By Craig Dunn
Logan-Hocking Times
ASHVILLE — A combination of the Logan Chieftains not being able to get out of their own way and the Teays Valley Vikings physically imposing their will had a predictable result Friday evening.
The Vikings recovered a Logan fumble in the end zone just 66 seconds into the game, scored on their first offensive series and turned three Logan miscues into 21 points in rolling past the Chieftains, 49-6 in Viking Stadium.
Not even an hour-long weather delay midway through the third quarter stayed the Vikings (2-0) from dominating the Chieftains (0-2) on this hot August night.
The Vikings definitely aren’t a peewee team, and the Chiefs know it.
After the Chiefs covered a squibbed opening kickoff on their own 10-yard line, it was bang (a six-yard loss), bang (a two-yard half-the-distance Logan penalty), bang (Caden McDanel falling on a Logan fumble in the end zone) and Teays Valley was out in front to stay.
The night got progressively better for the Vikings and progressively worse for the Chieftains.
While both teams are primarily running teams, Teays Valley quarterback Tyler Love showed he can throw the ball as well.
Love capped off an eight-play, 54-yard drive with a sideline throw to Harrison Payne, who escaped a Logan tackle and went 17 yards to paydirt and a 14-0 Viking lead with 4:47 left in the opening period.
And although the Logan defense did force the Vikings to punt on their next two possessions, the Chiefs went three and out twice and only managed their lone first down of the half on a Teays Valley penalty.
Taking possession with 4:30 left in the half, Peyton Weiler had runs of 14 and 17 yards as the Vikings went 60 yards on eight plays and made it 21-0 when Weiler scored from three yards out with 1:50 left in the half.
TV then called all three of its time-outs in forcing the struggling Logan offense into another three-and-out — Logan had seven total yards and that lone first down in the first half — and quickly capitalized.
It only took the Vikings 29 seconds to move 47 yards on five plays — two of them Love-to-Payne pass completions, the latter a 28-yard score with 47 seconds left — as Teays Valley took a 28-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
With ominous storm clouds moving in during halftime and the outset of the third period, the Vikings put together a 13-play drive and had a potential 22-yard scoring pass dropped in the end zone before the Chiefs forced them to turn the ball over on downs at the Logan 21.
The wind was whipping something fierce and fans on both sides were beginning to get up and leave the stadium when the Chiefs botched a pitchout, tipping the ball into the air behind the line of scrimmage, and TV’s Parker Baisden picked it off and easily returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.
Immediately after Cale Clifton drilled the fifth of his seven extra-point kicks on the night to give the Vikings a 35-0 lead, the officials immediately stopped play with 6:54 remaining in the third stanza. And when the two teams came back for the re-start about an hour later, the game resumed with a running clock due to the 30-point-differential rule.
Logan’s Traten Poling immediately broke the first play from scrimmage 64 yards but was brought down from behind at the TV 9-yard line. A false start penalty pushed the Chiefs back five yards, and they found themselves back at the TV 18 when they gave the ball up on downs.
Many fans had departed when Teays Valley got its third defensive touchdown of the night.
Under a brutal rush from the Viking defensive line, they were in quickly on Logan quarterback Brayden Sturgell that he barely had time to react, being buried under a half-ton of Vikings as the ball came out of his hand right to lineman Connor Maxwell, who brought the interception back 30 yards for a score early in the final stanza.
Less than a minute later, Poling broke a second long run… but this time it was good for six points. He took a handoff off right tackle, found a lane down the sideline and went 70 yards with 10:57 remaining in the game, but Logan still trailed by more than 30 points (42-6) and the running clock continued.
The Vikings weren’t quite done. They mounted one last offensive, driving 62 yards on 11 plays, with Brodi Boardman tallying on a 16-yard run with 3:36 remaining.
Poling’s two long runs were 134 yards in total — he finished with a game-high 131 yards on five attempts — and if you take away those two jaunts, the Chieftains would have been held to negative yardage on the night. Logan finished with 124 yards rushing and four passing.
Teays Valley, meanwhile, used its ball-control, physical game to run for 246 yards (332 yards total) and amass 20 first downs to just three for Logan, with that first-half penalty FD and Poling’s two long runs accounting for all three.
The Vikings (2-0) close non-league play for the season next week at Ashland (0-2).
Teays Valley 49, Logan 6
Logan: 0-0-0-6— 6
Teays: 14-14-7-14—49
Scoring summary
TV: Caden McDanel fumble recovery in end zone (Cale Clifton kick), 10:54, 1Q
TV: Harrison Payne 17 pass from Tyler Love (Clifton kick), 4:47, 1Q
TV: Peyton Weiler 3 run (Clifton kick), 1:50, 2Q
TV: Payne 28 pass from Love (Clifton kick), 0:47, 2Q
TV: Parker Baisden 15 fumble return (Clifton kick), 6:54, 3Q
TV: Connor Maxwell 30 interception return (Clifton kick), 11:45, 4Q
L: Traten Poling 70 run (kick failed), 10:57, 4Q
TV: Brodi Boardman 16 run (Clifton kick), 3:36, 4Q
Team Statistics
First Downs: Logan 3, TV 20
Offensive Plays: Logan 33, TV 59
Rushes-Yards: Logan 28-124, TV 47-246
Passing Yards: Logan 4, TV 86
Total Yards: Logan 128, TV 332
Passes: Logan 2-5-1, TV 5-12-0
Punts-Avg.: Logan 6-28.2, TV 3-36
Fumbles-Lost: Logan 2-2, TV 0-0
Penalties-Yards: Logan 6-35, TV 4-37
Possession: Logan 20:23, TV 27:37
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Logan: Traten Poling 5-131 1TD, Varik Fick 4-10, Alex Thompson 1-2, Tyler Dawson 2-2, Jack Brown 6-(-2), Justin Mustard 1-(-2), Isaac Swope 1-(-2), Brayden Sturgell 6-(-7), team 2-(-8). TV: Caden McDanel 9-55, Peyton Weiler 6-53 1TD, Landon Thompson 8-49, Gavin Karshner 8-43, Brodi Boardman 3-31 1TD, Connor Maxwell 1-12, Harrison Payne 2-8, Tyler Love 9-2, Matthew Farmer 1-(-7).
Passing — Logan: Brayden Sturgell 2-5-1—4. TV: Tyler Love 3-7-0—56 2TD, Matthew Farmer 2-4-0—30, team (spiked) 0-1.
Receiving — Logan: Traten Poling 2-4. TV: Harrison Payne 4-63 2TD, Luke Bullock 1-23.
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