LOGAN — For what ultimately proved to be 200 minutes of regular-season play, top-ranked Logan and No. 5 Ogden battled and battled and battled against one another.
Spread out over two Region 11 games, both the Grizzlies and Tigers came to play, and they produced two very entertaining matches, matches that included good attacking play, good defending and some very good goalkeeping.
Through all of it, however, never team ever figured out a way to find the back of the net.
Three weeks after battling to a 0-0 double-overtime draw, Ogden and Logan renewed their Region 11 rivalry against one another on Friday, and they produced the exact same result. Logan 'keeper Ian Doney made a stunning save midway through the first overtime, and neither team managed a goal the rest of the way as the contest finished in a 0-0 draw, a draw which leaves Logan on course to win its fourth outright Region 11 title in as many seasons.
"I don't know what the rankings are, but I just think it's two of the top teams in 3A battling," said Logan coach Tod Martin. "And I think Ogden will be even better if we face them again because of some of the changes they're making with their personnel ... I think we'll be better, too.
"Ogden's a great team, we're a great team and it was a great battle."
Friday's result leaves Logan three points clear of Ogden with one regular-season game to play. Logan must beat Bear River next week to secure an outright region title, while Ogden must beat arch-rival Ben Lomond to secure second place.
Both teams had their moments on Friday, with possession and control swinging back and forth over 100 minutes.
The game's best chance, however, arguably came to Ogden in the 87th minute. That's when Darren Rhodes turned and fired a shot that seemed destined for the upper-left corner of the net. Doney, however, somehow managed to tip it away.
Ogden nearly won the game two minutes later when a Logan player sliced a clearance that subsequently rattled off the cross-bar, but other than that, good scoring chances were at a premium the rest of the way.
"I don't know how he blocked that," Martin said of Doney's OT save. "I don't know if it was physically possible for him to do that because he jumped (in the) opposite direction and then came back and got it. Without Ian, we lose that game 1-0."
Doney prevented the Grizzlies from losing, however, and now they're on the verge of winning Region 11 outright for the fourth year in a row. Logan clinched a share of the league championship on Friday and can win the whole thing by beating Bear River next week.
Meanwhile, Ogden will look to secure second place in Region 11 by beating Ben Lomond. Brothers Alfonso Perea and Saul Perea were a handful up top for the Tigers against Logan, and there were many positives to be taken from the way they played Friday.
"I told my boys, 'This is Azteca Stadium," said Ogden Sterling Castle, gazing around Logan's stadium. "And (we) came to play. They showed up. I was proud of them."
E-MAIL: drasmusen@desnews.com