WISCONSIN RAPIDS — The Logan High School football team had an idea that it would be able to find success offensively on Friday, but the big question centered around slowing down a big and talented team from Green Bay Notre Dame.
The Rangers (10-3) got the early lead they wanted and moved the ball the way they thought they could, but Notre Dame running back Christian Collins and his teammates on the offensive line made sure that wasn’t enough to win a WIAA Division 3 state semifinal.
Collins rushed for 341 yards and five touchdowns, and the Tritons (13-0) took the lead for good with three touchdowns in the second quarter as Logan’s deepest playoff run since 2013 came to an end.
The Rangers avoided turnovers and other mistakes, but Notre Dame couldn’t be stopped with a trip to Camp Randall Stadium on the line.
Logan senior Bradley Check carried 26 times for 145 yards and three touchdowns to run his season total to 36. He also completed 8 of 22 passes for 128 yards and no interceptions.
The Rangers got the start they wanted with the help of a Jacob Hackbarth punt that backed the Tritons up inside their own 10 the first time they had the ball. Christian Parcher ended that possession with a sack, and Logan followed that with its first scoring drive.
Check completed a third-down pass to Hackbarth for a first down at the 7 and later scored from the 2 for a 7-0 lead.
But Notre Dame scored the next three times it had the ball and found ways to get key defensive stops along the way. The Tritons had 461 total yards and reached the final margin of victory when Collins raced 79 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Hackbarth had three catches for 80 yards and Andrew Stanton two for 60 to lead Logan’s receivers.
