Logan County is a long way from the 2013 season when it didn’t win a game. And the 2014 season. And 2015. And 2016, when it won only in the season finale.

Greenwood isn’t the same team it was last year, when the Gators won only two games.

Both programs are now ranked in the top 10 in their respective classes and haven’t lost this season. That’ll change for one on Friday night, with the two set to meet in Russellville.

“I’m expecting a good crowd from both teams and a really good football game. Greenwood has some guys that can play. They’re not the same team that they’ve been probably I guess the previous two or three years,” Logan County coach Todd Adler said in a phone interview with The Daily News. “They’re more physical, they’re more disciplined, they have some size, they have some speed and you can tell coach (William) Howard is doing a good job there for sure.”

The two programs will play for the first time since Sept. 16, 2016 – a 48-12 Greenwood win at Logan County. Since that game, the Cougars have gone 24-5 in regular-season games, including a 4-0 start to this season with wins over Butler County, Muhlenberg County, Warren East and Russellville.

Friday will be the biggest test yet for the No. 6 team in Class 4A as they face the No. 10 team in Class 5A.

“We wanted to step our competition up each and every week to prepare us for district play and prepare us for the end of the season and hopefully see some adversity that we haven’t seen the first few weeks,” Adler said. “I think it’s going to be a really good test for us offensively and defensively to prepare us for district play, which is loaded up with Madisonville, Hopkinsville, Calloway and Hopkins County Central.”

Greenwood started the season by taking down two-time defending Class 4A state champion Franklin-Simpson, 28-14. It was followed by wins over Warren Central, Allen County-Scottsville and Warren East. It’s the first 4-0 start the program has seen since 2012.

The Gators have pulled out close contests, with the largest margin of victory coming against the Dragons when they won by 17 points. Greenwood’s average margin of victory is just under 11 points.

The Cougars? They’re winning by an average of 34.75 points.

Logan County has put together a balanced offense with 1,038 rushing yards and 943 passing yards and will try to take advantage of whatever Greenwood will give them defensively.

Tyler Ezell has thrown for 863 yards and 14 touchdowns on 55-of-84 passing, with most of that going to Anthony Woodard. The junior has 17 receptions for 293 yards and five touchdowns. Gary Hardy has led the Cougars on the ground with 518 yards and eight touchdowns on 45 attempts.

“They’re (running) a lot of different coverages and different fronts defensively, so I’m not sure what they’re going to run this week, but we’ve game planned against most of them that we saw,” Adler said. “We’ll see what they come out in and be ready to make adjustments offensively and try to take advantage of what they give us.”

Greenwood’s offense has done most of its damage on the ground, racking up 1,160 yards and 15 touchdowns compared to 379 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Reed Slone and David Odom have combined to rush for 927 yards and 10 touchdowns on 115 carries.

“I’m excited because we’re getting to see two really skilled running backs, we’re getting to see some size up front we really haven’t seen up to this point and it’s going to be a good challenge at our place and hopefully it can help us prepare for district play,” Adler said.

Logan County’s last win over Greenwood was in the 1998 season opener, 41-28. Since then, the Gators have won 10 straight in the series.

Friday’s kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Logan County Stadium.

The Kentucky Super Preps/Talk 104.1 broadcast game of the week will be Allen County-Scottsville at Warren Central. The game can be streamed live at Facebook.com/BGDailyNews.{&end}