RUSSELLVILLE – It was a bit of a chaotic day for the Logan County football team and a bit of chaotic night for the Butler County offense.

Logan County defensive coordinator Derek Jackson had to leave during the school day when his wife went into labor. Logan County’s defense didn’t miss a beat without its defensive coordinator, stifling Butler County 57-0 in the season opener Friday at Cougar Stadium.

Logan County’s defense forced three turnovers and had five sacks, holding the Bears’ offense to minus 55 yards and one first down the entire night.

While the defense dominated, the offense provided plenty of pop as well – racking up 402 total yards.

“We had an eventful day,” Logan County coach Todd Adler said. “The kids really came together defensively and kind of did this for him. Our defense was amazing and our offense (did) some good things, too. We’ve got some things to fix, but that’s to be expected in week one.”

Logan County (1-0) scored on the second play of the game with Tyler Ezell connecting for a 54-yard score with Reggie Powell.

It set the tone for a dominant half where Logan County totaled 304 yards, with Butler County (0-1) failing to record a first down and turning the ball over three times.

The Cougars’ lead grew to 24-0 by the end of the first quarter with a Lucas Arevalo field goal and touchdown runs by Gary Hardy and Ezell.

“That’s how we want to play offense,” Adler said. “I think we average about eight seconds per play offensively. That was a goal of ours, to stay under 10. We want to work on that and get faster. That makes their defense uncomfortable and their coaching staff uncomfortable, so that’s the game we want to try to play.”

Carson Bradley’s 2-yard run pushed the advantage to 31-0 early in the second period and Ezell’s 48-yard scramble would make it 38-0 to start the KHSAA mandated running clock with 7:26 left in the half.

Logan County capped the first-half scoring with Hardy’s second touchdown run of the night to extend the margin to 44-0 by halftime.

The Cougars added a touchdown catch by Dontavius Blann and a touchdown run by Dallas Simmons in a two-minute span in the third quarter for the final points of the night, with Logan County’s reserves playing the rest of the way.

Butler County was limited to one first down, which came on a penalty late in the fourth quarter. Ethan Lawrence and Dawson Carroll were the only Bears to finish with positive rushing yardage. Lawrence had six yards on four carries, while Carroll finished with five yards.

“Our goal was to come out here and pitch a shutout and turn it over as many times as we (could),” senior lineman Caden McGinnis said. “(We wanted to) get it back to our explosive offense. We were just rolling it all night long.”

Ezell was 6-for-12 for 199 yards passing and ran for 65 yards.

Hardy ran for 70 yards, with Powell leading the way with 98 yards receiving.

“The defense held it down all night,” Ezell said. “The offense was explosive all night. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Both teams return to action at 7 p.m. Aug. 24. Logan County travels to Muhlenberg County, while Butler County hosts Edmonson County.

BCHS 0 0 0 0 – 0

LCHS 24 20 13 0 – 57

First quarter

LC – Reggie Powell 54 pass from Tyler Ezell (Lucas Arevalo kick), 11:36

LC – Arevalo 44 field goal, 9:08

LC – Gary Hardy 2 run (Arevalo kick), 5:24

LC – Ezell 2 run (Arevalo kick), 2:57

Second quarter

LC – Carson Bradley 2 run (Arevalo kick), 9:03

LC – Ezell 48 run (Arevalo kick), 7:26

LC – Hardy 2 run (kick failed), 1:07

Third quarter

LC – Dontavius Blann 33 pass from Ezell (Arevalo kick), 6:41

LC – Simmons 16 run (kick failed), 5:07{&end}