Hard Work and Determination Elevate Tomcat’s Deboard
Gary Newman
The Ashland Beacon
The scorching summer days have melted into vivid autumn colors, cooler nights, and those often talked about Friday night lights. The fans flock to high school stadiums each week as high school gridiron heroes lead victorious drives, bands play, crowds erupt, and cheerleaders cheer. Behind the scenes, players train and prepare as coaches strategize and game plan every facet of their opponent’s game. Those game plans include how to gain strategic advantage over formations, situations, and even specific players. A year ago, those game plans for opponents of Ashland’s Tomcats didn’t even mention current senior nose guard, Logan Deboard. Now as the Tomcats prepare for the playoffs, he is on every scouting report and the starter that every team has to plan for.
It wasn’t always that way. “When I first started out, I wasn’t very good,” Deboard recalled, “It took a lot of time in the weight room with Coach Conley and just hard working out for three to four years to get where I am.”
He nearly didn’t continue. “In 2020, there was no chance a sophomore was going to touch the field with the good o-line we had with Zane Christian, Jordan Jones, and Blake. They were good,” Logan shared, noting, “Coach Love inspired me to keep playing football. He talked me into playing.”
Other coaches have been instrumental in his career. “Coach Miller has always just pushed me to be the best I could be. He’s always been on my side; he always is cheering for me,” the Tomcat defensive lineman shared, “He’s the JV/Freshman head coach, varsity special teams’ coach. He’s the all-around hype guy. He’s always yelling on the sidelines.”
Coach Love and Coach Miller weren’t the only driving forces as Deboard was also surrounded by friend groups who encouraged and pushed him forward, too. Those guys have been Brandon Houston, Tucker Rogers, Adam Frame, Jackson Billups, and Sawyer Edens.
After his junior season, a switch flipped inside him and Logan was determined to improve. “He’s worked hard this off-season to get stronger and get ready for this season,” shared long-time friend and teammate, Tucker Rogers. “We are both pretty strong, so during the off-season workouts, we would push each other and have competitions on who could lift more on that day, especially days we would squat.” Rogers, who’s known Logan since middle school, but really grown closer in the past couple of years continued, “In my opinion, the best football moment we’ve shared was beating Raceland the first game of the season. The past two years they had beaten us, but we knew we had a better team this year. It was great seeing all the workouts and practices in the off-season paying off for us, and we started the season with a big win.”
Sharing moments is a big part of what it means to be a great teammate, which is important to Deboard. He remembered players who inspired and encouraged him when he was younger and can spot guys in the younger guys now that he believes have bright futures. “I think they’ll remember me as being a fun teammate, but when it comes time to work if they’re goofing off, I’m yelling at them telling them to quit goofing off. When it’s chill time, I’m just being a cool guy,” Deboard detailed how he believed he’ll be remembered, “S.J. Lykins was ‘that’ upperclassman for me that told the younger guys to take it seriously. It goes by quicker than you think.” ‘It Goes by Fast’ is a message he’s shared with younger guys, who he hopes share that same message with future Tomcats.
Logan doesn’t puff up, however. He’s about lifting up others, supporting his teammates, and finishing well. “I don’t think I’ll have any regrets. I knew whenever I was a senior we were going to be really good. I didn’t think I’d be starting. I knew I would play, but I knew we were going to be really good.”
Playing at Ashland has been huge for Deboard, who declared, “It means the world just all the tradition every time you win everybody’s cheering. When you’re losing everybody expects to win, so we just win!” Playing at Putnam Stadium has no comparison according to the senior, “Nothing like it in the world unless you play at Kroger Field for the state championship.” Ultimately, his sights are set on one team expectation, and that’s to win state. “That’s the Goal,” he shared.
Personally, he sums up what he simply wants at this time: “Be good and win with my brothers, and just have fun playing high school football.” This overcomer, this amazing teammate, and this advocate for how great it is to be a Tomcat is a perfect example of why Ashland carries so much tradition, and it keeps growing through every player who embraces it, and Logan Deboard does just that.
