Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Logan quarterback Brock Burns looks for a receiver during Friday's non-district game against Dulce. Burns was involved in six touchdowns for the Longhorns, including four TD passes.
Burns involved in six touchdowns for Longhorns.
LOGAN - On paper, Friday's non-district matchup of Dulce (3-1) and Logan (3-2) looked like it might be a competitive eight-man football game.
It was anything but.
Longhorns quarterback Brock Burns torched the Hawks for 214 yards and four touchdown passes. He ran for another touchdown and caught a pass for TD during a 50-0 victory that required barely an hour because of the mercy rule.
Devin Kotara caught two passes - both touchdowns - for 127 yards. Logan amassed more than 300 yards of offense in just two quarters.
Dulce managed just 29 yards of offense and threatened to score on only one possession.
"We executed, and Brock made some really nice throws tonight," Logan coach Dwayne Roberts said. "We were able to let of lot of those young guys some playing time in the second quarter on defense."
Dulce coach Lawry Johnson was disappointed in his team's performance.
"We had a six-hour bus ride, and we came out flat," he said. "We have to practice better throughout the week and if you take a loss like this, you learn from it."
Johnson acknowledged he lost his starting running back with a broken wrist, but he didn't cite that in the loss.
"No excuses," he said. "And Logan is a good ball team. They've always been a good football team. I played them (at Carrizozo) nine years ago, and they were good then."
Roberts noted his team committed just one turnover against the Hawks.
"Turnovers have been our Achilles heel," he said. "The two games we lost, if you take the turnovers away, it'd be a different game. Honestly, we should be 6-0 after tonight. Instead, we have two losses we shouldn't have had."
Logan started the game fast, with Burns running 32 yards for a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage. Stratton Schoonover caught a pass for the two-point conversion.
Schoonover almost scored on a long punt return after Dulce's first possession, but he fumbled near the goal line, and the Hawks recovered.
Logan got the ball back two plays later when Aydin Kotara made a diving interception at Dulce's 3-yard line. Izaiah Kneitz scored shortly after that on a 5-yard run to make it 14-0.
Later in the quarter, Burns connected with Aydin Kotara for a 45-yard touchdown pass. Burns ran in the conversion to make it 22-0.
Logan subsequently tried an onside kick, but Dulce recovered at Logan's 40. The Hawks completed a few passes and had a first down on Logan's 8-yard line.
"I felt kinda bad (about that play)," Robert said of the onside kick. "We hadn't tried an onside kick all year, but they got it and had good field position. That's why I don't like the onside, but we need to practice it because there may be a game where we have to have it."
Fortunately for Roberts and the Longhorns, the defense stiffened. On fourth down, Aydin Kotara tackled Dulce's receiver 2 yards short of the goal line.
Logan started their drive on their own 2-yard line, but Kneitz gave his team breathing room on a 12-yard run. On the next play, Burns floated a long pass to Devin Kotara, who jumped high, wrestled it from a defender and scampered downfield for an 86-yard TD. Kneitz scored a two-point conversion to make it 30-0 with 1:13 left in the first quarter.
Devin Kotara caught another long Burns pass - this time for 41 yards - for a touchdown ands a 36-0 lead early in the second period.
On the next possession, Devin Kotara caught a short Burns pass and pitched the ball to Schoonover streaking down the sideline for a hook-and-ladder play and a 32-yard TD.
With less than three minutes left in the half, Kneitz took the ball as quarterback and threw to Burns for a 28-yard touchdown. Kneitz ran in the two-point conversion for a 50-0 lead.
With time running out, Logan's Bill DeLuca effectively ended the game by intercepting a long Dulce pass at Logan's 20-yard line.
The hard part of Logan's schedule begins Friday with its first district game at Clayton at 7 p.m. Friday.
"It's the beginning of the season; that's the reality," Roberts said. "We have Clayton next week, then we go to Fort (Sumner), then we have Melrose and Tatum at home. You talk about a gauntlet ... but it's a gauntlet for all of us."
The Yellowjackets (3-3) lost their district opener 50-0 Friday to defending state champion Fort Sumner.
