Coppell keeps No. 21 on field in honor of the late Jacob Logan

COPPELL, Texas — The honor of wearing Coppell High School game jersey No. 21, the one that belonged to the late Jacob Logan, is being passed down weekly to different members of the Cowboys.

Jacob's sister Jordan, a sophomore at Coppell, wears the jersey for the pre-game coin flip (Jacob was a captain), then hands it to the player designated to wear No. 21 that night.

For Friday's 31-0 shutout of Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas), the first home game since Jacob's death, the honoree was senior defensive back Colin Peterson.

Peterson recovered one of three Marcus fumbles and just missed an interception. He and the Coppell defense stopped four Marcus fourth down plays in the Cowboys' first shutout since the 2010 season.

"I was thinking of Jacob all through the game,'' said Peterson. "It felt great to get that fumble.''

The victory clinched a playoff spot for Coppell (8-0 and 3-0 in District 5-5A).

Before Jacob Logan's accidental death while cliff-jumping into a lake on Oct. 14, the senior wore many hats for Coppell. In addition to playing wide receiver and safety, he was also the quarterback when the team went to a ‘Wildcat' formation as well as the punt and kickoff return specialist.

"I miss him the most in practice when we run our ‘Wildcat' plays because Jacob would be in there,'' said Coppell quarterback Colby Mahon, who threw for two touchdowns on Friday. "This has been a hard thing to overcome, we just have to lean more on God and trust that Jacob is in a better place.''

Moments before kickoff Friday, a video tribute to Jacob Logan was shown on the stadium video board. Dozens of his football highlights were punctuated at the end by a post-game interview. There was Jacob, being asked about playing in his last homecoming game.

The Coppell players lined up shoulder to shoulder in the end zone and watched the video.

"It was my first time to see it,'' said Mahon. "I teared up, but I knew I had to get over it. We had a game to play.''

On Monday, over 3,000 turned out for Jacob's funeral. Not surprising to Kevin Casey, a Coppell teacher who had Logan in a history class last year: "He was one of the most recognizable kids at school. Everyone, students and faculty, liked him.''

Many of those in the Coppell student section under their jackets wore blue T-shirts, the colors of Jacob's favorite college, the University of Kentucky.

Signs hung from the railing above the Coppell student section, remembering Jacob's jersey number as well as with the words "bell cow.'' That's the term chosen by Coppell head football coach Joe McBride to describe Logan's leadership, with Jacob clanging out front and teammates following.

"Our hearts were in the right place to play hard tonight,'' said McBride afterward. Coppell's lead at halftime was 24-0. "But in the second half,'' said the coach, "we were pretty flat.''

Coppell had second half problems in last week's 27-18 win over Flower Mound. That game was played the day after Jacob's body was recovered after a four-day search in Possum Kingdom Lake.

Friday was seven days later and the play was a littler crisper.

Colby Mahon threw two touchdowns in the first half and set up a third following a leaping 34-yard catch by Cameron Smith, who scored the game's first touchdown on a 10-yard reception.

The final touchdown of the first half was a 17-yard catch by Jason Lister, who was picked to wear Jacob's No. 21 last week. He told reporters last week "It is honestly the biggest honor I could ever possibly get."

On Friday, Peterson had the same reaction. Not only did Peterson star on defense but he was the holder on another Coppell first-half highlight, a 51-yard field goal by Adam Centers.

"Last week's game was more emotional because it had all just happened,'' said Peterson. "Tonight was more of a celebration for what Jacob had done.''