RAYNO, LOGAN COUNTY TURN ATTENTION TO ALLEN COUNTY-SCOTTSVILLE
South Warren built a 17-0 lead and had the look of a confident team.
Sophomore quarterback Bryce Button was making plays. The Spartans were keeping Logan County’s vaunted ground game in check. The Cougars were looking for answers.
Eli Hawkins had two of them.
First, the Logan County fullback/linebacker pounced on a Ryan Rayno fumble in the South Warren end zone, giving the Cougars their first points of the night.
In the final minute of the first half.
And then Hawkins put the Spartans on notice, making a play on Button’s sideline pass moments later, coming up with an interception on the left sideline and scoring on a pick-six to pull the Cougars within four points of tying the game.
Then the Cougars dominated the second half, claiming a 27-17 victory over the defending KHSAA Class 5A state champions on the Spartans’ home field on Friday night.
SCORED TWICE IN A SPAN OF 17 SECONDS.
Logan County, the KHSAA Class 4A, 1st District champion, improved to 9-1 overall and will square off with Allen County-Scottsville in the first round of the 4A playoffs on Friday night. South Warren’s second consecutive defeat left the Spartans with a 5-5 record. Veteran South coach Brandon Smith will take his squad to the Jackson Purchase area of the state next week for a first-round 5A playoff game against Graves County in Mayfield.
Two ships passing in the night? It sure seemed like it.
ADDRESSES HIS TEAM AFTERWARD.
“Only five teams have won here (since South Warren opened its doors in 2012),” Hawkins said. “We just made it six.”
The Cougars looked like a different team in the second half. Playing with purpose. Poised. Opening running lanes for senior tailback Ryan Rayno. Keeping the heat on South QB Bryce Button, in the pocket.
EXULTS AFTER DAVIN YATES’ 4TH-QUARTER TD.
“When we scored, Eli’s first touchdown, that’s probably the first sign of life you saw on our sideline,” seventh-year Logan County coach Todd Adler said when it was over. “This game is a big momentum boost for us. If you don’t answer, when the phone’s ringing, a team like (South Warren) will run away from you.
“We’ve only scored nine points the last five games we’ve played against them.”
That’s combined.
None of that mattered Friday night.
The Cougars played with a sense of purpose and they repeatedly started feeding the ball to Rayno. They went in front at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter, when junior Logan County quarterback Davin Yates got the ball to teammate Harper Butler on a crossing pattern.
Butler scored on a 16-yard reception, and Kyla Bilyeu added the extra point, and suddenly the Cougars were leading 20-16. Then their defense found its mojo, and Logan County was on its way to another impressive victory.
“When we fell behind by 17 points,” Adler said, “we told our guys to quit missin’ tackles … I was so proud of them.”
LEAVES THE FIELD AFTER THE FIRST HALF.
Brandon Smith’s body language on the opposite sideline spoke volumes.
The Spartans could never get back in it, not after Eli Hawkins scored two touchdowns in a matter of 17 seconds on the scoreboard clock. LCHS workhorse Ryan Rayno stormed through the teeth of the South defense before fumbling at about the 2-yard line, and the ball bounced into the end zone before Hawkins could make the play.
Then, instead of taking it to the locker room with a 10-point lead, Bryce Button came out firing in the final minute of the first half.
WAS UP TO THE TASK AT HAND.
Hawkins was waiting.
“I’d watched film on (South Warren) all week,” he said. “I knew what the running back was going to do on the sideline, really from the way he lined up, in the backfield. Bryce is an amazing player; we’ve worked out together before.
“I just made a play on the ball.”
And took it into the end zone from 20 yards out.
That changed the tone of the game for the second half. Yates passed sparingly, and Rayno was effective between the tackles as well as on the perimeter. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior became Logan County’s career rushing leader earlier this year, and he’s opening to add to that total when the Cougars begin postseason play against another familar foe, Allen County-Scottsville.
AC-S is only 3-7 on the season, but the Patriots have won back-to-back games, including Thursday night’s gritty 18-14 triumph over Class 6A Barren County in Glasgow. Yes, you could call the Patriots a “live underdog.”
AC-S IN THE 4A PLAYOFFS ON FRIDAY.
Allen County-Scottsville trailed nearly the entire game until Julyan McPeak blocked a 38-yard attempt at a fourth-quarter field goal, and 250-pound lineman Zander Reynolds returned the ball 40 yards down the left sideline. Logan County opened the season against AC-S, in the J. Allen Builders Bowl on August 20 at Greenwood High School.
The Cougars would win that game 26-16, but they’ll need to be at peak efficiency to eliminate the Patriots next week in Russellville.
Logan County coach Todd Adler plans to meet with his team for film study on Sunday and then go full-bore into preparations for AC-S.
“We really don’t want to ride this high too long,” Rayno said. “We want to get back to work, on the practice field. Move forward. When Eli (Hawkins) made those plays, late in the first half, it just flipped the switch.”
SECOND SEASON AS THE LCHS STARTER.
Adler uses several players on both offense and defense. Junior quarterback Davin Yates was playing in the secondary on Friday night. Good luck finding lineman Isaac Poe, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound senior, on the LCHS sideline. He’s usually on the field, along with teammates such as senior lineman Peyton Taylor or sophomore receiver/defensive back Hunter Holloway.
“I think we’re starting to realize, the opportunity in front of us,” Poe said.
They’ll start playing for keeps next Friday. Stay tuned.
STATE CHAMPION, FELL TO 5-5 WITH THE DEFEAT.