WELLSBURG — By his own admission, Logan Raber is not one comfortable being the star.
“I’ve always been the guy who did things to make others look good,” the UHS running back said Friday, after the Hawks knocked off Brooke, 39-15.
Sometimes the spotlight finds the everyday man, and, well, it found Raber big time against the Bruins (1-2).
The senior carried 20 times for 234 yards — “I don’t even care about that,” he said — and when the game was on the line, it was Raber who made the biggest play.
Holding a slim 20-15 lead midway through the third quarter and facing a fourth-and-10 situation at the Brooke 35, UHS quarterback Joseph McBee connected with Raber on a simple screen pass that looked like it was going to come up well short.
That was until Raber simply found a way.
“My philosophy is: If there’s no where to go, just run over them,” he said.
Somehow, Raber found just enough room down the Bruins’ sideline to break free for an 18-yard gain. A play later, McBee scored on a 17-yard run that gave the Hawks a 26-15 and the UHS defense made it stick by pitching a shutout in the second half.
“That’s just Logan being Logan,” said McBee, who threw for 127 yards and added 52 yards on the ground. “He’s got to be one of the best running backs in the state. No one works harder or cares more about his team than he does.”
Among Raber’s 234 yards included jaunts of 82 and 77 yards. The 82-yarder came late in the third quarter on a play where Raber seemed to be bottled up by Bruins defenders after a 17-yard gain, but he simply wouldn’t go down, broke free and raced down the right sideline before getting caught at the Brooke 5.
“I think I pulled my groin a little,” Raber said with a smile. “I don’t know, the guy just got me at the last second.”
Has he ever had a game like this before?
“Hell no,” Raber said. “My line did a great job of pushing and they gave me the space. They did most of the work tonight.”
About the only thing Raber didn’t accomplish was score a touchdown — “Isn’t that awful?” UHS head coach John Kelley said. — but McBee made up the difference with four touchdown runs and he also added a 51-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Spearen to start the third quarter that gave UHS a 20-15 lead.
“At least two of my touchdowns were Logan’s,” McBee said. “He did all of the work. I just happened to score.”
Kelley said Raber’s 82-yard run was the back-breaker.
“How he tip-toed through there and kept going is unbelievable,” Kelley said. “We probably haven’t had a back with a game like that since Adam Cantoni (in the early 2000s).”
Brooke quarterback Josh Shorts threw for 134 yards and two scores in the first half, but the UHS defense picked him off twice in the second half and held Shorts to just 21 yards passing in the second half. In all, the Hawks recorded four interceptions and recovered a fumble on defense.
Brooke receiver Camden Bates had 119 yards on five receptions and scored on a 66-yard pass with 3:11 left in the first half.
But, the night belonged to Raber, whether he liked it or not.
“I felt the momentum change when we got that (screen) pass,” Raber said. “I was just thinking, “We’ve got to get it.” We really needed that play and then we stayed pretty focused the rest of the way. Everybody played really hard out there tonight.”
