THE WONDER BOY

Former West Fork Standout Sets Tackles Record At Arkansas Tech

Former West Fork standout Logan Genz, left, shown celebrating a tackle during Arkansas Tech's victory over Southern Arkansas on Oct. 10 in Russellville, is the Wonder Boys' leading tackler with 67 through seven games and set a school record earlier this month when he recorded 24 tackles in a game at Arkansas-Monticello.
Former West Fork standout Logan Genz, left, shown celebrating a tackle during Arkansas Tech's victory over Southern Arkansas on Oct. 10 in Russellville, is the Wonder Boys' leading tackler with 67 through seven games and set a school record earlier this month when he recorded 24 tackles in a game at Arkansas-Monticello.

Logan Genz and his Arkansas Tech teammates didn’t have much to celebrate at they sat inside the visitors locker room during a rain delay earlier this month at Cotton Boll Stadium in Monticello.

The Wonder Boys already trailed 17-0, and Arkansas-Monticello had the ball on the Tech 1 when a thunderstorm hit during in the third quarter, halting the game for almost two hours. The Boll Weevils went on to claim a 34-0 Great American Conference victory that day, adding more gloom to a muddy situation.

Except for Genz.

He wasn’t aware of what he had done that day until he was told by a graduate assistant. The third-year sophomore linebacker from West Fork had broken two records for tackles in a single game — one that had stood for 25 years.

“During the delay, we spent some time revisiting our game plan since there wasn’t much for us to do during that down time,” Genz said. “One guy was checking stats and said I had 21 tackles at that time, and I thought they were wrong. Somebody had miscounted.

“Then after the game, one of the GAs came up and asked if I knew how many tackles I had made. I thought maybe 12 to 15, but when they told me, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know if I should be feeling happy for my accomplishment or sad because of what the team had done.”

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Genz finished with 24 tackles — 12 solos and 12 assists — and surpassed the previous school record of 21 set by Eldridge Jones in 1988 and tied by Stevie Van Pelt the following year. He also broke the previous GAC mark of 21 tackles set by Henderson State’s Keaton Stigger in a game against Tech last year.

What made the feat more remarkable was the fact Genz did it despite not playing the entire fourth quarter. Once play resumed, he picked up three more tackles before he was taken out of the game.

Profile

Logan Genz

SCHOOL: Arkansas Tech

HOMETOWN: West Fork

POSITION: Linebacker

CLASS: Sophomore

HEIGHT: 6-2

WEIGHT: 225

NOTABLE: Leads the Wonder Boys with 67 tackles before Saturday’s game against Ouachita Baptist, and his average of 9.6 tackles per game ranks him second in the Great American Conference. … Broke a school record and GAC record with 24 tackles (12 solo, 12 assists) in a Oct. 5 loss to Arkansas-Monticello. … Led Arkansas Tech with 105 tackles last season and became the first Arkansas Tech to reach the 100 mark in tackles since Mike Houston had 113 in 2005.

“The UAM game was a rainy one, and the weather might have made it play differently,” Tech first-year coach Raymond Monica said. “Logan was all over the field and made a whole bunch of tackles that day, but he’s been a very steady player every single game.”

Genz entered Saturday’s game against Ouachita Baptist as the Wonder Boys’ leading tackler with 67 (35 solo, 32 assists), and that includes 5 1/2 tackles for loss and a quarterback sack. His average of 9.6 tackles per game not only puts him second in the GAC, but it also puts him on track to record 100 tackles for the second straight season.

That doesn’t come as a total surprise to former West Fork coach Rodney Selph, who coached Genz for three straight years and watched him record 27 tackles in a game.

“To be honest, I was a little shocked when I heard the number,” said Selph, who stepped away from football to be West Fork’s girls basketball coach this season. “You see all these great linebackers on TV, and they will have maybe six or seven tackles in a game.

“What Logan did was amazing. That just shows the heart he has and the type of player he is.”

A ROUGH START

Genz signed with Arkansas Tech after an outstanding senior season at West Fork, in which he run for 1,425 yards and 23 touchdowns and totaled 139 tackles, two interceptions and eight forced fumbles in 2010. The following fall, he hoped to make the Wonder Boys’ travel team as a punter — another duty he performed at West Fork.

His true freshman season ended before he stepped on the field for one play. He was attempting a punt during a practice session when another player hit his right knee and hurt it enough where it required surgery and caused him to be redshirted.

“I didn’t see the player coming, and I never knew what happened,” Genz said. “But I did get the punt off.”

It only became worse. Genz was in rehab when it was discovered that something was wrong with his foot, and he had to get two screws placed in the foot — a procedure that caused him to wear a walking boot for three months.

It was then he considered to give up football, but thoughts of home caused him to reconsider.

“Quitting crossed my mind, but I started thinking of all those people who watched me play and were so proud of me then,” he said. “They would come and watch me play, and that’s where I drew most of my motivation.

“My brother also played football in college, and that made me want to fight through it and play.”

He returned to start all 11 games at Tech last year and recorded a team-high 105 tackles — the first Wonder Boy to reach 100 tackles in seven years. That included a game against East Central Oklahoma when he set the school’s freshman record for most tackles in a single game with 18.

Monica then was named Tech’s coach in December, and Genz admitted he had a little nervousness about the changes. Not only did it mean he had to learn a new defensive scheme — this third in three years — but he felt like he had to prove himself all over again.

It didn’t take Monica long to discover what he had at linebacker, well before his record-setting performance.

“I had gone back and watched last year’s games,” Monica said. “Logan was always steady and made plays on the field, then we worked him out as our mike and sam linebacker spots during the spring.

“He’s a real student of the game, and he works hard each and every game. You can see him being more mature and getting stronger out there, and he’s going to be that much better next year.”

Selph said he went to watch Genz play in a game last year, and he keeps up with his former player’s stats and catches a Wonder Boys game online when he can. He also calls Genz about once a month to make sure things are well.

“I always knew Logan was a great football player,” Selph said. “He’s also a great person and a great leader.

“I always thought of him of being big when he played here, and he weighed 205 at that time. He never had a chance to lift weights here because he always went from football to basketball and sometimes to baseball. Now he has that opportunity to be in the weight room year round, and it’s shown with how he’s built.”

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