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Tooele • The storyline was outlined from the beginning.
Logan was supposed to be the finesse spread passing team, clashing with hard-running Tooele, which makes its name a few yards and a cloud of dust at a time.
But as the clock wound down in Buffalo Stadium on Friday night, Logan walked away with the unofficial toughness title and a 21-7 victory.
Logan stood tall when it mattered, stone-walling Tooele on two separate occasions when the Buffaloes faced fourth-and-short near the goal line.
First, in the closing seconds of the opening half, Tooele's Ryan Brady took a kick off all the way to Logan's 12-yard line. But the Grizzlies smothered a run up the gut on fourth-and-2, keeping their 14-7 lead intact heading into halftime.
Second, the Buffaloes moved the ball methodically with an eight-play drive during the third quarter to Logan's 8-yard line, before quarterback Carver Jaramillo threw a pass to the back of the end zone on fourth down that was plucked out of the air by Grizzlies cornerback Eric Laub.
"Our guys met the challenge of A): dealing with adversity and, B): coming on the road beating one of the top teams in our region," Logan coach Mike Favero said. "So it was a great win for us."
The defensive stops, along with Hunter Horsley's performance under center, put Logan in sole possession of an undefeated 3AA North record.
Tooele took an early lead after a 94-yard touchdown from Demetrius Smith. The Buffaloes looked like they would impose their will on both sides of the ball after Gunner Clegg and Taejohn Koffel repeatedly knifed through the right side of Logan's line to hit Horsley.
But the Grizzlies settled down in the second quarter, with Horsley engineering an 11-play drive capped by a 7-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Corbett with 4:26 remaining in the half.
Favero said Horsley was a game-time decision after suffering an ankle injury last week.
Horsley's ankle appeared just fine, however, after he iced the game with a 57-yard touchdown scamper with 6:07 left in the game.
Logan 21, Tooele 7
R Logan surrenders just seven points to Tooele. The Grizzlies had allowed an average of 32 points per game coming into the contest.
• Following a 94-yard touchdown early in the first quarter, Tooele's longest rush the rest of the night is 24 yards.
• Logan's Eric Laub intercepts two passes.