Jim Mashek

TILGHMAN’s SPEED ON THE FLANKS OVERWHELMS COUGARS, 37-7

RUSSELLVILLE — It was a highly anticipated game, after two monumental tussles in 2025, as Logan County High School’s football squad awaited the arrival of unbeaten Paducah Tilghman on Friday night.

Unlike those games, which had plenty of back-and-forth, Tilghman left nothing to chance this time.

The Blue Tornadoes rolled past Logan County, 37-7, to remain unbeaten in seven games. Paducah Tilghman (7-0, 3-0 in the KHSAA’s Class 4A, 1st District) forced a running clock by scoring in the final minute of the first half, leaving the Cougars at 5-2 overall and 2-1 in district play.

Former Warren East quarterback Xavier Isable, a sturdy 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior, kept the Blue Tornadoes on the attack before halftime, and Tilghman’s speeds on the flanks overwhelmed the Cougars when it counted.

It was a pretty chippy game, much like Tilghman’s 35-27 victory over the Cougars last October in Paducah. Ultimately, though, 11th-year Logan County coach Todd Adler admits Friday night’s game serves as a measuring stick for the remainder of the 2026 season.

“Our mindset, after the Fall Break, has to be ‘play eight more games,'” said Adler, referring to the KHSAA’s Championship Weekend at UK’s Kroger Field in December. “(Paducah Tilghman is) very good, and we knew that. We didn’t have a good week of preparation, and when you get kids out of their routine, it kind of plays with their minds.”

Adler referred to the fact that Logan County schools’ Fall Break is actually TWO school weeks, rather than the customary one, but the Cougars won’t play again until they tangle with tradition-rich Franklin-Simpson on October 16 in Russellville.

“It’s no excuse, the long break,” Adler said. “We know what Franklin-Simpson brings to the table.”

Xavier Isable’s ability to make plays in a moving pocket was a critical factor in the outcome, and Isable has plenty of capable weapons at his disposal, including running back Isaac James, and wideouts Chance McPike, Avery Thompson and Anthony Crumble.

McPike opened the scoring on a 5-yard touchdown run in the game’s opening minutes, and he turned a simple swing pass into a 35-yard TD reception with 1:45 left in the first quarter, leaving the Cougars with a 21-0 deficit.

Logan County did everything it could to stay in the game, including a fake punt on its side of the field after the Cougars fell behind by three touchdowns.

“We were trying to get a spark,” Adler said. “We’re a gambling team … if our kid makes the catch, he’s probably still running …”

Paducah Tilghman’s defense made its share of big plays, too, including senior linebacker KeShaun Overstreet’s interception return that covered 70 yards for the Blue Tornadoes’ second touchdown.

Logan County junior QB Luke Rogers kept throwing the ball, however, and his deep ball for teammate TySean Thomeczek was intercepted at the goal line in the third quarter. The Cougars were hit for unsportsmanlike conduct on that play, but there were plenty of those infractions against both teams before it was over.

“We felt like we had a pretty good game plan,” Paducah Tilghman coach Sean Thompson said afterward. “They do a lot of different things, defensively, and we wanted to create some one-on-one matchups when we could … We knew, if we started fast, that history kind of comes into the picture …

“(Logan County is) a good football team. That’s a team that can be playing late in the season.”

The Tilghman defense sacked Rogers in the end zone, for a safety in the final minute of the first half, and Xavier Isable was able to get his team in the red zone before JeAubrey Sherrill scored on a fourth-down draw play from 11 yards out. Rex Gay’s extra point made it 37-0, before halftime, and the Blue Tornadoes relied more on their running game to complete the task at hand.

“We knew, coming in, that it was going to be a ‘statement game,'” Isable said before leaving the field. “We come into every game looking to start fast … We don’t want to let up on anybody.”

Logan County avoided the shutout with about four minutes left in the game. Sophomore wide receiver Joseph McTire scored on a reverse, from 11 yards out, and the PAT accounted for the final margin.

“Xavier (Isable) has been a great addition to our team,” Thompson said. “He’s seasoned, he never lets the moment get too big for him … We only have 11 kids in our senior class, but this team is capable of playing good football.”

Tilghman will play host to Isable’s former team, Warren East, on October 16 in Paducah. First-year Warren East coach Jason Foley has guided his team to an impressive 6-1 start, including Friday night’s 28-7 victory over Allen County-Scottsville.