Rye Cove's Carter Roach-Hodge carries the ball to the end zone for a touchdown as Eastside's Chase Williams attempts the tackle.
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
For the second straight week, a showdown between undefeated high school football teams in far Southwest Virginia will be in the spotlight.
The Lebanon Pioneers (7-0) host the Graham G-Men (6-0) with Southwest District supremacy on the line.
Many folks expected Graham to have an unbeaten record at this point as the G-Men are three-time defending Region 2D champions and have a roster loaded with varsity veterans.
"Graham is a great team with a lot of great players and coaches," Lebanon coach Hunter Norris said. "These are the kind of games you want to coach and play in. It is going to be a great atmosphere and we are excited for this SWD matchup."
However, Lebanon's success has been somewhat of a surprise.
Under the direction of their first-year coach, the Pioneers are off to their best start since 2004 after going just 3-7 last season.
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Quarterback Michael "Mr. Energy" Reece, rugged running back Layne Jessee, a fleet of sure-handed wide receivers and an offensive line led by the likes of Luke Monk, Blaine Frye, Jesus Hernandez, Lucas Peck, and Hunter Cox have fared well.
The marquee matchup at Harry Stuart Field in Lebanon will come one week after the Rye Cove Eagles dominated the fourth quarter in a 40-8 win over Eastside in a battle of unbeatens.
The Cove received three touchdowns from junior Carter Roach-Hodge, got a dominant defensive effort and scored three times in a 3:02 span in the fourth quarter to pull away.
The Eagles are 7-0 for the first time in program history.
"This one was big for us," said Rye Cove coach Gary Collier.
Rye Cove had four sacks, two interceptions (Brady Darnell and Roach-Hodge had the picks) and limited the Spartans to 186 yards of total offense. Eastside had not scored fewer than 20 points in a game this season.
B.I. Salyers is the defensive coordinator at the Cove and could be satisfied with a job well done. The Eagles put the crunch in crunch time.
"Our defense really played hard for us," Collier said. "We wore them down a little bit and started playing with a little confidence. ... The kids were flying to the football and we did a lot of stunting tonight. Kudos to Coach Salyers for what he does on that side of the ball."
The following is a look back at last week's games and a glance ahead to this week's contests.Complete recaps are available at HeraldCourier.com:
THURSDAY
Chilhowie 44, Northwood 12: Blake Robinson had 12 tackles and Asher Chapman threw three touchdown passes as the Warriors clinched the Smyth County championship.
Grundy 44, Twin Valley 12: Trey Taylor and Logan Lester scored two touchdowns apiece for the Golden Wave.
FRIDAY
Virginia High 45, Tazewell 7: Keshawn Smith had 214 receiving yards and 72 rushing yards as the Bearcats snapped a three-game losing streak.
Lebanon 49, Rural Retreat 20: Layne Jessee rushed for 136 yards and Mike Reece threw four touchdown passes.
Holston 26, Patrick Henry 21: Hayden Sinclair rushed for 103 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:32 remaining as the Cavaliers beat their Washington County archrival.
Castlewood 20, Twin Springs 6: Gabe Jones rushed for 127 yards as Castlewood snapped a 10-game losing skid and gave Shon Chisom his first win as the head coach of the Blue Devils.
Abingdon 48, Marion 0: Owen Barr rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns and also had two catches for 73 yards.
Wise County Central 42, John Battle 6: The Mountain 7 District foes were flagged a combined 33 times for 385 yards in a hostile and chippy contest.
George Wythe 42, Giles 24: Trey Rainey of George Wythe rushed for 243 yards and four touchdowns, while eclipsing the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season.
Thomas Walker 39, Hurley 30: Clay Cheek passed for 172 yards and Dylan McCurry rushed for 132 yards as the Thomas Walker Pioneers kept their playoff hopes alive.
Jefferson County 48, West Ridge 34: Playoff hopes for the West Ridge Wolves disappeared following the setback.
Lee High 51, J.I. Burton 0: Brynnen Pendergraft passed for 318 yards and four touchdowns as the Lee High Generals won easily.
Tennessee High 55, David Crockett 20: Elijah Plumbar (seven carries, 162 yards) and Trevor Dowdell (11 carries, 161 yards) ran wild as offensive linemen Kai Allison, Noah Johnson, Mason Campbell, Isaiah Trinkle and Ryon Simora paved the way.
Rye Cove 40, Eastside 8: The Eagles were 5-for-5 on two-point conversion attempts.
Union 31, Ridgeview 7: Junior Keith Chandler rushed for 206 yards and three scores on 36 carries, intercepted two passes, and supplied 10 tackles in the best game of his life.
Now, for a look at the games on this week's docket:
TUESDAY
Unaka (1-4) at Thomas Walker (3-2): Thomas Walker took a 44-26 win over the Rangers last season as the Pioneers piled up 494 yards of total offense.
Seymour (0-7) at Sullivan East (1-6): Seymour has lost 23 consecutive games and the last win for the Eagles came in 2022 against East.
THURSDAY
Holston (5-1) at Northwood (3-3): Holston quarterback Noah Tweed was injured in last week's win over Patrick Henry and Hayden Sinclair took over as the signal-caller for the Cavaliers.
FRIDAY
Wise County Central (2-4) at Union (5-2): Phil Robbins Field will be dedicated on Friday night at Bullitt Park. It honors the former Powell Valley football and track and field coach.
John Battle (0-6) at Ridgeview (6-1): The John Battle Trojans are 1-7 all-time against Ridgeview.
Gate City (3-3) at Lee High (3-3): In terms of playoff seeding this game is very important.
Richlands (0-6) at Virginia High (3-3): The Richlands Blue Tornado have lost 18 straight games.
Marion (0-6) at Tazewell (3-3): Marion hasn't beaten the Tazewell Bulldogs since 2018.
Graham (6-0) at Lebanon (7-0): Lebanon is 1-18 all time against Graham with the only win being a 14-7 verdict in 1988 when Eric Buchanan of the Pioneers rushed for two touchdowns. The only TD scored by the G-Men that night came from Tony Palmer, who is now Graham's head coach.
Narrows (3-2) at Honaker (3-3): These teams played one of the wildest games in Southwest Virginia last year as Honaker notched a 74-51 win.
Chilhowie (3-3) at Rural Retreat (3-3): An interception with 40.7 seconds remaining sealed Rural Retreat's 21-14 win over Chilhowie last season.
J.I. Burton (1-5) at George Wythe (5-2): Quarterback Shane Huff has been ultra efficient in his first season as the starting signal-caller for GW.
Grundy (2-4) at Hurley (15): Grundy can clinch the Black Diamond District and Buchanan County championship with a win.
Thomas Walker at Twin Valley: Both of these teams are playing two games this week.
TW plays Unaka on Tuesday, while Twin Valley met Bland County on Monday.
Twin Springs (3-3) at Eastside (5-1): Eastside's last win over the Twin Springs Titans was the spring of 2021.
Cocke County (1-5) at Tennessee High (5-2): Josh Holt is 17-12 in his three seasons as the head coach of the Tennessee High Vikings.
West Greene (3-4) at West Ridge (3-4): A late addition to the schedule, this will be the first-ever meeting between the programs.
Sullivan East at Cherokee (4-2): Cherokee hasn't beaten East since 1996 when Matt Anderson of the Chiefs rushed for 138 yards in a 21-6 verdict.
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