by JOHN HOWLEY / sportingpumpkin.com
Blayton Reid had a big night in Logan Elm’s 35-14 win over visiting Fairfield Union.
The senior ran for a Braves’ single-game record 310 yards and passed 1,000 yards for the season.
“Blayton is an unbelievable kid. He plays on both sides of the ball – he plays in the middle on defense. He probably plays one of the most physical positions on defense and offense. He plays all of our special teams. There’s a reason he’s a captain,” Logan Elm coach Terry Holbert said. “He’s put in a ton of work for four years. I’m just thrilled to watch all of this come to fruition.
“Speaking to his character, when he broke the record what he did was tell the guys up front – this is yours, this ball is your record.”
“It started a little slow. The big guys started to pick it up and do what they needed to do. They let me get to the second level,” Reid said. “It’s the big guys, I give (the credit) to them — they’re the only reason I can run the ball so well.”
That slow start Reid mentioned was a first quarter where the Braves had fallen behind 7-0 and managed only one first down.
That started to change as Reid’s first two runs of the second quarter covered 46 yards. Those yards helped set up a 21-yard scoring run by Landon Thompson.
Thompson had another big run in Logan Elm’s next possession — one that covered 57 yards. That helped set up a 12-yard scoring pass from Aaron Walters to Camden Redd. The PAT kick was blocked, leaving the score at 13-7 in favor of the Braves.
Reid finished the first half with 86 yards on the ground and another 45 in the air.
His production ramped up in the second half as he carried the ball on all six plays of Logan Elm’s first drive. Reid picked up 75 yards — 47 on one play — and scored from two yards out. He then ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 21-7 Logan Elm.
“We knew going out we needed to start strong and that’s what we did and carried momentum through the rest of the game,” Reid said.
Reid carried on nine of 10 plays on the Braves’ next possession for 59 more yards and a one-yard touchdown.
After Logan Elm got the ball back, Reid carried a few more times before Walters connected with Keegan Diehl who raced 46 yards for a score and a 35-7 LE lead.
“We had established the run and we ran a play-action pass. Their secondary bit hard, which allowed Keegan to escape deep,” Holbert said. “It was a great ball by Aaron, a good job up front and great catch by Keegan.
“Two of our scores tonight came off of play action. When you run the ball very effectively, that sets up everything else.”
Fairfield Union followed that Logan Elm score by putting together a five-play drive keyed by a 37-yard run from Owen Ruff. Jayden Pritchard capped it off with a six-yard score.
Just over four minutes remained on the clock which gave the Braves the opportunity to give Reid more action. He ran the ball four straight times, picking up two first downs and breaking the record. Logan Elm called a timeout to present him the ball and he was surrounded by teammates offering their congratulations as he left the game.
“We just trust him so much with (the ball). And we trust our guys up front,” Holbert said. “Our guys up front do such a great job communicating and adjusting. If you just give Blayton a seam, he’s going to take advantage of it.”
The Braves were able to grab another first down on a run from Michael Bock and then took a knee to run out the clock.
Overall, the Braves had 496 yards of offense on the night while Fairfield Union had 247.
The record Reid broke belonged to Marcus Paul. Paul rushed for 300 yards Oct. 2, 2015, in a 36-19 win over Liberty Union on a rainy night. Prior to that night, Matt Colopy had run for 274 yards in a 41-13 win against Hamilton Township in 2000.
Up next
Logan Elm (5-1, 3-0) is home again next week hosting Liberty Union (2-4, 1-2). Liberty Union is coming off a 49-14 loss to Bloom-Carroll (5-1, 3-0).
“There are zero gimmes in this league — it only gets harder week after week,” Holbert said. “The challenge for our guys is to remain consistent, to remain disciplined and just continue to do the things Monday through Thursday — that’s when it’s won, it’s won on the practice field and in your film study, so we’ll just battle to stay disciplined and stay the course.”
Fairfield Union (2-4, 0-3) hosts Bloom-Carroll next week.
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Logan Elm 35, Fairfield Union 14
By Quarters 1 2 3 4 F
Fairfield Union 7 0 0 7 14
Logan Elm 0 13 8 14 35
First Quarter
FU — Hayden Collins 40 run (Isabella Neal kick), 6:36.
Second Quarter
LE — Landon Thompson 21 run (Owen Elswick kick), 8:08.
LE — Camden Redd 12 pass from Aaron Walters (kick failed), 4:33.
Third Quarter
LE — Blayton Reid 2 run (Blayton Reid run), 5:01.
Fourth Quarter
LE — Blayton Reid 1 run (Owen Elswick kick), 11:20.
LE — Keegan Diehl 46 pass from Aaron Walters (Owen Elswick kick), 6:14.
FU — Jayden Pritchard 6 run (Isabella Neal kick), 4:10.
TEAM STATISTICS
FU LE
First downs 11 22
Rushing yards 43-231 46-366
Passing yards 16 130
Comp.-Att.-Int 4-6-0 9-13-0
Total yards 247 496
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-25 1-10
Punts-Ave 5-35 3-39
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Fairfield Union — Hayden Collins 26-138, Jayden Pritchard 6-17, Grant Boch 3-22, Owen Ruff 3-42, Brennen Rowles 3-8, Kevin Hazelwood 2-4. Logan Elm — Blayton Reid 36-310, Aaron Walters 5-(-34), Landon Thompson 4-81, Michael Bock 1-9.
PASSING – Fairfield Union — Hayden Collins 4-6-0-16. Logan Elm — Aaron Walters 9-13-0-130.
RECEIVING – Fairfield Union — Brennen Rowles 1-0, Kevin Hazelwood 3-16. Logan Elm — Blayton Reid 3-45, Camden Redd 4-34, Keegan Diehl 2-51.
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