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Thursday high school football: Logan’s defense overwhelms Ellsworth in opener

Logan junior Ivan Ystenes is pumped up after breaking up a pass in Thursday's win over Ellsworth at Swanson Field. -- TODD SOMMERFELDT PHOTO

LA CROSSE — First, it was Logan High School senior Ben Spears chasing Ellsworth’s punter into a tackle by teammate Jackson Bosch for a 16-yard loss. after a snap sailed over his head

On the play following the Rangers’ first touchdown of the game, Logan senior Tait Hatlevig burst through the line of scrimmage and dumped Coen Hinrichs on the turf for a 2-yard loss.

On the next snap, Logan senior Sam King got in on the act by hitting Hinrichs the second he received the ball and dropping him for a 3-yard loss.

The Rangers were on a defensive mission when they opened a new season on Thursday, and they took it out on the Panthers in a 12-0 victory at Swanson Field.

Ten of Ellsworth’s first 17 plays went for no gain or negative yards as Logan set the tone for a dominant performance for a home crowd that enjoyed it from new bleachers that were put in over the summer.

Sophomore quarterback Tommy Check threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to senior Andrew Stanton in the first quarter, ran for a 17-yard touchdown in the second and let the defense do the rest against a team that has won 34 games over the past 4 seasons.

“The game plan from the coaches was perfect,” Hatlevig said. “We were all where we needed to be at the right times and made the plays.

“We were all geared up to make plays.”

The Panthers wound up with 182 total yards, but most of those came after Logan’s touchdowns, and they were limited to 20 rushing yards on 21 attempts.

The most impressive part of what the defense accomplished on Thursday was the balance with which it was done.

Junior Brigsen Schaffer made a tackle for loss in the first quarter and recovered an onside kick in the second. Junior Jesse Lycke ended the third quarter with an exclamation point when he wrestled Hinrich to the ground for a 1-yard loss.

“We’ve got a pretty healthy rotation on the D-Line, and I was really proud of Brigsen Schaffer and Preston Elston — our inside backers — because they were flying around out there.

“You have that freedom when you have a D-Line play the way ours did tonight.”

Hatlevig said the defense was focused on receiver Cooper Olson, who wound up with 6 catches for 79 yards but didn’t make his first reception until the final drive of the first half and his team trailing by two touchdowns.

Handling Hinrichs (16 yards on 19 carries) and interception Jack Stoltenburg twice — sophomore Viktor Kravanja the playmaker there — played big parts in grounding the Panthers, who host Central (0-1) next week.

Check rushed 26 times for 101 yards and completed 5 of 13 passes for 60 yards and the TD to Stanton. He said he felt comfortable on the field as soon as the first snap hit his hands after having the primary role of wide receiver last fall.

“I just took a few deep breaths to calm down, and then I went out there balled, which is what I do,” Check said. “That first run up the middle, I took the hit and said, ‘OK, this is what we’re doing.'”

None of that surprised Knoble, whose team began last season — one that didn’t end until the WIAA Division 3 state semifinals — with a win at Ellsworth. Check caught the winning 2-point conversion in the closing seconds of that 22-21 victory.

“He’s a work in progress, but that was a great start,” Knoble said of Check. “With him being a sophomore, we’ll be building blocks every week.

“But you could see his explosiveness, and we’re going to see him get into the open field a few times this year and be gone.”

Logan junior Ivan Ystenes is pumped up after breaking up a pass in Thursday's win over Ellsworth at Swanson Field. -- TODD SOMMERFELDT PHOTO
Logan junior Ivan Ystenes is pumped up after breaking up a pass in Thursday’s win over Ellsworth at Swanson Field. — TODD SOMMERFELDT PHOTO