For the last three seasons Logan Jackson has been the rock on which the offensive foundation was built for East Hamilton's football program. But now his teammates will have to continue without their leader after the senior was told he would miss the rest of the playoffs with a torn ACL in his left knee. The 6-foot, 190-pound senior suffered the injury during the second quarter of last week's first-round win over Marshall County, but the severity wasn't confirmed until Wednesday. Surgery will be required within the next couple of weeks.
"It's one of those things where we held our breath and hoped it wasn't as bad as we feared," Hurricanes coach Ted Gatewood said. "You hate to see anybody get hurt, but especially a kid like Logan who has worked so hard and done so much already for our program. We'll set up the surgery and with the what doctors are able to do now, he'll be better than ever in just a few months. Once he rehabs it, the knee will be stronger than the one that wasn't injured."
In helping the Hurricanes earn their second straight District 6-AA championship and claim the program's first playoff win, Jackson has rushed for a career-high 1,643 yards and 25 touchdowns this season. He ran for 96 yards and two TDs on just nine carries in last week's 38-0 win, but during a second-quarter run, as he planted his foot to make a cutback, his left knee gave out.
"All week, our kids' mentality has been to just come to work, get better and let's go play Friday and keep going," Gatewood said. "Every kid out there knows they have a chance now to step up and make a contribution."
East Hamilton (10-1) will host Page in a Class 4A second round game Friday.
The Hurricanes, who have 20 seniors that see game action, will likely use the backfield trio of senior Lemond Greer, junior Hunter Parker and sophomore Matt Milita to share the ball-carrying responsibilities. Greer has had 67 carries for 389 yards and six TDs, including 124 yards and three scores in the regular-season finale against Howard. Milita, a speedy change-of-pace back, has 354 yards and 7 TDs on 39 carries, including scoring runs of 74, 67, 31 and 23 yards.