Pioneers Blank Trojans in Clinch Mountain District

BRISTOL, Va. – John Adams has had a lot of good football teams in his nearly 20 years as Lebanon’s football coach, and as the 2009 regular season came to an end Friday night he was still trying to figure out his current group of Pioneers.

One thing he knows, his club will head to the Region D playoffs next week coming off a solid-enough 35-0 Clinch Mountain District victory over homestanding John Battle.

“We’re just so up and down offensively,” said Adams, his team now 6-4.  “Defensively we’ve been pretty solid here lately, but offensively we need more consistency.

“You never know, but you get ahold of a pretty good team there in the playoffs you just wonder if you can move the ball well enough to win a ballgame. But we’re gonna keep pluggin’ away at it and see what happens.”

Lebanon was methodical offensively in polishing off Battle, producing 374 total yards, much of which occured as the undermanned Trojans wore down in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, Lebanon gave the home team little room to maneuver. Battle was held to minus-yards rushing as a product of at least a half-dozen quarterback sacks.

“We just kinda outmanned ’em a little bit up front,” Adams said. “We’ve got a lot of older guys, a lot of seniors who are big and aggressive and have played a lot of football.”

It’s just the opposite for Battle, which finished an inspired 3-7 following its 0-10 season of a year ago.

“We matched up well with them defensively ’cause we’re able to play our older kids on defensive,” said first-year Battle coach Ryan Witten.  “Offensively, we’re just so young.

“We played three freshmen in the offensive line tonight due to injuries and what not and they gave it all they had, but we we’re just outmanned – physically, I mean. Not in effort.”
Indeed, Battle played Lebanon tough much of the night, trailing just 14-0 at halftime.

Talented 6-foot-3 senior wide out Jerome Cobb got Lebanon on the board first, grabbing a quick hitch pass from quarterback Andrew Jessee and dancing his way eight yards to the end zone to cap an 11-play, 76-yard drive. Justin Adams then finished a 13-play, 70-yard drive with a four-yard dash for the two-touchdown lead.

The biggest play of the game occurred midway through the third quarter, after Battle had created a turnover and had the ball on Lebanon’s 44.

On third-and-11, junior noseguard Jon Sands crashed through the Trojan offensive line and sacked Battle quarterback Josh Blackburn, producing a fumble that defensive end John
Honaker gathered on a hop and returned 45 yards to the end zone.

“I used a false step to the outside and then just shot through by the other side to get in there as fast as I could,” said Sands. “But I can’t take all the credit for that play. John was the one who was there to pick it up and take it on in.”

The play all but took the air out of the inspired Trojans, who faded from there.

“We’ve been waiting for Jon [Sands] to make a play like that,” Adams said. “I’m tickled for him. It was a big play for us at the time.”

Nick Bush tallied on a 36-yard run with 8:53 left in the game, before backup Chris Belcher finished the scoring with a 7-yard run in the game’s final minute.