High school football: Logan Grizzlies 2020 preview

Note: Logan finished with a 3-8 overall record in 2019 and was fifth in Region 11 with a 1-4 record. It was RPI seed No. 16 in 4A playoffs, and was eliminated by Park City 20-0 in second round.

LOGAN — Logan’s 3-8 record last year wasn’t entirely reflective of how competitive the team was under first-year coach Bart Bowen.

Head coach: Bart Bowen

Entering his second season as head coach at Logan after a 3-8 debut season in 2019. Previously he spent one season at Cottonwood in 2018, where his team sent 1-9. He’s a graduate of Bear River High School and Utah State.

Its losses to Stansbury, Bear River and Green Canyon were all by five points or less, and even in a second round playoff loss to Park City it was pretty competitive.

The program was hit pretty hard by graduation, but Bowen is confident the newcomers can step up and be a factor in Region 11.

“All things considered it’s been a great summer for us. The kids were super excited to get back at it, energy levels were really high. Second year in the offensive system so we were able to do a lot of things in camp that we weren’t able to do last year,” said Bowen.

Defensively, Logan has a really good secondary, which includes an all-state honorable mention move-in from Payson, Matthew Mason. Jacob Tegt was projected to start at safety last year, but he broke his leg in the first game of the season. Along with returning starters Jelin Hotch and Jaylen Sargent, the back five is a big strength.

Defensive lineman Manase Tupou should be available for the whole season as well after only appearing in the playoffs last year, and Bowen said he’ll be a handful for any offensive line.

Offensively there’s been a healthy competition all summer at quarterback between Kody Kirk and Cooper Pond, which Bowen said will be up in the air until the the week before the season.

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Logan Grizzlies at a glance

Coach Bowen’s thoughts on how his players dealt with the COVID-19 adversity in the spring and summer:

“The spring was really hard on them, not having structure in their lives was pretty tough. As soon as we got the go-ahead to get back at it, they jumped right in. You wouldn’t have even known they’d been sitting around for two months. The uncertainty of not knowing if we’re not going to have a season, that was hard on them. But we just kept telling them, ‘we’ll have a season, don’t worry, don’t stress.’ Thank goodness we were told we could have one.”

2020 Schedule

Aug. 14 — PROVO, 7 p.m.

Aug. 21 — at Stansbury, 7 p.m.

Aug. 28 — at Cyprus, 7 p.m.

Sept. 4 — HIGHLAND, IDAHO, 7 p.m.

Sept. 11 — MOUNTAIN CREST, 7 p.m.

Sept. 18 — BEAR RIVER, 7 p.m.

Sept. 25 — at Ridgeline, 7 p.m.

Oct. 2 — at Sky View, 7 p.m.

Oct. 8 — GREEN CANYON, 7 p.m.

Oct. 16 — at Hunter, 7 p.m.

Logan Offensive Snapshot

Offensive coordinator: Bart Bowen

2019 offense: 25.0 ppg (11th in 4A)

2019 offensive statistics

• 4 returning starters
• Power spread offense

Returning offensive starters

• Jaylen Sargent (WR)
• Alex Trujillo (FB)
• Brandon Willie (OG)
• Dallas Esplin (OT)

Offensive newcomers to watch

• Kody Kirk (QB)
• Cooper Pond (QB)
• Tayson Hoffman (OT)
• Jack Wang (OT)
• Tyson Miller (OT)
• Jaelin Hoth (RB)
• Chris Dien (RB)
• Alex Tiew (RB)
• Gage Jensen (WR)
• Josh Thompson (WR)
• Jacob Tegt (WR)

Coach Bowen’s keys for offensive success in 2020:

“Our biggest thing is those three underclassmen on the O-line. If they can get to their blocks we’re going to be pretty effective in the running game. And just getting enough time to throw the ball downfield, we have a lot of speed at wide receive this year. I think our lynchpin is going to be the offensive line and how well we do, and I feel pretty confident in them. They looked pretty good in camp.

Logan Defensive Snapshot

Defensive coordinator: Dustin Long

2019 defense: 33.0 ppg (14th in 4A)

2019 defensive statistics

• 2 returning starters
• 3-3-5 defense

Returning defensive starters

• Jaelin Hoth (CB)
• Jaylen Sargent (CB)

Defensive newcomers to watch

• Manase Tupou (DL)
• Dallas Esplin (DL)
• Tio Tupou (DL)
• Kai Laing (LB)
• Jacob Tegt (S)
• Gage Atkinson (S)
• Josh Thompson (CB)
• Matthew Mason (CB)

Coach Bowen’s keys for defensive success in 2020:

“Our secondary is really solid right now, we have a lot of speed there that can cover ground. We need to solidify our linebacker core, our front three and our back five are really solid this year.”

Deseret News outlook for 2020

Logan was a decent offensive team a year ago, but it struggled to get stops much of the season and that contributed to the 3-8 record. All signs point to Logan being much improved on that side of the ball, led by a very good secondary in 2020. If the defense indeed falls in line how the coaching staff expects, Logan should be able to compete for a top three spot in Region 11 after last year’s fifth-place finish.

Felt’s Facts for Logan

• All-time record: 529-384-24 (104 years)

• Region championships: 27 (1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1931, 1932, 1947, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1966 co, 1967 co, 1978, 1979 co, 1985 co, 1986 co, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2000, 2001 co, 2005, 2007, 2010 co, 2011, 2013, 2015)
• Playoff appearances: 51
• All-time playoff record: 54-43

• State championships: 8 (1978, 1988, 1989, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2015)

• State championship record: 8-8

• Most played rivalry: 98 meetings with Box Elder dating back to 1919. Box Elder leads 62-33-3.


Last 5 Seasons

• 2019 — 3-8 (1-4 in Region 11 – 4A Second round)
• 2018 — 9-2 (4-1 in Region 12 – 4A First round)
• 2017 — 2-8 (0-5 in Region 12 – Missed playoffs)
• 2016 — 1-9 (1-6 in 3AA North – Missed playoffs)
• 2015 — 11-2 (6-0 in 3AA North – 3AA Champions)

Logan coaching history


• 2019-current — Bart Bowen (3-8)
• 2018 — Travis Van Leeuwen (9-2)
• 2016-2017 — Jayson Anderson (3-17)
• 1999-2015 — Mike Favero (149-60) *5 State Titles
• 1979-1998 — Perry Christensen (114-92) *2 State Titles
• 1977-1978 — Mel Galli (16-5) *1 State Title
• 1974-1976 — Steve Malnar (3-24)

• 1964-1973 — Hal Lewis (42-51)

• 1963 — John Whatcott (4-1-2)

• 1947-1962 — Cliff Poole (81-52)

• 1927-1946 — R. Burns Crookston (76-51)

• 1924-1926 — unknown (7-11)

• 1922-1923 — Wilf Romney (9-3)

• 1920-1921 — Dixon Kapple (8-5)

• 1919 — unknown (1-3)


Deseret News All-State Archives

Check out our archives of Deseret News all-state teams from 1929 to 2019 at Deseret.com.

Logan All-State at-a-glance

Deseret News Mr. Football recipients


• 2005 — Riley Nelson, QB


Deseret News MVPs the past 10 years


• 2015 — Hunter Horsley, QB
• 2011 — D.J. Nelson, QB


Deseret News First Team all-staters the past 10 years


• 2019 —Ace Kennington, C
• 2018 — Jonny Parkinson, QB
• 2018 — Timm Van Leeuwen, WR
• 2016 — Jace Perry, CB
• 2015 — Spencer Corbett, WR
• 2015 — Hartman Rector, WR
• 2015 — Cade Parrish, OL
• 2015 — Troy Murray, DL
• 2015 — Ben Miller, LB
• 2015 — Colton Hatch, DB
• 2015 — Eric Laub, DB
• 2015 — Josh Young, K
• 2014 — Chad Artist, WR
• 2013 — Chase Nelson, QB

• 2013 — Taylor Compton, WR

• 2013 — Angel Reyes, K

• 2012 — Luke Falk, QB

• 2012 — Hunter Ballam, DB

• 2011 — John Schmidt, RB/WR

• 2011 — Dalton Cole, OL

• 2011 — Caden Andersen, DL

• 2011 — Chasen Andersen, LB

• 2011 — Jake Thompson, K