Logansport's come-from-behind miracle finish wins state championship

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GreenLantern
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I grew up in Logansport, a small north Louisiana town known for dairy farming, extreme poverty and little else. The population was (and still is) 1500 souls. Entertainment for the adolescent set was limited to cow-tipping and football (not necessarily in that order).

This football season appears to be a golden moment in the town's history. Logansport plays class 1A football and this year's team is one for the ages. They have an undefeated record and throughout their last seven games, they have scored 318 points while limiting their opponents to 22 (five of the games were shutouts).

This weekend's game is the state 1A semi-finals and matches Logansport against Kentwood, historically a 1A powerhouse. If Logansport is able to overcome Kentwood, next weekend they will play in the SuperDome for the state championship. I'm pretty pumped about this.

Although I haven't decided if I am going to make the five hour drive to see Friday's game in Logansport, I will of course be first in line to purchase tickets at the Dome.

So join me in wishing LHS the best of luck against Brittany Spears' own Kentwood team. (For non-natives, the multi-talented Ms. Spears hails from Kentwood).

Here's where I need your help. I would like to request permission from this group to make a temporary adjustment to my gameday attire for the two remaining Logansport games. You see, their colors are *GASP* purple and gold. Their mascot is *DOUBLE-GASP* the Tigers. My greatest fear is being spotted by someone I know from Tulane while wearing purple and gold gear...with a tiger yet. It makes me understand how David Vitter must have felt when he was discovered entangled with that nasty DC Madam business.
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winwave
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Good luck and enjoy the ride! Permission granted!
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msdos
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I put my vote in for going to Logansport on Friday. If they win, you won't want to miss that.
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GreenLantern
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Here's one of the reasons Logansport has been unstoppable this year. Son of John Stephens, NFL rookie of the year in 1998 (Patriots), this gifted young man is a junior but could probably start at wide receiver for the Wave immediately. Why do so many of the football prodigies hail from Louisiana?

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sp ... /94697528/
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Get thee to Logansport!
I can't say I've ever been there but I do know a few people who have relatives in Keachi.

I'll grant you dispensation for the p and g. But please don't don it until your are actually in Logansport.
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GreenLantern
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It was an 18-7 victory by the purple and gold Logansport Tigers over the mighty Kentwood Kangaroos. (Any team with a kangaroo mascot should never win a game...nor be allowed to play, for that matter).

Next weekend it's Logansport in the Dome for the state 1A championship against Haynesville. The Haynesville team is also undefeated and has put up similar lopsided scores against their opponents as has Logansport.

It should be an exciting game. I'll be there wearing my purple and gold garb, singing Hold Them Tigers. Nothing like high school football.
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GreenLantern
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Well, today's the day. Friday afternoon at 4:30 in the MB Superdome the state 1-A championship game kicks off between Haynesville and Logansport. Haynesville runs a Wing-T offense while Logansport counters with a fast-paced spread. The Haynesville team has played in the last four state championship games while most of the kids from Logansport have never travelled more than 100 miles from home. I'll bet there will be some wide-eyed players when they walk onto the field at the Dome (cue the Friday Night Lights music).

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Logansport's star player is John Stephens Jr., son of the 1998 NFL rookie of the year and New England Patriot, John Sr. Some of you old-timers may remember John as the record-setting running back from Northwestern Louisiana University.

I'll be there. I've decided to change into my purple and gold attire in the car and wear a bag over my head until I get inside the dome. At that point, I'll be yelling Go Tigers with the best of them. Wish me luck.
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GreenLantern wrote:Well, today's the day. Friday afternoon at 4:30 in the MB Superdome the state 1-A championship game kicks off between Haynesville and Logansport. Haynesville runs a Wing-T offense while Logansport counters with a fast-paced spread. The Haynesville team has played in the last four state championship games while most of the kids from Logansport have never travelled more than 100 miles from home. I'll bet there will be some wide-eyed players when they walk onto the field at the Dome (cue the Friday Night Lights music).

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Logansport's star player is John Stephens Jr., son of the 1998 NFL rookie of the year and New England Patriot, John Sr. Some of you old-timers may remember John as the record-setting running back from Northwestern Louisiana University.

I'll be there. I've decided to change into my purple and gold attire in the car and wear a bag over my head until I get inside the dome. At that point, I'll be yelling Go Tigers with the best of them. Wish me luck.
His Daughter, Sloane is a professional tennis player?
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tpstulane
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GL I'll look for you on TV. "Wave" your bag so I can tell it's you. :mrgreen:
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wave97 wrote:His Daughter, Sloane is a professional tennis player?
I believe Sloane is John Jr.'s half sister from John Sr.'s second marriage (I think). John Sr. must have had some seriously athletic genes.
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GreenLantern wrote:Well, today's the day. Friday afternoon at 4:30 in the MB Superdome the state 1-A championship game kicks off between Haynesville and Logansport. Haynesville runs a Wing-T offense while Logansport counters with a fast-paced spread. The Haynesville team has played in the last four state championship games while most of the kids from Logansport have never travelled more than 100 miles from home. I'll bet there will be some wide-eyed players when they walk onto the field at the Dome (cue the Friday Night Lights music).

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Logansport's star player is John Stephens Jr., son of the 1998 NFL rookie of the year and New England Patriot, John Sr. Some of you old-timers may remember John as the record-setting running back from Northwestern Louisiana University.

I'll be there. I've decided to change into my purple and gold attire in the car and wear a bag over my head until I get inside the dome. At that point, I'll be yelling Go Tigers with the best of them. Wish me luck.
Best of luck. Enjoy it to the fullest.
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I've watched football games for almost seven decades, and I can honestly say that I just saw the
BEST.GAME.EVER.
Friday Night Lights, Remember The Titans....Hollywood has never scripted a game like this one.

With Logansport trailing 1A top-seeded and heavily-favored Haynesville 28-6 at the start of the 4th quarter, I've watched enough Tulane football throughout the years to realize when something is a lost cause. But suddenly it wasn't:
  • Logansport scores but fails to convert a two-point try. 28-12. At least a little respectability for the Logansport faithful.
  • The following kickoff was either an onside kick, a squib kick, or a horrible kick attempt. Whatever the case, it one hopped over Haynesville's front line and Logansport recovered. A half dozen plays later they score. I'm thinking "you have to go for two". They did. They made it. Now it's 28-20. "At least", I'm thinking. "At least Haynesville will go home knowing they were in a fist fight."
  • On the next series, Logansport did something they had failed to do thus far in the game. They stopped the Haynesville ground game. After receiving Haynesville's fourth-down punt, Logansport connected with a couple of clutch passes and HOLY CRAP! They're in the end zone!! 28-26! You can't possibly expect them to convert another two-pointer against Haynesville's vaunted defensive front. Only they did! 28-28!
  • Logansport's defense does its job and stops Haynesville again. LHS takes the punt and with a balanced running and passing attack, march the length of the field. Carefully controlling the clock and with less than a minute left, the impossible happens. Logansport scores again. 34-28! A two point conversion attempt fails, but there are less than 30 seconds left on the clock.
  • Three plays later and it's over. Logansport is the 1A state champion.

Absolute pandemonium ensued. Everyone was hugging everyone. Grown men were crying. Everyone was dancing. Even me. The screaming was deafening. A three hundred pound woman in the row behind me hugged me and kissed me on the mouth (no tongue). Her husband then reached to hug me. I quickly and vigorously reached for and shook his hand.

It was a magical moment. As Herm Edwards once sorta said, "That's why they play the game". I guess if you live long enough and watch enough football, you're destined to watch a game like that. Now if only Tulane....
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winwave
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Congratulations!!! So very happy for you , those players and the coaches. Does sound like the makings of a great movie.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
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tpstulane
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GreenLantern wrote:I've watched football games for almost seven decades, and I can honestly say that I just saw the
BEST.GAME.EVER.
Friday Night Lights, Remember The Titans....Hollywood has never scripted a game like this one.

With Logansport trailing 1A top-seeded and heavily-favored Haynesville 28-6 at the start of the 4th quarter, I've watched enough Tulane football throughout the years to realize when something is a lost cause. But suddenly it wasn't:
  • Logansport scores but fails to convert a two-point try. 28-12. At least a little respectability for the Logansport faithful.
  • The following kickoff was either an onside kick, a squib kick, or a horrible kick attempt. Whatever the case, it one hopped over Haynesville's front line and Logansport recovered. A half dozen plays later they score. I'm thinking "you have to go for two". They did. They made it. Now it's 28-20. "At least", I'm thinking. "At least Haynesville will go home knowing they were in a fist fight."
  • On the next series, Logansport did something they had failed to do thus far in the game. They stopped the Haynesville ground game. After receiving Haynesville's fourth-down punt, Logansport connected with a couple of clutch passes and HOLY CRAP! They're in the end zone!! 28-26! You can't possibly expect them to convert another two-pointer against Haynesville's vaunted defensive front. Only they did! 28-28!
  • Logansport's defense does its job and stops Haynesville again. LHS takes the punt and with a balanced running and passing attack, march the length of the field. Carefully controlling the clock and with less than a minute left, the impossible happens. Logansport scores again. 34-28! A two point conversion attempt fails, but there are less than 30 seconds left on the clock.
  • Three plays later and it's over. Logansport is the 1A state champion.

Absolute pandemonium ensued. Everyone was hugging everyone. Grown men were crying. Everyone was dancing. Even me. The screaming was deafening. A three hundred pound woman in the row behind me hugged me and kissed me on the mouth (no tongue). Her husband then reached to hug me. I quickly and vigorously reached for and shook his hand.

It was a magical moment. As Herm Edwards once sorta said, "That's why they play the game". I guess if you live long enough and watch enough football, you're destined to watch a game like that. Now if only Tulane....
Great story! Congrats!
I felt that way when Jesuit won it all a few years ago.
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Congrats, GL! Sounds like an awesome game, glad you were there to enjoy it. Just wish your RB/WR/MVP didn't wear an LSU bandana! :) :roll: :mrgreen:
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The population of Logansport is 1500-2000 folks. The town is a 4.5 - 5 hour drive from New Orleans. The pic below shows the crowd that made the trip to the dome. Most stood throughout the entire game. The loge and all upper seating areas were closed and yet the noise was deafening. (Haynesville had approximately 1/3 the crowd size on their side). Saw several folks wearing overalls with John Deere and Dallas Cowboy caps. I'm pretty sure they weren't trying to make a fashion statement but rather it's what they had to wear to the game (and everywhere else).

With those facts and this image fresh in your mind, think of the turnout for Tulane games in the last few years of using the Dome.
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Then again, you're comparing fans that 1) came to see their team win a championship, and 2) the large majority may have never been in New Orleans, much less the Superdome, against a fan group that has spent years and years watching their team lose badly in this same venue. Its apples and oranges.

Not to take anything away from Logansport. To be honest, not only have I never been there, but I probably couldn't find it on the map. Doesn't mean I don't know what small towns are like. Spent 10 days in Eunice after Katrina, and my cousin lives in Kentwood and we visit fairly often.
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RobertM320 wrote:Then again, you're comparing fans that 1) came to see their team win a championship, and 2) the large majority may have never been in New Orleans, much less the Superdome, against a fan group that has spent years and years watching their team lose badly in this same venue. Its apples and oranges.

Not to take anything away from Logansport. To be honest, not only have I never been there, but I probably couldn't find it on the map. Doesn't mean I don't know what small towns are like. Spent 10 days in Eunice after Katrina, and my cousin lives in Kentwood and we visit fairly often.
+1,000,000. Have truly been happy for you GL but the Dome was never the problem. Tulane is the problem.
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Robert and ww, you both seem a little on edge about the Dome-Tulane issue. My post merely stated a number of facts with no conjecture. My implied point was solely that it is ironic and disappointing that a financially disadvantaged community with a population of less than 2000 could send 5000 fans over 325 miles to an event at the dome whereas an affluent university only a couple miles away frequently brought less than 1000. You should agree that is both ironic and disappointing.

Why was Tulane's attendance at the Dome so disappointing? Everyone on this forum knows why. This very forum had its sixth birthday a week ago and after nearly 2000 threads, we have discussed it to death. It is simply that in recent years Tulane has performed like dog$hit in the Dome and there is not much of a market for a commodity with so foul a smell.

But I digress. I have been overzealous with my posts about Logansport within a Tulane forum, and I appreciate your patience.
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I wasn't on edge at all, GL. And I understand your excitement with Logansport. I went through the same a few years back when Rummel finally won a state title in football. I guess my point was, if you want to compare apples to apples, we should compare what Tulane's attendance was in the Dome in the early years when they were winning, such as 1979. That was only the 5th year in the Dome, so you still have the newness aspect. A 9-2 record and being a ranked team resulted in crowds of 40K+. Win and they will come.

That said, its pretty impressive that a town of 2000 can have 5000 people attend. Where do the other 3000 people live?
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GL I have been very supportive of your experience w/your teams magical run. Just think there was no need for the comparison in this thread especially when you acknowledge that the reasons for the difference in attendance are quite clear. Nothing ironic at all. Very straight forward. Hell that crowd in the Dome is very similar to several we have had at Yulman. I bet those folks were happy to be inside.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
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Small time facilities for small time programs
6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
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