How Penns Valley’s Logan Snyder is approaching the end of his distinguished, multisport HS career
Logan Snyder had high aspirations for his senior year. He eyed records in football and milestones in basketball for himself and championships for his team.
The Penns Valley student-athlete wanted to break the county record for receiving yards and help the football team win the league in the fall. In the winter, he wanted to help his basketball team win a district playoff game to advance to the state tournament and achieve a lifelong personal goal by scoring 1,000 career points.
Five months into his last year in high school, Snyder is halfway there..
He and the Penns Valley football team took home the first Mountain League title in school history with a 7-1 league record and did it on the back of Snyder, a tight end, and quarterback Aaron Tobias. Snyder set the Centre County career record for receiving yards with 2,445, shattering the previous record of 1,750, according to county football historian Harry Breon.
Now, with four games left in basketball’s regular season, Snyder will have an opportunity to close out the back half of his aspirations. He’s 61 points away from reaching 1,000 career points and has the Rams in a position to make the playoffs.
Snyder said getting to 1,000 points has been something he’s dreamt about for a long time.
“That’s been my goal since I was a little kid,” Snyder said. “That was the ultimate goal, back when I was playing basketball with my brothers, to score 1,000 points at Penns Valley.”
He’ll have an excellent chance of reaching his goal before the end of the regular season, with the most likely date coming on Feb. 8 when the Rams take on St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy.
But, even with his dream on the horizon, Snyder is more focused on achieving his team goal this season.
“I’ve been around Penns Valley basketball for a long time,” Snyder said. “I know the winning teams and how they played. I want to win my first district game and go to states. I’ve never been to states in basketball, and that’s definitely doable for us this year.”
He has the Rams in an excellent position to reach that goal, too. They’re 11-7 and fifth in the Class 3A District 6 standings with three games left in the season. He’s the team’s best player and one of only two seniors on the roster, joined by Tobias, the team’s point guard, in that regard.
Penns Valley head boys’ basketball coach Terry Glunt said the two seniors provide a special kind of leadership.
“I would say both of those guys are my leaders,” Glunt said. “(Logan) isn’t loud. He’ll go over to kids and talk to them quietly and try to help. He leads in a quiet way that he’ll go about communicating with his teammates. He’s not overbearing. The leadership comes by example.”
The connection between the two seniors carries over from football to basketball and it’s easy to see it translate on the court. Tobias takes the reins as the primary ballhandler and orchestrates the Rams’ offense on the court, just as he did on the football field. The senior said playing basketball with Snyder is similar to playing football with him.
He just has to get him the ball.
“Our roles are the same in both sports,” Tobias said. “I know how to get him the ball, whether that be in football or basketball. We have that connection where I always know where he is and what he’s going to do.”
The chemistry between the two players shines through in Tobias’ words, but it’s even easier to see when they play together. They have a special connection that allowed both to set records on the football field and has put Snyder in position to reach an elite club on the basketball court.
“He’s like a brother to me,” Tobias said. “He’s always been around. We’ve always competed and worked together. He’s the ultimate teammate and competitor.”
Snyder knows just how special his connection with Tobias is, and it’s something he’ll cherish long after their days playing together are over.
“He’s been there forever,” Snyder said. “We’ve been together working hard with each other.”
Until that time comes, Snyder is going to enjoy the days he has left on the court. He’s set to join a club of nine Penns Valley boys’ basketball players who have scored in quadruple digits in their high school career. The senior’s last four years have blended together as he closes in on 1,000 points.
“Seeing that about to happen is kind of a blur of the last four years,” Snyder said. “It’s a great achievement for me because of the time I’ve put in shooting baskets over the summers.”
But Snyder’s heart lies with football, and he’s currently talking to FCS Weber State about playing the sport there. First, though, he has a basketball season to finish, a baseball season to complete and then a mission to undertake.
Snyder, who is a Mormon, is tentatively planning on taking a two-year mission after finishing his first semester of college. Weber State, which is located in Ogden, Utah, has 30 returning missionaries on its team, according to Snyder, and the school would allow him to return from his two-year mission with a spot on the football team. That’s part of the appeal in heading to Utah to play his college football.
“They understand that I might be gone for two years,” Snyder said. “That’s mostly why I’m going to go out west. They’ll still hold my spot because they have a lot of kids that have done this.”
All of that is too far ahead for Snyder to think about now. He’d much rather talk about his Rams’ basketball team and what they can accomplish this season. He wants to enjoy every moment he can because, even though he doesn’t want to peer too far into the future, he knows what he’s going to remember most about his high school athletic career.
“(I’ll always remember) the friendships I’ll have for the rest of my life,” Snyder said. “Aaron is one of those guys I’ve known for as long as I can remember. Every sport, every practice, every summer league team, we’ve been together.”
This story was originally published February 3, 2020 at 8:00 AM.
