The Tigers hope there’s another season-changer this Friday night as Chapmanville hosts county rival Logan at Tiger Stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Chapmanville won over the Dots last week in dramatic fashion as fullback Todd Terry, a part-time quarterback from last year, took the lateral from QB Josh Easterling and fired a 42-yard touchdown to Tyler Cox with 20 seconds left to stun the Poca crowd.
The win evened Chapmanville’s record at 2-2. Logan dropped to 1-2 last week with a 50-18 loss at undefeated Perry Central, Ky.
Chapmanville coach George Barker said he hopes last week puts a charge into his ballclub heading into the game with the Wildcats.
“You can always hope that it will,” Barker said. “We led throughout most of the game and we managed to lose the lead in the last minute but the kids didn’t quit and kept plugging away. Then our kids made a good play there at the end to win it. It can do nothing but help us.”
The Tigers have beaten Logan two years in a row but trail 5-3 in the all-time series, which began in 2001.
Barker said it will be tough to beat the Cats once again.
“Logan is a different kind of team on tape,” he said. “They’re big and they are good at the quarterback position. They’ve got two good running backs and they throw the ball. They move well on defense. From what I’ve seen they just haven’t made the plays to win the games that they were in. They played the team from Kentucky pretty good early on. They are a hard team to read right now but I think that they’re pretty solid. They are extremely strong up front.”
Barker said both teams will be up for the game
“I don’t think anyone needs any extra motivation in this game,” he said. “What’s happened in the past has happened. I don’t think that it has any effect on this game.”
Barker said the Chapmanville-Logan football series has been a good rivalry.
The Tiger mentor has been on both sides of the field for it.
From 2001-03, Barker coached his former team, the Logan Wildcats, against his alma mater, Chapmanville, winning two of those games. Ironically, Chapmanville was coached in those years by former mentor Ronnie Ooten, who is a Logan High School graduate.
The only win for the Tigers over Logan during the span was a 20-14 homecoming victory in 2003. The year before in 2002, movie and TV actor Leslie Nielsen of “Naked Gun” fame attended the Chapmanville game at Logan, administering the pre-game coin flip, as the Wildcats walked away with a 27-8 victory. Earlier in the day, Nielsen rode a Logan High School homecoming float down Stratton Street.
Logan then won each meeting from 2004-06 and the Tigers have won the last two in the series.
The 2006 meeting at Logan Stadium was a particularly good one.
Chapmanville trailed Logan 14-7 late and appeared to be in position to tie it or go ahead with a two-point conversion. However, quarterback Evan Brown’s 70-yard touchdown run was called back because of a holding penalty. The Cats marched down field, took some knees inside Chapmanville’s 10-yard line and killed the clock.
“This is a great high school atmosphere for a great high school football game,” Barker said. “I’ve been on both sides of it and it seems that every game has been relatively close except for one. Our kids get excited and their kids get excited. The fans get excited and there will be a big crowd down here to watch Logan and Chapmanville play. There’s not too many places that are closer than our communities. We’re just excited to be able to play it.”
Advance tickets are still available for Friday’s Chapmanville-Logan game.
Logan High School Athletics Director Roger Gertz said tickets may be purchased at the LHS main office on Thursday and Friday until 1 p.m.
Tickets are $5 each.
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