Warren Central senior running back D.J. Tyner tries to avoid a tackle Friday from Monroe County junior Landon Stinson.

Will streaks live another week and another offseason or will the magic shift sidelines? To think even last year that Warren Central and Logan County would meet in the first round of the playoffs in 2017 would’ve been only imagination.

Yet, here it is.

Logan County is undefeated and the Class 4A, District 1 champion and Warren Central, member of a four-team district, hasn’t won a game since 2015 and sits in the postseason with nothing to lose.

“I think it does have a unique twist to it,” Warren Central coach Joel Taylor said about Friday night’s first-round playoff game between Logan County (10-0) and Warren Central (0-10) at Cougar Stadium at 7 p.m. in Russellville.

The Cougars are hosting the first playoff game ever played at Logan County High School against a Warren Central team that is shoehorned into the playoffs only as a result of the current postseason format. With South Warren leaving 4A, District 2 last year to jump to 5A, that leaves the Dragons in a four-team district with Warren East, Franklin-Simpson and Allen County-Scottsville, so going winless is still rewarded with a postseason berth.

Warren Central will try to take some of the magic Logan County has and hopefully use it to end its own bad streak. The Dragons just wrapped up their second-straight winless season with a streak stretching 23 games.

“We are looking forward to the opportunity to play one more football game in what I’ll consider to be a great environment with a great story on the line,” Taylor said. “It’s a great opportunity for both teams and hopefully we go out and compete the best we can.”

Warren Central finally broke a five-game scoreless streak last week when Xavier Patrick-Brown returned a fumble for a touchdown in a 44-6 home loss to Meade County. But the offensive woes still continue with the last touchdown coming Sept. 8 at John Hardin.

“They’re a very scary football team,” Logan County coach Todd Adler said. “They’ve got a few athletes who are very elusive. They look fast on film and a team like that, they should be scary because realistically they have nothing to lose and they’re putting it all on the line. You’re banking on your guys to have a good night and if a team like that is having a good night, they can scare you pretty easily.”

Taylor hopes Warren Central’s schedule has helped prepare them for the postseason. The Dragons played two 6A teams in Meade County and John Hardin, two top-5 teams from 5A in Bowling Green and South Warren, and district opponents Franklin-Simpson and ACS have been in the top 10 in 4A.

“Hopefully our schedule has prepared us for a tough team like Logan County and for us to hang in there and give ourselves a chance,” Taylor said. “If our schedule didn’t get us ready for the playoffs, nobody’s schedule would.”

Logan County wrapped up its first undefeated season by thumping Todd County Central 34-6 last Friday at home in a mud pit. Adler said the field was in rough shape after the game, but the school used a highway roller early this week to flatten the surface back out. Early forecasts call for rain again Friday night.

Adler sees the playoffs as a reset mode for every team. It no longer matters that Logan County is on an 11-game win streak after snapping its 42-game losing streak that stretched over four seasons.

The Cougars were once in the same funk the Dragons are in now and understand how desperate a team will be to end it.

“The past couple of weeks, we’ve had this mentality where the teams we’ve been playing have been trying to bust our bubble,” Adler said. “Calloway (County) didn’t have much to play for when we played them and then Todd County (Central) didn’t mean much. We don’t overlook anybody. We think we’re going to get everyone’s best in playoff football.

“I don’t look into too much what other people are doing and streaks of other people. I worry about my guys and what they’re doing. It’s unbelievable what our kids have done so far and hopefully we can continue on this journey.”{&end}