John Adams is a longtime admirer of the Gate City football program.
The Lebanon coach respects the Blue Devils’ aggressiveness, efficiency and tradition.
Adams doesn’t like one stat involving Gate City, however: Lebanon has never won at Legion Field, the cozy home of the Blue Devils.
“We talk about that a lot,” Adams said. “Any time a school wins 80 percent of its home games, something is going on.”
The Pioneers last season were searching for their first regional title in 13 years, but they dropped an emotion-packed 31-22 decision at Gate City in the opening round of Region IV, Division 2 playoffs. Earlier this season, Lebanon lost 20-7 at Gate City.
The teams have a rematch today at 12:30 p.m., but the game is on a neutral field: Carl Smith Stadium at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.
These are programs used to success. Lebanon (8-3) won the first Clinch Mountain District championship in 2007, and Gate City (9-2) took the CMD title this season.
No matter where Gate City plays, fans can expect a power-based running game and physical defense from the Blue Devils.
Gate City rushed for 214 yards last week en route to a 28-13 win over Powell Valley. Sophomore fullback Joseph Vaughn supplied 135 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
Adams said Gate City is successful because it rarely strays from the basics.
“Gate is just solid,” Adams said. “They block well, tackle well, and don’t make mistakes. To win against a team like that, you have to run the ball."
With a trio comprised of fearless senior Drew Helbert (more than 1,000 yards rushing), 6-foot-3 senior Terrell Lee and 6-3 junior Jerome Cobb, Lebanon has rushed for at least 260 yards in six of its games. That includes a 297-yard effort at J.J. Kelly last week.
Lebanon, which graduated 18 seniors from last year’s team, began the 2008 season with a 2-2 mark.
“We lost a bunch of good players and kind of started slow,” Adams said. “We were starting to doubt ourselves, then we just decided we were going to do better in about the seventh week of the season.”
The transformation to regional championship contender began to unfold during an emotional 11-7 loss to traditional Group A power Giles.
“We began to play with more passion after that,” Adams said. “Our defense perked up, the offensive line did job of blocking and we got some things accomplished with our running game.”
The Pioneers feature a spread formation on offense, with Lee and junior Andrew Jessee sharing time at quarterback.
“We wanted to diversify our offense this year instead of relying on one back,” Adams said. “Both of our quarterbacks have played well, so we’ve stuck with two quarterbacks since the Gate City game.”
Seniors such as fullback Daniel McClanahan (6-3, 215), receiver Stephen Martin (6-1, 185), linebacker Marcus Smith (5-11, 162) and linebacker Lukas Addison (6-2, 180) have all played key roles for Lebanon.
While the football tradition at Gate City rivals any program in Virginia, Adams said he believes his team has found its niche.
“We’ve made a lot of progress over the past month, and I feel like we’re playing out best football of the season right now,” Adams said.
“And you have to play your best against Gate City.”
agregory@bristolnews.com|(276) 645-2544
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement