VINCENT - It took the Warren Warriors' offense a little while to get things going in their season finale against the Logan Friday night, but once they did get things rolling, they got them rolling in a real big way.
The Warriors blew open what was a 7-0 game with six touchdowns in a span of 13 minutes on their way to a dominating, 49-8 victory over Logan in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic Conference contest on senior night at Warrior field.
Warren scored three touchdowns in the final 2:30 of the first half and then added three more third quarter scores to down Logan for just the fifth time in the last 31 match ups between the two conference rivals.
Article Photos
KAREN HENTHORN Special to The Times
Warren’s Andrew Vincent (3) makes the reception as Logan’s Justin Moore (28) defends during Southeastern Ohio Athletic League football action in Vincent Friday night. The Warriors won 49-8.
"I'm just so happy for our seniors to go out this way," said third year Warrior head coach Andy Schob. "We won our last two games and probably played our best game of the year tonight."
Warren got the first break of the game early on when Logan botched a punt attempt giving the Warriors outstanding field position at the Chiefs 15- yard line.
It took the royal blue and white just one play to cash in as senior Chas Miller took a reverse around the right side and into the end zone for a 7-0 Warrior lead.
Fact Box
Warren 49 Logan 8
Logan 0 0 8 0 - 8
Warren 7 21 21 0 - 49
First Quarter
W: Chas Miller 15 yd run (Miller kick) 1:50
Second Quarter
W: Austin Kuhn 35 yd. run (Miller kick) 2:30
W: Dylan Leffingwell 5 yd run (Miller kick) 1:15
W: Miller 9yd. pass from David Ryan (Miller kick) :03
Third Quarter
W: Andrew Vincent 14 yd pass from Leffingwell (Miller kick) 8:50
W: Kuhn 20 yd run (Miller kick) 6:13
L: Chance Cox 24 yd pass from Music (Music run) 3:33
W: Rodney Barnes 45 yd interception return (Miller kick) 1:38
Team Stats
Logan: First downs: 8, Rushes-yards: 30-123, Passing yards: 87, Total yards: 210, Penalties-yards: 10-80, Punts-avg: 5-39.6, Fumbles-lost: 1-1
Warren: First downs: 14, Rushes-yards: 39-183, Passing yards: 155, Total yards: 338, Penalties-yards: 4-22, Punts-avg: 2-47.0, Fumbles-lost: 1-0.
Individual Stats
Logan: Rushing: Music: 9-50, Isaac Schmeltzer: 10-39, Cory McCarty: 3-17, Nick Maniskas:2-6, Garret Tutwiler: 1-6, Nick Kost: 4-4, Austin Scarbury: 1-1. Passing: Music: 7-12-87, TD, 3INT. Receiving: Cox: 4-49, TD, Maniskas: 2-32, Dean Jordan: 1-6.
Warren: Rushing: Kuhn: 12-82, 2TD, Jake Scott: 8-34, Miller: 3-19, TD, Leffingwell: 6-18, TD, Andy Farnsworth: 1-11, Vincent: 1-9, Travian White: 1-6, Tanner Barrows: 2-5, Zach Clegg: 2-3, Andrew Henthorn: 1 (-1), Justus Johnson: 1- (-5). Passing: Leffingwell: 8-13-146, TD, Ryan: 1-1-9, TD. Receiving: Vincent: 4-80, TD, Miller: 3-63, TD, Ryan: 1-10, Scott: 1-2.
Final Records: Warren (4-6), Logan (2-8).
The Warrior defense was outstanding in the first half as they limited Logan to just two first downs in the opening half and 55 total yards of offense.
"We've made some great strides on defense," said Schob. "We struggled some in the middle part of the season but when they play together, this is the type of defense that they are capable of playing."
With the defense holding up their end of the bargain for the Warriors, it was time for the offense to kick things into high gear and they did exactly that late in the second quarter.
Senior Austin Kuhn made it a two touchdown Warrior lead when he capped a five play, 57- yard drive with a 35-yard touchdown run with 2:30 to play.
"Part way through the season things really began to click for Austin (Kuhn)", said Schob of his senior running back who broke the Warriors single game rushing record last week against Portsmouth. "By the end of the season he might have been the best back in the league."
After Logan went three-and-out, the Warriors wisely used their timeouts and took over possession of the football at their own 39- yard line with 1:53 to play in the half.
The combination of quarterback Dylan Leffingwell and senior wide out Andrew Vincent set up the third Warrior score of the game as they connected on passes of 8 and 48 yards respectively to move the ball to the five- yard line.
Leffingwell took over from there as the senior signal caller took a sneak five yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 Warrior lead.
Warren was not done scoring in the first half just yet as after Andrew Henthorn intercepted a Jack Music pass, the Warriors used a bit of trickery to score yet again.
With Miller lined up for what appeared to be a last second field goal attempt, holder David Ryan took the snap and rolled to his left, where he found a wide open Miller in the end zone for a 28-0 halftime lead.
"We've been doing that play in practice," said Miller of his second touchdown of the first half. "Coach (Schob) said to fake it and do a throwback and it just worked to perfection."
"He (Miller) is probably the most intense leader we have," said Schob of Miller, who also converted all seven Warrior extra point attempts in the game. "He's just a great kid and I couldn't be any happier for the way he ended his career."
With the momentum definitely on their side, the Warriors showed no signs of letting up in the third quarter as a 14-yard strike from Leffingwell to Vincent and a 20-yard sprint to the end zone by Kuhn made it a 42-0 game.
Logan finally got on the board on their next possession as Music and wide receiver Chance Cox combined on a 24-0 touchdown pass to make it a 42-8 game.
The Warrior defense accounted for the final score of the game as sophomore Rodney Barnes returned an interception return 45-yards for a touchdown with under two minutes to play in the third quarter.
Leffingwell, who completed 8-of-13 passes in the game for 146 yards and a touchdown, drew high praise from his head coach in his final game as a Warrior.
"He threw the ball well tonight, ran the ball well and his leadership was awesome tonight," said Schob of Leffingwell. "It's the kind of an ending of a career that a kid that works as hard as Dylan deserves."
The win in the final prep game for the 10 seniors on the Warrior roster improved Warren's season record to 4-6 .
"These guys are all family," said Leffingwell. "Some of these guys we haven't even known that long, but we are all just like family, it's great to end it like this."
Logan ended its season with a 2-8 record.
