BY ANTHONY STEVENS
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
BIG STONE GAP, Va. – Lebanon lost senior offensive lineman and defensive linebacker Lucas Smith to an injury on the first play of the game. But that was about all that went wrong for the Pioneers.
The visitors rolled to a 27-7 win over Powell Valley at Bullitt Park, winning their second game in a row to start the season.
“When Lucas went down, I thought it might take the air out of us a little,” Lebanon coach John Adams said. “It did just the opposite. It kind of pumped us up, and we had some guys that really stepped up.”
It was three plays and punt for the Vikings on their first possession. Lebanon immediately put together a nine-play, 57-yard touchdown drive. Six of the plays were runs by tailback Dylan Smith. He broke free up the middle on a 16-yard TD scamper.
The Pioneers scored again early in the second quarter. Quarterback Andrew Jessee passed to Bob Jones who raced up the sideline for a 49-yard touchdown and a 13-0 advantage.
Myron Pinkston was versatile in providing most of the offense for Powell Valley, playing some at quarterback and also running back. Travis Pippin had a good kickoff return to the Lebanon 49. Pinkston did the rest scoring on a 49-yard run.
Powell Valley’s defense did what it could in the first half to keep the Vikings in the game. A couple of goal-line stands kept Lebanon out of the end zone. Lebanon turned the ball over on downs at the Powell Valley 4- and 1-yard lines. Lebanon led 13-7 at the half.
Lebanon put the game away early in the second half. When defensive end Jerome Cobb grabbed a fumble in the Viking end zone, it put momentum squarely on the side of the Pioneers. They added another TD on a 22-yard rush by Smith for the final margin.
“Lebanon was just a lot better than us tonight,” PV coach Phil Robbins said. “They blocked us all night long, and we just made some fundamental mistakes. It just didn’t work out for us.”
Pinkston had 131 yards rushing and was also 6-of-12 passing for 67 yards. He provided 198 yards of the Vikings’ 234 yards of total offense.
Dylan Smith led Lebanon with 112 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Jessee was 6-of-11 passing for 116 yards and a touchdown.
“I just try to fight for every yard I can,” Smith said. “The O-line really stepped up, I had some big holes to run through. This was a big game for us.”
Lebanon (2-0) will travel to Tazewell next week. The road doesn’t get any easier for Powell Valley (1-1), which travel to Richlands.
Lebanon 7 6 14 0–27
P. Valley 0 7 0 0–7
Scoring Summary
L – D. Smith 16 run (T. Adams kick)
L – Jones 49 pass from Jessee (kick failed)
PV – Pinkston 22 run (Barton kick)
L – Cobb fumble recovery in end zone (T. Adams kick)
L – D. Smith 3 run (T. Adams kick)
Team Stats
First Downs: LEB 17, PV 12; Rushes-Yards: LEB 39-168, PV 36-160; Passing Yards: LEB 116, PV 74; Comp-Att-Int: LEB 6-11-0, PV 7-17-2; Fumbles-Lost: LEB 1-0, PV 3-1; Penalties-Yards: LEB 3-20, PV 5-31; Punts-Average: LEB 3-44, PV 4-33.
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