Logan Longhorns rout Ramah

LOGAN - The host Longhorns routed a clearly overmatched Ramah team 52-0 in a rainy eight-man football playoff game Saturday afternoon that ended at halftime because of the mercy rule. The game lasted barely an hour.

Logan, which improved to 5-6 overall, plays at No. 3 seed Mountainair (8-1) at 7 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals. Host Mountainair defeated Logan 50-28 on Sept. 24.

With a 3-6 record and a 2-0 district mark coming into the game, Ramah appeared on paper to be a decent matchup. However, Ramah was fielding its first football team since the 1990s, and four eighth-graders started.

Logan, with its skilled athletes and its flurry of fake handoffs and cutbacks, bewildered Ramah's defense. The Longhorns scored long rushing touchdowns on its first three plays from scrimmage and seized a 36-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The Longhorns racked up 276 yards of offense in just a half and averaged 17.3 yards per play. Jantzen Paris led a parade of ball carriers with 81 yards and three touchdowns on just four carries. Jordan Evans ran for 69 yards and two touchdowns on four carries. Chase Hittson and Nick Brown also scored TDs for Logan.

Ramah managed just two first downs and lost 3 yards in offense.

"Logan looks like a really good team, and they've got some great athletes," Ramah coach Shane Evans said.

Moments after the game, Logan coach Chase Disney already was looking ahead to his next postseason foe.

"I knew our kids were prepared and ready to go," he said. "I'm going to look at game film and make sure we still have our blocking schemes ready for next week."

On Logan's first snap, Hittson ran for a 52-yard touchdown. Just 11 seconds had expired. Chase Earle ran in a two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Paris ran for a 49-yard touchdown. Ramah foiled Earle's attempt at the conversion, keeping the score 14-0.

About 2 1/2 minutes later, Evans ran 33 yards for a TD, and Earle scored the conversion for a 20-0 lead.

Brown scored 1 minute, 16 seconds later on a 22-yard run, and Evans tallied the two-pointer for a 28-0 advantage.

With about three minutes left in the period, Paris scored on a 3-yard plunge. Hayden Tobin scored the two-point conversion for a 36-0 lead.

All the while, Logan stuffed Ramah's running plays and rendered its passes equally ineffective. The Mustangs, going for broke, never punted. The subsequent turnovers on downs repeatedly gave Logan good field position.

Midway through the second period, Paris scored on a 20-yard run, and Tobin ran in the conversion for a 44-0 lead.

Evans finished the touchdown barrage with a 40-yard run with 4:10 left in the period. Wyatt Wright scored on the conversion for a 52-0 lead.

Ramah's coach wasn't discouraged by Saturday's game. In the team's first season after more than a 20-year hiatus, his team had managed three victories and a playoff berth.

"If you can get the interest from the kids, you can build from that," he said.