LEBANON, Va. (August 20, 2026) – With the first units playing, Lebanon trailed the Wolfpack 21-0 at halftime in the VHSL Benefit Game on Thursday at Harry Stuart Field. Their second team took the opening kickoff and scored, cutting the deficit to 14, but Ridgeview reserves scored the final 28 points to post a dominant 49-7 victory.
“In the first half, I thought we did okay,” Lebanon coach Hunter Norris said. “Offensively, we couldn’t move the ball. We struggled up front to block them. They’re really good in the box. We struggled to communicate who we needed to pick up and where we needed to go, and that killed our offensive momentum.
“Our defense played well, given how much they had to play in the first half, and held them to 21 points. I was happy with that. We could still get better at tackling. We missed a couple of tackles when we had them in the backfield.”
Ridgeview took the opening kickoff and methodically moved down the field. They ran 13 plays and took more than six minutes off the clock.
They got to the Lebanon two-yard line, but the Pioneers made a strong defensive stand to keep the contest scoreless.
“We had a great goal-line stand there. I thought we did a fantastic job,” noted Norris. “I think we got a little gassed offensively, and that’s my fault. I have to do a better job of preparing them and being more efficient. We have to fix some things on the offensive side of the ball. If we can get some momentum offensively, I think that’s really going to help us.”
The first series was one of the few bright spots for Lebanon.
“When we get down there inside the five-yard line and end up back on the twenty-five-yard line, that kind of thing hurts,” said Ridgeview coach Kent Grant. “It’s early, and hopefully we learn from things like that. We have to clean some things up. We have to get more efficient with our blocking assignments. But there were some good things to build on.”
It was the only time Lebanon stopped the Wolfpack.
“We got down to the two, and we made a lot of mistakes,” commented Ridgeview’s Alex Grant. “We can’t have that in the regular season or the postseason. That’s just not who we want to be. We have to eliminate those mistakes and get into the end zone.”
Next possession, Connor Ramey picked off a Lebanon pass. Four plays later, the Wolfpack was in the end zone on a two-yard rush by Grant.
The Pioneers turned the ball over on downs, and Ridgeview drove down the field for another Grant score. Grant picked off a pass and then scored his third TD on a 48-yard scamper after breaking a tackle in the backfield for a 21-0 advantage.
“Coming in, we knew Lebanon was physical, and we had to show our physicality, too,” Alex Grant said. “We didn’t start too hot. We had to dig deep right there and bring some grit. We still have a lot to improve on. I mean—we still have a lot in our pocket.”
Ridgeview amassed almost 300 yards of total offense in the first half to less than 50 for Lebanon.
“This year, we want to be able to do more than just one thing,” Coach Grant noted. “We want to be versatile, mixing it up and getting the ball to four or five different guys, and that’s what we’re looking to do.
“Alex can really do a lot of things for us. Having guys like him, Colin (Hill) and Xander (Wallace), who can line up at multiple positions, allows us to do a lot of things.”
The second units played most of the time for both teams in the second half. Lebanon had their only score in the opening possession of the third quarter. Liam Spencer grabbed a 12-yard TD pass from Brody Boothe.
The Wolfpack answered in 12 seconds, the amount of time it took Kyler McFall to race 86 yards for a TD on the kickoff return. Ridgeview added three more scores before time expired.
With Layne Jessee and Easton Taylor returning kicks, the Pioneers did a good job in that phase of the game.
“I thought they did well,” Norris stated. “We were good at that last year. Coach Jessee did a good job preparing those guys. We had good field position, but you have to capitalize on it. I think we got the ball past the forty on every kickoff return. We have to be able to capitalize on those situations.”
The Wolfpack controlled the line of scrimmage, rushing for over 400 yards.
“The team that’s better up front is usually the team that wins,” declared Norris. “I thought we had some moments when we were one block, or one cut away from busting it on Ridgeview. They did a good job tackling one-on-one. We have to do a better job of picking that up so we can break those big runs.
“We did a lot of good things and a lot of bad things. It’s definitely a game we can learn from. This one doesn’t count, but we can learn from it and develop.”
Ridgeview 49, Lebanon 7
Ridgeview714217—49
Lebanon 0 0 7 0—7
First Quarter
RIDGE—Grant 2 run (Deel kick), 1:58.
Second Quarter
RIDGE—Grant 3 run (Deel kick), 6:04.
RIDGE—Grant 48 run (Deel kick), 4:01.
Third Quarter
LEB—Spencer 12 pass from Boothe (Curry kick), 6:08.
RIDGE—McFall 86 kickoff return (Deel kick), 5:56.
RIDGE—McFall 22 run (Deel kick), 2:32.
RIDGE—Rose 3 run (Deel kick), 1:04.
Fourth Quarter
RIDGE—Stevens 5 run (Deel kick), 4:22.
RIDGELEB
First downs2110
Total Net Yards461162
Rushes-yards42-42924-93
Passing 3269
Comp-Att-Int3-9-010-25-2
Fumbles-Lost0-00-0
Penalties-Yards6-371-10
Punts0-03-26.7
