Sophomore quarterback Logan Ziegenbusch ran often, and freely, for 172 yards and two touchdowns in the Rockets thumping over Deer Park. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Deer Park was helpless to stop the run game, and Anna used that and its defense to rack up 54 points in a Week 1 opening game whuppin’ of the Wildcats.
Anna, OH – The Anna Rockets are a dangerous football team in Division VI, Region 24. And if there was any question about it following their 7-3 regular season record playing in the Midwest Athletic Conference, consider the following.
They ran up 54 points on helpless Deer Park in Friday night’s playoff opener without throwing the football. Or, well, they didn’t throw it very much.
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Quarterback Logan Ziegenbusch ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns…the Rockets defense scored twice on pass interception returns to the end zone…and they blocked a punt in the fourth quarter and recovered that in the end zone. They proved, if proof was needed after going 7-3 in the regular season, that they’re capable of scoring – winning – in multiple ways
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And on top of that, they’re young and hungry…the overlooked team in the mighty MAC Conference, even since their Division VI state title back in 2019.
And long considered a basketball school playing in the Shelby County League, coach Nick Marino is quickly adjusting the community culture to include football, as well. They surprised in 2019. But they’re not surprising anyone, anymore.
Sophomore quarterback Logan Ziegenbusch has taken it upon himself in 2025 to profile Anna football. At 5’11” and 170 pounds, he’s the latest in a line of MAC playmakers at his position, and in the estimation of some who’ve watched him in just ten games…he may be the most dynamic yet. Lightning-quick, and shifty as a runner, he tortured a Deer Park defense Friday night that spent its time chasing him up and down the field on one long run after another.
Zeb Pleiman took this run for 48 yards and a score in the first half of Friday’s win over Deer Park.
And when it wasn’t Ziegenbusch, it was the alternate trio of running threats that couldn’t wait to get their hands on the football. TJ Roberts, Zeb Pleiman and Riley Brewer combined with Ziegenbusch to put up 270 yards of rushing offense.
“It was a little messy,” said Anna coach Nick Marino. “A lot of flags on the ground and the touchdown that they scored early in the game. There were two or three guys moving at the snap on the play they scored on and we’ve got to be better in that situation. But I thought the defense played well. Those guys had some scary athletes, but we did a good job of keeping them in front of us.”
Anna scored first on its opening possession on a 40-yard dash to the ten yard line by Ziegenbusch, then a ten-yard run by Ziegenbusch to go up 7-0 at 10:35 of the first quarter.
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And on the following possession a fumbled punt reception by Anna’s Brody Murray set the Wildcats up on the Anna 27 yard line. Five plays later quarterback Deer Park Morgan Brown ran it right through the middle of the Rockets’ front line to score at 6:16…7-7.
But again, on their first possession of the second quarter Ziegenbusch busted one for 45 yards and subsequently scored on a three yard run at 10:35 to go ahead 13-7. The PAT attempt was no good.
The defense turned painful…Deer Park’s CJ Warner takes a lick from Julian Stearns.
After another Deer Park punt, another Anna score at the 8:04 mark on a three-yard run by TJ Roberts…20-7, Anna.
Moments later, after another Deer Park punt, Zeb Pleiman busted out for a run 48 yards and another score at 4:20 before halftime…26-7 Anna.
Less than a minute later, Pleiman picked off a Morgan Brown pass and an it in for a touchdown at 3:07…33-7, Anna.
Scoring now with machine gun rapidity, Landon Hewitt picked off Brown and returned it for a score on the following possession to go up 40-7 as time ran out in the first half. And just as important…a running clock for the second half.
Deer Park got the ball first and went three and out. Anna took the punt and immediately gave it to junior Riley Brewer, who took it 34 yards and into Deer Park territory where he scored moments later on a five-yard burst to make the deficit 47-7 at the end of three.
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“Riley stepped up in the middle of the season when one of the other guys was dinged up,” smiled Marino. “And he’s really done a good job. He runs hard and he runs behind his pads. He’s hard to bring down.”
Scoring, mercifully, was concluded in the fourth quarter when Anna blocked a Deer Park punt and recovered it in the end zone; and on their final possession of relevance Deer Park scored on touchdown pass and two-point conversion to make the final margin 54-15.
Might have, but didn’t…Tyson Vaubel had a chance to make this catch for a first half touchdown, but was tackled prematurely by Deer Park’s Tink Sellers.
Deer Park (5-6) was riding a five-game losing streak entering the game and was not expected to win, despite their having a couple of athletes with Division I college potential.
That said, Anna flexed its muscle just enough Friday to confirm what none other than Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin had said three weeks earlier when the Flyers barely avoided their 74-game win streak falling at the hands of the Rockets…”That’s a dangerous football team and we’re going to have to contend with them for the next few years.”
“We’re a better football team now than we were at the start of the season,” Nick Marion confirmed, post-game. “We became more aggressive and they started seeing themselves as talented enough to win. We just have to bring the aggressiveness and execute, and they’ve done a great job of improving.
“Early in the year we weren’t very good. We didn’t play very well in game 2 and 3, but since then we kinda’ got it clickin’.”
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For his size and youth, the obvious leader on this team is Ziegenbusch, who already draws comparison to past names like Justin Knouff (Marion Local), David Homan (New Bremen), Baylen Blockberger (Coldwater), and Brogan Stephey (Minster) as dynamic playmakers from the quarterback position.
“Logan is that talented, and he’s competitive,” adds Marino. “Even in the games when he’s not his best, he’s still competes and makes plays to help us win. He steps up when you need him to, and that’s what you want in a leader. You want a guy who keeps swingin’.”
Riley Brewer powers through a tackle for the Rockets’ final offensive touchdown in the third quarter.
So on a night where seeds #5 through #12 did their best to prove their competitive qualities against the top four seeds in their respective regions, Ziegenbusch and Anna may have done as much as any team in the state to make their case for what to expect in Region 24 against Tri-Village, Northeastern, Mechanicsurg, and St. Bernard-Elmwood Place, beginning with Mechanicsburg next week.
“We have to continue to play aggressively, and be more disciplined,” said Marino, considering Mechanicsburg next week. “Aggression, discipline, and execution…we’ve got to keep working on those three things. The kids have brought it every night all year, so we won’t worry about that. But we have to be better and more disciplined than we were tonight.”
Cliche’, of course, and a little bit of ‘coach-speak’…of course. But it’s hard to be better than Logan Ziegenbusch on his first taste of playoff football, and the pressure of knowing that if you lose you’re done. There’s no tomorrow until next year.
“It’s a team game,” Anna’s blonde quarterback concedes. “It comes down to the boys up front. If they dominate, then we dominate. It’s great to have a line as good as those guys are. We had two guys who were All-MAC, and a couple others who could have made it, but we didn’t have the [kind of] record to get that recognition.
“And we have a great competitive advantage of playing in the MAC. But we have to take it one week at a time. It’s exciting, but we have to stay in the moment…keep our feet on the ground, and play Rocket football.”
And seriously, how many sophomore quarterbacks have the presence of mind to say…”stay in the moment?” That’s good…he’s good…and they’re good!
The Anna Rockets are a dangerous football team.
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