It’s only the halfway point of the season, but it may go a long way toward determining the entire season.

Ironton goes on the road Friday to play at Logan, the preseason favorite to win the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League championship.

Ironton is 3-1 and 1-0 in the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League. Logan is 4-0 but has yet to play a league game.

The Chieftains beat Gallipolis 40-7 last week, but it was not a scheduled league game. Ironton beat Gallipolis 42-6 the previous week.

“Obviously this is a big game,” said Ironton coach Bob Lutz. “There’s still a lot of football to play, but this one will determine where we stand as a team and in the league.”

Logan is standing unbeaten thanks to an offense that has scored more than 30 points in each contest.

Patrick Angle, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound junior, is the quarterback and key to the offense.

“He’s a good athlete. He runs well and he can throw. He has size and he has some strength. We’ll have to contain him or he’ll create a lot of problems for us,” said Lutz.

Angle gets plenty of support on offense from running back Clay Morgan (5-10, 180), tight end Jon Neff (6-3, 225), and wide receivers Mason Mays (5-11, 175), Jaush Huntsberger (5-10 140) and Zach Adams (6-3, 205).

Michael Snider (6-0,200) is the fullback when Logan is not in the spread.

“Their backs run well and all their receivers catch the ball well, but they also block very well,” said Lutz. “(Mays) has real good speed.”

The Chieftains’ defense is led by Snider at middle linebacker with returning starters Adams and Morgan on the outside.

The secondary has Angle at safety with Huntsberger and Mays at the corners.

“They’re linebackers are quick and they get to the ball well,” said Lutz. “They play very fundamentally football up front and their secondary has good speed and they’re very athletic.”

Up front are Seth Sigler (5-11, 170) at nose guard, veteran Stephen Miller (6-0, 220) and Taylor MaGuire (6-4, 260) at the tackles, and Neff — a returning starter — and Ralph Robinson (6-0, 200) at the ends.