Honaker claims Russell rivalry
Written: Aug 30, 2014
By ANTHONY STEVENS
for the Daily Telegraph
HONAKER, Va. — It was a typical Lebanon-Honaker football game, close. In the fourth annual Russell County Medical Center Coal Bowl host Honaker came out on top in a tightly contested contest 25-14 at EMATS Stadium.
“Lebanon has a good football team,” Honaker coach Doug Hubbard said. “We were just able to make a few more plays than they did. Overall for the first game, I was pleased with a win. We made a couple mental mistakes defensively, kids were in position, they just didn’t make the play.”
The Pioneers were in the game late. On a 4th-and-12, Ben Sexton threw to Will Stamper. The ball was tipped by Honaker cornerback Brent Coleman but Stamper hauled in the deflection for a 49-yard touchdown pass. Peyton Owens added the point after to pull Lebanon within 19-14 with just under eight minutes to play.
The Tigers Avin Parrott took the ensuing kickoff and returned it to the 50. After running six plays, Honaker turned the ball over on downs at the Lebanon 18.
The Pioneers couldn’t move the ball. Needing a touchdown to take the lead, after running four plays they turned the ball over to Honaker on downs.
“I think my kids were confident, we got a little momentum going,” Lebanon coach Phil Henley said. “When it was 19-14, I knew we still had a chance to win it. I liked the effort we gave tonight, we made a game of it.”
The Tigers then closed it out behind the running of tailback Austin Smith. Smith plowed in up the middle on a 10-yard run to give the Tigers the 25-14 margin with less than two minutes to play. Smith had 155 yards on the ground and also scored early in the fourth quarter on a 4-yard scamper.
“It felt great (to get the final TD), the line blocked great,” Smith said. “The line was getting some solid blocks and gave us some time.
“Lebanon played a really tough game. We were finally able to out power them a little bit and come away with the win.”
The teams traded punts their first few possessions. Honaker put together a 6-play, 51-yard just before the end of the first quarter. Casey Dye connected with Casey Harmon on a 16-yard TD pass to go up 6-0.
A Lebanon fumble recovered on the Lebanon 23 by Ibrahim Tawfeek set up the Tigers next score. Dye found Jordan Smith on a slant for a 26-yard touchdown. Jordan Stout booted the extra point and Honaker led 13-0.
Fullback Brent Rasnake set up Lebanon’s first score on a 22-yard run. Matt Hurd did the honors scoring from 10 yards out to make the score 13-7 at the half.
Rasnake had 71 yards rushing to lead Lebanon. The Pioneers finished with 169 yards on the ground.
Senior Kraig McGlothlin was a tackling machine for the Tigers finishing with seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Hayden Horn led the defense with nine tackles.
“Lebanon had a big play and the one good drive in the first half,” Hubbard said. “Overall I thought out defense played well containing Lebanon’s speed. They are athletic and fast, we did a good job of containing Hurd and Sexton.”
Honaker has an unusual early bye week, taking next Friday off. Lebanon will entertain Grundy.
Lebanon..........0 7 0 7 — 14
Honaker............6 7 0 12 — 25
Scoring Summary
HON—Harman 16 pass from Dye (kick failed)
HON—J. Smith 26 pass from Dye (Stout kick)
LEB—Hurd 10 run (Owens kick)
HON—A. Smith 4 run (pass failed)
LEB—Stamper 49 pass from Sexton (Owens kick)
HON—A. Smith 10 run (kick failed)
Team Stats
First Downs: LEB 14, HON 14; Rushes-Yards: LEB 40-169, HON 38-213; Passing Yards: LEB 81, HON 83; Comp-Att-Int: LEB 5-15-0, HON 6-12-0; Fumbles-Lost: LEB 6-3, HON 2-1; Penalties-Yards: LEB 6-34, HON 8-50; Punts-Average: LEB 3-35.3, HON 3-36.3.
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