Logan ousts Mustangs

Logan avenged a season-opening loss to Mountainair by ousting the host Mustangs 48-32 Friday in the opening round of the eight-man football playoffs.

Logan next hosts top-seeded Tatum at 7 p.m. Friday in the state semifinals.

Mountainair defeated Logan 40-14 on Aug. 23 by jumping to a 16-0 first-half lead. On Friday, it was the Longhorns who jumped to a 20-0 lead in the first half and held off the Mustangs the rest of the way, including scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter.

For Logan, Nick Brown scored four touchdowns on rushing plays of 20, 65, 18 and 35 yards. Brown totaled more than 200 yards in the game.

Teammate Wyatt Wright added a 25-yard rushing TD and another score on a 55-yard fumble return. Michael Sena also scored on a 45-yard rushing TD to open the scoring.

Logan coach Dwayne Roberts, in his first year of guiding the Longhorns, said his team has improved considerably since that season-opening loss, mostly from his players becoming more accustomed to his system.

“It was a big win for us,” Roberts said. “We had control for most of the game, except for the third quarter, but we got that back in the fourth. We knew this game was going to be a fight. They knew we weren’t the same team.”

Mountainair, seeded fourth for the playoffs, ended its season at 5-4.

The fifth-seeded Longhorns improved to 6-4 overall. Logan’s next foe is Tatum, a 52-0 winner over Ramah. Tatum, a district foe, defeated Logan 50-0 on Oct. 18.

When asked what his team had to do in the Tatum rematch, Roberts said: “We’ve been playing good defense, but we’ve got to score. We’re putting in some wrinkles in the offense to compensate.”

The winner of that game will face the winner of the third-seeded Melrose vs. second-seeded Menaul for the state title on Nov. 16. Menaul blasted Dora 62-12, and Melrose crushed Magdalena 60-8.