Warren may be without its starting quarterback when it plays at Logan in a scheduled 7:30 p.m. Southeastern Ohio Athletic League football game this Friday night.
Signal caller Dylan Leffingwell, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound junior, injured a knee and did not play in the second half against Parkersburg South at the Erickson All-Sports Facility last Friday night.
"Obviously Dylan Leffingwell is a big part of what we do on offense," said Warren head football coach Andy Schob. "We are not sure what his status will be for this game, as they will do more tests.
"We have to prepare and get ready to run our offense if he does not play, and we cannot afford to stay as conservative as last week and expect to win at Logan."
If Leffingwell doesn't go, David Ryan, a 6-3, 190-pound sophomore, is expected to take the center snaps. Against South, Ryan completed five of nine passes for 20 yards.
"After Dylan was injured in the first half, David Ryan came in and did a solid job," Schob said. "But with our defense playing so well, we did not want to put him in any tough situations, so we were very conservative. Our kids played hard and gave us several good opportunities to win the game."
Unfortunately for Warren, it dropped 10-7 double overtime decision to the Patriots (3-2).
"Anytime you lose a game in double overtime, it is going to hurt," said Schob, whose Warrior squad fell to 3-3 on the season. "We have to do a great job this week as a staff and team to get back to work on what is ahead."
"Dylan Leffingwell was efficient and helped put us in situations to score in the first half before he got injuried. We have to do a better job finishing drives."
Ryan, or if Leffingwell gets the green light to play, will have a plethora of offensive weapons at his disposal. With Jeremy Fivecoait, Jeremy Hastie and Andrew Vincent running routes, the Warrior receiving corps is one of the best around.
Warren also has a good running attack in Josh Mays and Dustin Harlow. The 5-8, 185-pound Mays has already rushed for over 100 yards in two games this season. The Warren defense, spearheaded by 6-foot, 220-pound senior linebacker Austin Henthorn, gave up only one South touchdown. In a lot of games, that would translate into a Warrior victory.
Needless to say, the Warriors will need to bring their A-game to the grid at Logan. Sparked by the running of junior halfback Cory McCarty and a rock-solid defense, the Chiefs (1-5) are coming off their first win of the campaign, a 14-3 triumph at Gallia Academy last Friday night.
Last year, Warren dropped a 15-10 decision to Logan.
"Logan is still Logan," Schob said. "They played a schedule their first five games that not many teams in this area would compete.
"Then they went to Gallia last week and won 14-3. I am not sure when the last time we beat Logan, but we know we will have to play well to win this year."
Warren has not defeated Logan since winning a 31-28 decision in 1997. The Chiefs, 22-3 in the all-time series, have won 13 straight.
