Sports
Logan Focused On Revenge In Final Battle With Rival Lancaster
By: Nick Komjati
Posted on:
The road to a 6-4 record and an SEOAL title did not come paved in gold for the Logan Chieftains in 2013.
In their annual season-opening rivalry game with the Lancaster Golden Gales last season, the Chieftains lost 57-7 in Lancaster, but also lost starting quarterback Lane Little to a season-ending injury. Logan head coach Billy Burke, whose first game as Chieftains coach was that very same game, remembers just how difficult of a game it was for his squad.
“Any time you lose your starting quarterback it’s pretty devastating,” Burke said, “let alone in the first half of the first game of the season.”
Little is healthy for the 2014 season will make his return on Friday against the Golden Gales, but Burke made it known that he doesn’t think his quarterback will be hesitant in his first game in a year.
“[Little’s] a competitor,” Burke said. “I don’t think there’s any apprehension on his part going into this game. You know, yeah there was an unfortunate circumstance a year ago, but as a competitor, he’s just looking for an opportunity to get out there and play since he’s making up ground for losing the whole season last year.”
Despite having Little back running the offense, the Chieftains will need more than that to turn the tide against the Golden Gales this year. Logan has not won the season-opening contest since 2009 and has lost by an average of 30 points in the four games since.
Logan lost a heavy dose of seniors to graduation after last season, but Burke believes that the Chieftains are still very athletic and compete with any opponent on their schedule.
“We’re a very skilled athletic team in the secondary and the wide receiver position,” Burke said. “We’re as dynamic with spread offense as most teams you’re going to see.”
After the 2014 installment of the Logan-Lancaster rivalry, the annual clash will take a temporary hiatus, as Logan will revive a rivalry with the Athens Bulldogs to open their schedule in future years. Because the Chieftains will not see the Golden Gales again in the foreseeable future, Burke stressed his team’s desire to close the rivalry on a high note.
“Since this is the last time that we’ll be playing in quite some time, to be able to know that we were fortunate enough to win the last game is something that we can hang our hat on.”
Kickoff for the game is set for 7 p.m., and will also feature an appearance by the Ohio University Marching 110.
'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.