A game plan adjustment intended for one Friday night has turned into an advantage Logan County is enjoying every week.

The onside kick has turned into a weapon for the Cougars, who have recovered at least two per game since making it a consistent effort against Madisonville-North Hopkins on Oct. 13. Three games have passed since then and Logan County has been on the winning side of that gamble more often than not.

“Our kicker does a phenomenal job getting a bounce on that onside kick and we have Gary Hardy who loves contact,” LCHS coach Todd Adler said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to get on some of those fumbles. We like our chances at it. So that’s something we like doing and our defense is playing well enough, what’s the difference in 15 yards. We’ve been fortunate and lucky there. That’s something we’ll continue to do.”

Logan County (11-0) will no doubt use it against Hopkinsville (5-6) at Cougar Stadium on Friday night in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs. Considering the low-scoring 13-12 win in their last meeting Oct. 5, the Cougars could use an extra offensive possession or two if they can earn it through special teams.

Adler said opposing teams were averaging a start at the 35-yard line before starting the onside kicks. Given how well his defense has played, he still likes his team’s chances if the ball goes out of bounds on a kickoff – which gives the opposing team the ball at the 35 anyway – or if they can recover it.

“It’s something different and not routine,” Adler said. “It’s just something we wanted to try to do to catch (Madisonville) off guard a bit and it ended up being better than we anticipated. We’ve just been riding it.”

The week of that Oct. 13 game, Logan County switched out Anthony Dancer for Tristan Blake to kick off because of Blake’s talent and spin and short placement. The Cougars onside kicked it on all but one kickoff at Madisonville-North Hopkins. The last one they recovered allowed them to drive down and kick the game-winning field goal.

Logan County tried something different last week when Warren Central finally picked up on what it was doing. When the Dragons brought all but one player within 30 yards of the ball, Blake kicked it as far as he could and pinned the Dragons at their own 10-yard line.

The Cougars recovered two onside kicks and Reggie Powell had an 85-yard kick return for a touchdown, which meant special teams contributed to a 20-0 second quarter.

“We said we’re going to try to keep doing it until we see something otherwise,” Adler said. “We continue to do it every game and we’ve been successful with getting two-plus kicks a game and that’s always a plus for us when we take an extra possession.”

Greenwood rebounds in first round of playoffs

A week ago when Gators coach Chris Seabolt met with his assistants during their Sunday afternoon meeting, none of them was sure they’d be able to run the veer against the interior size of Apollo.

But Seabolt said he got a sense from his seniors that they “weren’t ready to be done yet.”

The Gators (4-7) shook off a terrible start and put Apollo on skates the rest of the way in a 51-31 win where Jackson Adams ran for 237 yards and five touchdowns.

Greenwood fell behind 14-0 three minutes into the game, then fought back for a 21-14 lead at halftime. From the time the Gators tied the game at 14-all until the end of the night, Seabolt said they ran four run plays.

“Just in the way they played, the emotion they played with carried over to everybody,” Seabolt said. “Our kids on the field who were non-seniors and our kids on the sideline, there was a lot of juice and energy surrounding our kids. There were a lot of kids encouraging one another.

“Apollo didn’t quit. They made plays and there were times we thought we had them on the ropes and they would come back and hit us with a big play over the top. You could see our kids instead of dropping their heads, just rolled their sleeves up and continue to fight.”

It was a much-needed boost for the Greenwood program after posting a 3-7 regular season. Adams’ big night put him over 5,000 rushing yards and 1,000 passing yards for his Greenwood career. Triston Wilson ran for 153 yards to put him over 1,000 on the season and marking the first time in Greenwood’s history the school has had two 1,000-yard rushers.

The win over Apollo (7-4) also marked the first time the Gators have won a playoff game in three consecutive seasons.

“There were a lot of good things that happened,” Seabolt said.

First Round Playoff Top Performers

• Greenwood QB Jackson Adams – 23 rushes, 237 yards, 5 TDs; 1 passing TD

• Bowling Green QB Beau Buchanan – 16-19 passing, 309 yards, 5 TDs

• Bowling Green WR Nash Hightower – 4 receptions, 100 yards, 2 TDs

• South Warren RB Christian Winn – 18 rushes, 162 yards, 3 TDs

• Warren Central WR Justin Borden – 3 receptions, 46 yards, 3 TDs

• Logan County QB Tyler Ezell – 127 passing yards, 4 total TDs

• Russellville RB Javaren Robey – 5 rushes, 140 yards, 3 TDs

Second Round Playoff Schedule

Class 5A

Greenwood (4-6) at Bowling Green (9-2), 7 p.m.

South Warren (9-2) at Christian County (11-0), 7 p.m.

Class 4A

Hopkinsville (5-6) at Logan County (11-0), 7 p.m.

Madisonville-North Hopkins (7-4) at Franklin-Simpson (8-3), 7:30 p.m.

Class 2A

Newport Central Catholic (6-5) at Glasgow (8-3), 7 p.m.

Class A

Russellville (7-4) at Campbellsville (6-5), 6:30 p.m. CST