From 7 a.m. practices to 6-1: Raiders buy in under Jean

Moore County closes the regular season Tuesday at Huntland before playing for the Elk Valley championship Oct. 1

9:57 a.m. Sept. 22, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Moore County Middle School is 6-1, has a championship game waiting on Oct. 1, and still has one regular-season trip left Tuesday night at Huntland.

Logan Jean saw the makings of all that before the Raiders ever started counting wins. He saw it at 7 in the morning.

Practice might start at 7, but the players were already on the field and ready to go. If Jean told them to be ready to warm up at 3:30 in the afternoon, they were there. He was not having to chase them down or say the same things every day.

“I knew that when we were doing the little things right, I was like, ‘OK, I think we’ve got a good shot this year to be good,’” Jean said.

Seven games later, that has held up pretty well.

The eighth-graders set the tone

Jean is in his first season as Moore County Middle School’s head coach after serving as an assistant last year. He had previously been a middle school head coach at Highland Rim, so the job itself was not new.

The group in front of him was. They had to learn what Jean expected, and Jean had to see how they would respond. What he found was an eighth-grade class willing to take some ownership of the program.

“I really like, especially the eighth-graders, how bought in they were and how they’ve kind of set the standard of, ‘Hey, this is how we do things,’” he said.

Jean said that has shown up in the way they practice, prepare, and carry themselves. The older players did not wait around for somebody to tell them every little thing.

That helped in Jean’s first season in charge. As an assistant, he could offer an opinion, handle his responsibilities, and help where he was needed. Now, when something comes up, the decision eventually comes back to him.

“When you’re the guy, when you’re the one that’s supposed to be the leader, it is different,” Jean said. “That’s what comes with it. I knew that would come with the job, so I was ready for it.”

He has enjoyed it. “It’s been good,” Jean said. “It’s been fun.”

Need a center? Smith will do that, too

If Jean wants an example of the kind of buy-in he is talking about, Kurt Smith is an easy place to start. On offense, the eighth-grader has played running back, quarterback, and center this season, sometimes changing jobs on short notice.

Jean recalled one game when Smith started out dressed to play a skill position. Then Moore County needed him at center. Smith did not complain or ask why.

He already had his jersey on, so instead of wasting time changing clothes, he told the coaches to put a lineman jersey over the one he was wearing.

Then he went in and snapped the football. Perfectly. “That’s awesome,” Jean remembered thinking.

“He’s just a competitor. He’s a gamer,” Jean said. “He does it every day, just the way he shows up and competes and just the little things.”

Smith can be vocal when his teammates need it, but Jean said his leadership carries weight because he backs it up every day.

Jean also pointed to Anderson and Austin Gunter as part of an eighth-grade group that has been willing to handle whatever is asked.

“They’re great kids that show up and are willing to do anything,” he said. “Their attitude every day has been good.”

They say, “Yes, sir,” Jean said, and then get to work.

Making Friday nights feel familiar

Winning middle school games matters, but Jean and the Moore County High School staff are also trying to make sure these players are a little more ready when Friday nights arrive.

Jean talks regularly with high school coach Kris White and members of his staff. The middle school uses much of the same terminology and many of the same drills, and Jean said the Raiders run the same basic offense and defense.

A high school quarterback can be asked to do some things a middle school quarterback may not be ready to handle yet. That part comes with time.

The language can start now. “I think just using the same terminology, the same drills – we run the same offense and defense,” Jean said.

So when a player gets to the high school and hears Manny Buchanan or another coach make a call, it ought to sound familiar. “They’re like, ‘OK, OK, we ran that in middle school. I know what you’re talking about,’” Jean said.

That way, they are not starting from scratch. “Now it’s just getting the physical side of it done,” he said.

Jean said the expectations carry over, too – how players practice, how they act, and what the program will and will not accept.

There is already some proof of that on Friday nights.

Last season, Moore County entered Elk Valley Conference Bowl Week at 6-2 and wound up in a rematch with South Lincoln, the team that had handed the Raiders their first loss of the season. Moore County leaned heavily on a defense that included Caseon Casteel, Mason Sandefur, and Austin Scherff.

All three are contributing on the MCHS varsity this fall.

For Moore County, where young players can find themselves needed on Friday nights sooner than they might at a bigger school, getting that foundation in place early matters.

Huntland first, championship next

Moore County is 6-1, Unity owns the only blemish, and the Raiders could see Unity again in the Oct. 1 championship game.

Before that comes Huntland. The Raiders travel there Tuesday night looking to finish the regular season with one more win. Then they will turn their attention to the championship game against the winner of South Lincoln and Unity.

Moore County has already beaten South Lincoln this season, but Jean knows that does not guarantee much if the teams meet again. He knows the South Lincoln staff and expects a well-coached team.

Unity would bring a different wrinkle. “Unity would be cool because that’s our only loss in the season,” Jean said. “It would be cool to play them again and avenge our only loss.”

Jean is not spending much time choosing between the two. Either way, Moore County will have to earn it. “We just want to play and whoever it is; we just want to compete,” he said.

Huntland comes first, with another week of practice before the championship gets here. For Jean, that means watching the same things he noticed before the wins started piling up – who is on time, who is ready, and who handles the little jobs without being told twice.

So far, those little things have added up to six wins.

On Oct. 1, the Raiders will get a chance to add one more.