HOPKINSVILLE – Logan County left Stadium of Champions beaten and bruised – yet still undefeated – from a four-quarter slugfest.

Although the Cougars’ confidence is high in grinding out a 10-6 win over Hopkinsville, the close contest with the Tigers unveiled plenty of errors and now raises questions at quarterback moving forward.

Maurice Gordon’s second-quarter touchdown was good enough to win, but Lucas Arevalo’s 41-yard field goal with 3:18 left iced the four-point win for No. 4 Logan County (7-0).

“Learned some things about our team,” Cougars coach Todd Adler said. “We have to clean some things up on the penalty side. Good road win against a good team. … This is the first time we’ve really been tested like that, so we saw who we were, for sure.”

Quarterback Tyler Ezell left the game with a foot injury in the second quarter and didn’t return. His status was still uncertain after the game.

Senior Nate Woodall stepped in and kept the offense afloat just enough to hold off Hopkinsville (1-6) in the second straight regular-season game consisting of field goals and strong defense.

Exactly one year ago, Logan County squeaked by Hopkinsville at home to take first place in Class 4A, District 1 with a 13-12 win. Hopkinsville returned the favor in the playoffs in a blowout where the Tigers led 43-0 at halftime.

Looking for revenge, Logan County believed its maturity level and continuity of 52 points per game – the highest scoring team in 4A – would carry over into another blowout.

Hopkinsville had other plans.

The Tigers held Logan County to 211 yards of offense and just 2-of-15 on third-down conversions.

Logan County was penalized 16 times for 115 yards and Hopkinsville incurred 14 penalties worth 110 yards.

When the offense was stuck, the Cougars defense stood tall. Defensive tackle Caden McKinnis led a blitzing unit that held Hopkinsville to 189 yards and sacked quarterback Ellis Dunn three times.

On Hopkinsville’s final drive, the Cougars got two sacks to force a fourth-and-long pass attempt that fell incomplete to seal the win.

Logan County’s winning streak in the regular season extends to 18 games and sets up a district championship game at Cougar Stadium with Madisonville-North Hopkins next Friday.

“Coach always says defense wins championships and we proved it tonight,” McKinnis said. “If the offense is struggling with penalties and we aren’t moving the ball, defense always steps up and that’s what I love about this team.

“This win got us one home playoff game for sure. That’s a big factor. It just gives us confidence for next week to play throughout a game. We don’t have to have a big lead to win a game and we can win it at the end.”

Logan County’s offense was in a funk even with Ezell in the game.

The Cougars went scoreless in the first quarter and trailed 3-0 going into the second. Gordon found the end zone first on a 39-yard reverse down the right sideline at the 10:54 mark of the second quarter.

Ezell went down late in the half on an awkward twist while being sacked. He was helped off the field and replaced by Woodall, who threw an interception on his first play on third-and-long.

Ezell had his right foot treated on the sideline until a cart took him off the field at halftime. The loss of Ezell removes how the Cougars offense functions.

As a three-year starter and a dual-threat quarterback, Ezell accounted for 19 touchdowns entering Friday with 1,140 passing yards while averaging 60 yards rushing per game. His ability to spread the ball is proven with touchdown passes to eight different receivers.

But the senior Woodall has been right there with Ezell in Logan County’s resurgence since 2016, even if the senior was without stats to show for it entering the game.

Woodall took a shot downfield that fell through the hands of Anthony Woodard on the final drive before halftime. He then completed consecutive passes to Chandler Silvey and Reggie Powell before time expired.

He finished the game completing 4-of-9 passes for 54 yards.

“Nate Woodall, I would give him the game ball tonight,” McKinnis said. “He stepped up big for us and he didn’t back down. In game situations like this, I trust Nate to do anything. He has a cool head and he’s a leader of this team.”

Logan County 0 7 0 3 – 10

Hopkinsville 3 0 3 0 – 6

First quarter

HHS – Mason Marschand 32 kick, 1:02

Second quarter

LCHS – Maurice Gordon 39 run (Lucas Arevalo kick), 10:54

Third quarter

HHS – Marschand 32 kick, 6:48

Fourth quarter

LCHS – Lucas Arevalo 41 kick, 3:18{&end}