IHSA Class 6A playoffs: Cary-Grove’s Logan Abrams thrives at new position

CARY – Last December, Cary-Grove coaches had a good idea who their fullback was going to be this season.

They kept thinking what they could do with the big freshman kid who had played so well at defensive end. Never mind that Logan Abrams never carried the ball before – he was over the weight limit for running back while playing for the Junior Trojans youth program and had to play on the offensive and defensive lines.

Abrams, who is 6-foot-3, 222 pounds, only reinforced what the Trojans’ coaches were thinking with his other two sports seasons. Abrams was a Class 2A sectional qualifier in wrestling [in only his second season in that sport] and a Class 3A state qualifier in track and field in the discus, putting him on pace for 12 varsity letters.

“We were making plans for [Abrams to be fullback],” Trojans coach Brad Seaburg said. “We saw his size, his speed and we saw how critical that position is to our offense. We kind of felt like he’s a guy we had to look at there to carry the load.”

C-G’s triple-option offense leans heavily upon a strong fullback and Abrams has not disappointed. The sophomore has carried 186 times for 1,251 yards and 18 touchdowns heading into Saturday’s 1 p.m. game as the No. 3-seeded Trojans (9-2) host No. 7 Geneva (9-2) in a Class 6A playoff quarterfinal.

Only Huntley’s Haiden Janke (1,369 yards) and Jacobs’ Caden DuMelle (1,277) are ahead of Abrams in area rushing statistics, and their seasons have ended. Abrams’ teammate Andrew Prio is sixth with 1,044 and gets his yard in bunches.

“The biggest challenges that I have had are really all the details I have to learn for the position, because if I mess up, it impacts the entire team,” Abrams said.

Seaburg said one of the difficult things has been learning the mesh with quarterback Peyton Seaburg, the coach’s son. On most option plays, the quarterback sticks the ball into the fullback’s midsection as he reads the defense, deciding whether to hand it off or pull it and run himself.

“When we’ve had other kids like (Nick) Hissong and (Tyler) Pennington, they played fullback from fifth grade on,” Brad Seaburg said. “They’re used to the mesh, they’re used to ballhandling. But Logan is getting used to that whole mesh, it’s a tough thing to do. And building a relationship with Peyton. It took a lot of reps, a lot of coaching and Logan’s determination to be a great fullback.”

Abrams said he and Peyton Seaburg worked hard on it all summer. He also watched a lot of videos of Pennington, Hissong and Blake Skol, all former C-G fullbacks who played in state title games.

“We still struggle with the complications of it, but we are getting better every week at it and hope to continue to do so,” Abrams said.

Abrams’ older brother Wade played running back and defensive lineman on C-G’s 2021 Class 6A state championship team and now plays at Valparaiso. With Wade on the team, the Trojans were well aware another Abrams, Wade’s not-so-little brother, was on the way.

“He is a unit, he’s huge,” defensive back Jack Rocen said. “He brought a great pass rush (last season). He made plays that not a lot of freshmen can do. He’s a nice kid, he always brings his teammates up and is trying to get the best out of you.”

Linebacker Connor Anderson started on the 2021 defense with Wade Abrams and was eager to see the next Abrams last year.

“We knew what we had with Wade and we heard stuff about his younger brother in Junior Trojans,” Anderson said. “We knew he’s tall and big, and he has two more years. We saw the way he played last year and we were hoping he could make some more steps and he has.

“As a freshman it was impressive seeing him and the strength he had. We were excited to see what he had. He stepped up and played his role real well.”

Abrams gave credit to Trojans wrestling coach Will Petersen for his success in wrestling, and lauded the work of throws coach Josh Freeman for his accolades in track and field.

In football, he deflects to the offensive line of Anthony Cruz, Lucas Burton, Jack Hissong, Samuel Diaz and Kelly Mace, along with tight ends Jake Hornok and Luca Vivaldelli.

“I just do my job to open up the outside for the rest of my guys,” Abrams said. “I wouldn’t be able to do anything without my O-line and Andrew running outside to open up the middle a little bit. That really helps. It’s a whole team effort really.”

Brad Seaburg could not be happier with the way Abrams has taken a new position this season and run with it.

“He’s done a great job this year,” Seaburg said. “Right from the first game he’s made an impact. He ran over some guys from Burlington Central. He kind of carried that on every game.”