Valley News Dispatch Offensive Player of the Year: Apollo-Ridge’s Logan Harmon

By: Michael Love
Saturday, December 12, 2020 | 4:39 PM

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Alle-Kiski Valley Offensive Player of the Year

Logan Harmon

RB, Senior, 5-8, 215 pounds, Apollo-Ridge

Logan Harmon saved one of the best rushing performances of his career for Apollo-Ridge’s WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal game against Washington on Oct. 30 at Owens Field.

The 215-pound senior running back helped dash the hopes of the No. 5 Little Prexies with 249 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries in the 42-6 rout.

“It was just one of those games where we were constantly coming at them on offense and defense,” Harmon said. “It was a huge energy boost right at the beginning when we were forcing turnovers and making them pay on offense.”

Apollo-Ridge had many moments like that in a season dominated by weekly covid uncertainties. The experienced Vikings squad put it all together en route to a 6-1 record.

Harmon was a big part of it with 116 carries for 920 yards — an average of 7.9 yards per attempt — and 18 touchdowns. He helped Apollo-Ridge average 43.7 points.

For his efforts, Harmon has been named the Valley News Dispatch Offensive Player of the Year.

“It was just a great atmosphere to play football this fall,” said Harmon, who is considering several local colleges for football and wrestling. “We were able to come together and work so well as a team. It was just a great time, something I will never forget.

“We made sure we followed the guidelines and did whatever we needed to do be safe. The coaches were always on us about that. We knew we had a chance to do big things, and we didn’t want to do anything to mess that up. That helped us and made us come together even more.”

Apollo-Ridge went 5-0 in the regular season but didn’t play conference games against Summit Academy (canceled season) and Serra Catholic. Covid issues with Serra nixed the scheduled Oct. 16 clash of unbeatens.

Harmon finished with five games of 100-plus yards. He tallied 189 yards and two touchdowns against Steel Valley and added 153 yards and three scores in an early-season rout of Freeport, a playoff qualifier in Class 3A.

“I just liked to run hard,” Harmon said. “If I saw an opportunity, I want to make something happen. It was great to be able to run behind such a good offensive line. Whenever I would make a play or one of my teammates would make a play, there was so much energy from it. We really fed off each other.”

Harmon, also a standout wrestler in a co-op with Armstrong, finished his career with 3,353 rushing yards and 52 touchdowns on 488 carries (6.9 avg.).

He surpassed 100 rushing yards 15 times and set personal records for carries (30) and yards (344) in a win over Valley as a junior in 2019.

Harmon’s numbers would no doubt have been higher had he not missed four games as a sophomore because of injury and if the Vikings had played a full allotment of games (12) this year.

Harmon said he’s excited to see what his younger brothers — Landon and Levi — will be able to do for Apollo-Ridge over the next couple of years. Both running backs, Landon will be a junior and Levi a sophomore.

“I’m all about family. I love my brothers to death,” the elder Harmon said. “I’ve loved to watch them come in and get the chance to play and show what they can do. I hope they can continue on and keep making things happen.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge