Braylen Baker
Tyler Hart

Tyler Hart

Logan Elm doubles up Teays Valley, will host playoff game

The Braves will, unoficially, host Cambridge next week.

Tyler Hart, Contributor

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

CIRCLEVILLE — Logan Elm had one thing on its mind entering Friday evening — win and host in Week 11. 

Logan Elm’s Landon Thompson barrels into the end zone during Friday’s win over Teays Valley.
CREDIT: Tyler Hart/SOSA

The Braves (8-2, 6-1 MSL-Buckeye) came out in an electrifying manner, making plays in all three aspects of the game to earn a 34-17 victory over Teays Valley.

There will be playoff football in Circleville.. 

“These guys have been steady all year long. This is the result for the guys and for some, they’ve been working hard for years. It’s no surprise to me,” Logan Elm coach Terry Holbert said. “We’ve got great seniors who have put in a tremendous amount of work. Guys who have experienced success and failures, yet they just continue to fight.”

It was the Braves’ defense that made the first big play of the night. They forced a fumble on the Vikings’ opening possession and Nolan Brumfield recovered to set LE up with great field position. 

After an eight-play, 54-yard drive, Blayton Reid provided the capper with a four-yard touchdown sweep for a 7-0 lead.

Then, it was time for the Braves’ special teams to join the fun.

On a punt attempt, TV fumbled the ball again and Brumfield collected his second recovery of the night. 

And, on 3rd and 15 from the Vikings’ 32-yard line, Aaron Walters hit Braylen Baker in stride down the sideline for the 32-yard touchdown connection, extending the lead to 14-0. 

Teays Valley (5-5, 4-3 MSL-Buckeye) managed to put a drive together and, finally, some points on the board via a 17-yard field goal, trimming the lead to 14-3. 

But the Braves began to start pulling away and looked in Baker’s direction to do so. In a matter of minutes, Walters found Baker twice. The first was a 27-yard screen pass for a fresh set of downs and, on the second, Baker made a few defenders miss and stayed patient behind blocks from his teammates, breaking down the sideline for a 40-yard score to put the Braves up 21-3. 

Teays Valley then proceeded to piece together a drive in less than two minutes to give itself some momentum heading into halftime. Kaden Hines threaded the needle and found Trent Wolpert for a 34-yard touchdown pass, cutting the lead to 21-10. 

But Walters was a man on a mission to open the third. Wasting no time, he connected with Baker on a deep shot for the 64-yard score, the third of the game, extending the lead to 28-10. 

Baker finished the night with four catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns. 

“He called that play. We made a couple quick adjustments but that was his play call,” Holbert said about Walters’ touchdown throw. “He’s just been on this steady rise all season. He’s a young sophomore and it makes you sit back on your heels. We’ve been waiting to see when that ‘sophomore’ was going to show through. But it hasn’t. He’s way ahead of his years in picking up blitzes from defenses, throws the ball well and can tuck it for a run. He’s become a great leader for our offense.”

The Vikings’ defense came up with a big play later in the game as Cavin McDowell intercepted a pass and brought it all the way down to the Braves’ one-yard line. 

Brody Bailey then punched it in with a powering run to narrow Logan Elm’s lead to 28-17. 

The Vikings’ momentum was short-lived, though.

On the ensuing possession, Logan Elm methodically drove down the field and ended the possession with a one-yard plunge from Landon Thompson to cap the evening’s scoring.

The win allows the Braves to earn a No. 6 seed in Division IV, Region 15, according to joeeitel.com, meaning they’ll be hosting No. 11 Cambridge on Friday. 

“We are going to bring everything we got and bring a lot to the table,” Baker said after the win. “There’s not many Logan Elm teams that were able to say that they made it to the playoffs and were 8-2 coming out of the regular season. It’s been a big season for us but we are going to try and continue doing our best for as long as we can.”

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