coach Richards said the passing game seems to pick up as well. But he says the one thing the team needs to focus on in this week’s game is eliminating turnovers.
“We only had one turnover in the game against River Valley,” Richards said. “In our two losses we had a lot of turnovers in those games.”
Kickoff for the “Battle on 33” is set for 7 p.m. this Friday at Logan Chieftain Stadium.