For a second consecutive season, the Canal Winchester High School football team saw its season end in the first round of the playoffs, as the seventh-seeded Indians lost 30-7 to second-seeded Logan in a Division II regional quarterfinal last Friday.

Canal Winchester lost to Chillicothe 13-7 in the first round of the Division III playoffs last year.

Against Logan, the Indians weren't able to convert three trips into the red zone into points. They also found it hard to stop Logan quarterback Patrick Angle.

"I think at first we were feeling each other out, kind of like two boxers," Logan coach Dale Amyx said. "They were doing some things defensively we hadn't seen out of them, and it took us some to get adjusted. Once we started to get going, we started to play our kind of football."

Angle threw for 237 yards and two touchdowns, and he also had a rushing touchdown.

Canal Winchester was held to just 68 rushing yards, nine of which came on wide receiver Tyler Thompson's touchdown run in the third quarter.

"I think the key difference in the game was they scored in the red zone, and we didn't," coach Phil Mauro said.

The Indians had a chance to tie the game at 7 in the second quarter when quarterback Justin Whitlatch fumbled on an option play as he was crossing the Chieftains' 15-yard line. Logan recovered and went on a 14-play drive that culminated with a touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone with 6.7 seconds left in the half.

"That was big. Going in to tie the game and then we turn the ball over. Then, they marched down the field and scored," Mauro said. "Those were two pretty big plays."

Canal Winchester finished 8-3 overall and placed second (6-1) in the MSL-Buckeye Division, behind Amanda-Clearcreek (7-0) and ahead of Logan Elm (5-2), Fairfield Union (4-3), Teays Valley (3-4), Circleville (2-5), Bloom-Carroll (1-6) and Hamilton Township (0-7).

The Indians will lose seniors Mohammed Adam (RB/DB), Nathaniel Adkins (RB/DL), Daniel Bailey (TE/LB), Jordan Bellomy (OL/DE), Sedarrian Booth (RB/DT), Jamil Capers (WR/DB), Russell Ellis (OT/DT), Erik Figueroa (TE/DE), Brandon Hayman (OG/LB), Brandon Heisler (RB/LB), Zack Hitchens (TE/LB), Alex Krigbaum (OG/LB), Kelly Kunkler (OL/DT), Mike Mainella (RB), Ian Nelson (RB/LB), Conrad Rosch (CB), Ryan Rose (TE/LB), Carlton Seward (OL/DT), Matt Shull (WR/LB), Tyler Shryock (WR/K), Dujshon Stevens (DT), Tyler Thompson (WR), Justin Whitlatch (QB), Chris Wilkinson (OL/DT) and Michael Young (C/DL).

Whitlatch started at quarterback the last two years. He threw for 1,376 yards with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions this season. Mainella led the team in rushing with 166 carries for 1,255 yards and 17 touchdowns, and Thompson had 533 rushing yards and six touchdowns and caught 24 passes for 388 yards and two touchdowns.

Shryock caught 16 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown. He was also 34 of 41 on extra-point attempts and connected on both field goal attempts, with a long of 40 yards.

Defensively, Rose led the Indians with 95 tackles, two for a loss, and had one sack. Krigbaum had 90 tackles with three forced fumbles, Adkins had 63 tackles, six for loss, and 2.5 sacks and Rosch had 30 tackles and led the team in passes defended (8) and interceptions (3). Hitchens, who moved to linebacker this season after playing defensive end the previous two years, had 65 tackles, 15 for a loss, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, five passes defended and two interceptions.

The key players expected to return include juniors Drew Black (RB/DB), Cody Ferguson (WR/DB), Sam Jones (WR/DB), Quandale Littlefield (RB/DB), Ben O'Bryant (OT/DL), Alex Pickens (RB/LB), Ryan Toledo (OG/LB), Aaron White (QB) and Courtland Williams (WR/DB).

Whitfield rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, Ferguson was second on the team in receiving with 313 yards and four touchdowns on 19 catches and Black had 75 tackles, two for a loss, seven passes defended and two interceptions.