Jim Mashek

LOGAN COUNTY WILL TAKE THE THREE-HOUR ROAD TRIP TO PADUCAH’s McRIGHT STADIUM

RUSSELLVILLE — It was a warm October night, and Logan County High School’s football players lingered on the field for 15 minutes, some of them closer to a half hour, after the Cougars tangled with defending KHSAA Class 4A champion Paducah Tilghman.

McRight Stadium was oddly quiet, for a postgame atmosphere, and the body language of both teams told you Logan County and Paducah Tilghman were likely headed for a postseason rematch, after the Blue Tornado turned back the Cougars, 35-27, on October 3 in the land known as the Jackson Purchase.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, that rematch is on the horizon.

“I’d love to see (Tilghman) in the playoffs,” LCHS defensive end/slot receiver Cooper Parker said in the aftermath of a memorable high school football game, one that sets the table for the KHSAA Class 4A regional championship round on Friday night.

Parker and the Cougars will get a second shot at mighty Paducah Tilghman, again at McRight Stadium, when the district rivals square off for a berth in the KHSAA Class 4A semifinals. And Parker, one of nine seniors on the Logan County roster, said his experience with Cougars football has been “life changing” with Graduation Day looming in about six months.

Todd Adler, the 10th-year Logan County head coach, has a special bond with this small senior class. The Cougars’ roster is stocked with talented underclassmen, sophomore quarterback Luke Rogers, do-it-all offensive weapon TySean Thomeczek, another LCHS sophomore, and junior running back Christian Helle, who leads his team with 1,386 yards rushing, including 21 touchdowns.

Logan County takes a 10-2 overall record into Friday night’s regional championship game, after the Cougars eliminated Marion County and Elizabethtown, both in resounding fashion, in the first two weeks of the playoffs.

Tilghman, meanwhile, has gone 39-2 since the 2023 season, including last year’s KHSAA Class 4A state championship squad that slipped past another juggernaut, Franklin County, in claiming a 27-20 victory at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger FIeld in Lexington.

The Blue Tornado has lost just once this season, in a September road game at Madisonville-North Hopkins, and they’ve been on a tear over the last six weeks or so. Paducah Tilghman (11-1 overall) has knocked off Taylor County and Franklin-Simpson, by a combined 77-14, in the first two weeks of the playoffs.

Logan County is still looking for its first KHSAA state championship, in football, and Todd Adler is an ambitious coach who started at the ground floor in building the Cougars into a 4A powerhouse over the last few years.

Logan County is the underdog, which is fine by Adler and his players.

The Cougars embrace it.

“We’ve been the underdog all year,” Adler said. “As young as this team is, and the year we had last year … no one expected us to be here. So yeah, we embrace that.”

The Cougars stumbled to a 4-7 finish in 2024, bowing out of the KHSAA Class 4A playoffs in Week One, on the road, in a 28-20 loss to Bardstown High School.

Logan County returned just nine seniors, from that squad, for the 2025 campaign that began in earnest in August.

The Cougars have had their alley fights, like a 22-21 victory over visiting Greenwood County on September 12 at the LCHS Stadium. They’ve posted blowouts, over traditional rivals such as Allen County-Scottsville and Franklin Simpson. And they endured a difficult Week 11 defeat, when key injuries and a death in the family of one of the Cougars’ players coincided with a 49-14 road loss to unbeaten South Warren.

It’s the TIlghman game, however, that lingers in the back of their minds.

“Last week (against E-Town), we had a lot of mistakes. We had a lot of penalties,” senior LCHS wideout Jeremiah Washington said after Tuesday evening’s practice. “We’ve got a great game plan. (Tilghman) is good at disguising their coverages, in the secondary, but we think we’re better prepared this time.”

LCHS center Robert Cooper, playing in what figures to be his last year of organized football, recognizes the opportunity in front of the Cougars.

“On the offensive line, we’ve got to communicate,” Cooper said. “We’ve got to execute. We’ve got to get some consistency going, on offense.”

Logan County’s Cooper Parker, a true iron man who seldom leaves the field, might have put it best.

“Gotta play as one,” he said.

That’s gotta be music to LCHS coach Todd Adler’s ears, because the Cougars set the table for this rematch by taking Paducah Tilghman to the wire in October. The winning team’s opponent will be determined by the KHSAA’s RPI formula, but this game represents an opportunity scores of high school athletes will never see in their careers.

“To an extent, I think our players realize what’s in front of them,” Adler said. “But as young as our team is, I don’t know if they really understand how special it is, how hard it is to win a regional championship. They’re just playin’ ball …

“No pressure, just playing another football game.”

Conventional wisdom says a fast start would be critical to the Cougars’ chances, but Adler isn’t about to put all his eggs in that basket. They play complementary football and only have a handful of players taking snaps on both sides of the line of scrimmage, like senior defensive end/slotback Cooper Parker.

Luke Rogers, Logan County’s talented sophomore QB, has completed 64 percent of his passes over 12 games. He’s passed for 2,068 yards and 23 touchdowns, and he can be an effective runner, too. Junior tailback Christian Helle has rushed for 1,386 yards and 21 scores, while sophomore wideout/running back TySean Thomeczek leads the team with 44 rections for 583 yards and five TDs.

Thomeczek also returns kicks and plays a critical role in the Cougars’ secondary. He didn’t play against South Warren on October 30 because of an injury, but he’s quickly returned to form in the Cougars’ postseason victories over Marion County and Elizabethtown.

Logan County will lose just nine seniors after the 2025 season. They include offensive lineman Robert Cooper, linebacker Michael Hammonds, placekicker Caiden Kirby, offensive lineman Jason Scott, wide receiver Damani Goodloe, defensive end Jackson Kemplin, defensive back Isaac Christian, defensive end/slot receiver Cooper Parker and wide receiver Jeremiah Washington.

“Since the South Warren game, this team has played together, and played for one another,” Adler said. “Games like this one, with Tilghman, you’ve got to take it how it comes. In my opinion, if we put too much emphasis on a fast start, or taking the lead … and then it DOESN’T happen, that can kill your team’s confidence.

“Just play the game, and make the most of it. Take advantage of our opportuniites. We know it’s going to be a tough game.”

COMING THURSDAY: UNBEATEN SOUTH WARREN PLAYS HOST TO UPSTART HENDERSON COUNTY.