Tigers rally to win Coal Bowl 16
HONAKER, Va. (August 27, 2026) – The 16th annual Coal Bowl was the most thrilling to date, with Honaker rallying to score the final two touchdowns and clinch a 21-20 win. A large crowd assembled on Thursday at Fuller Field at EMATS Stadium.
On Honaker’s third offensive play, All-State quarterback Parker Lowe went down with an injury and didn’t return. Another Tiger standout, Jeremiah Rose, had already left the game with an injury.
Lebanon held a 20-7 lead and all the momentum heading into the fourth frame. There was no quit in the Tigers.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, on 2nd-and-13, Levi Honaker took his first snap at quarterback for the Tigers in the game. Honaker lofted a perfect spiral to Kam Keen for a 60-yard touchdown pass.
“I saw the pocket forming around me, stepped up when I saw the defensive tackle coming at me, and I just threw it,” declared Honaker. “I saw Cam down there, threw it up, and fortunately it was a perfect ball.”
Honaker had struggled to move the football against a good Lebanon defense without Parker Lowe running the offense.
“It’s just like I told everybody. You lose Parker, Peyton Manning’s offensive coordinator said it. If we lose him, we’re screwed,” Honaker coach Aaron Lowe said. “It was all about our kids. We ain’t repping no one else at quarterback because Parker’s our guy. I challenged our guys at halftime. I told them it’s going to go down in history. You’re going to win this Coal Bowl without the quarterback. It’s up to you guys to go do it, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Describe a pivotal moment in the game.
“When Levi threw that touchdown to Kam Keen,” said Honaker senior Kam Beavers. “I think from then on out, we were locked in. We knew we needed to make some stops and run the clock. Levi was amazing. I’m so proud of him. He pushed through on both sides of the ball. He changed the game for us.”
The Tigers first went with sophomore Brayden Justus to fill in at quarterback. He led Honaker to their first score, throwing a 21-yard TD pass to Levi Honaker. They decided to make another change at QB at the start of the fourth.
“When stuff happens, you try to weigh all options,” declared Lowe. “Every coach on the staff threw out a suggestion. We put Levi in there at the right time. He hasn’t played quarterback since eighth grade. He threw one of the prettiest balls you’ll ever see to Kam Keen. Levi’s a warrior. This whole team is. Levi was huge on defense, too. He made play after play.”
Lebanon took the ensuing kickoff and couldn’t move the ball. The Honaker defense forced a Pioneer punt from their end zone, which gave them excellent field position deep in Lebanon territory.
On second down, Levi Honaker scrambled up the middle, fumbled into the end zone, and Beavers dove on the ball for the touchdown. Beavers, who was 3-for-3 kicking, booted the pivotal extra point to give the Tigers a 21-20 lead with less than nine minutes to play.
“This means everything. I mean, it’s my senior Coal Bowl,” Beavers said. “I haven’t won it since my freshman year, and I don’t think I played a snap in that game. It meant everything to come out here, pursue everything, and win this game.”
From that point, it was up to the defense, and the Tigers kept Lebanon off the scoreboard.
Lebanon had the ball twice. On a 4th-and-11 from the Honaker 16, a pass fell incomplete, and the Pioneers turned the ball over on downs.
After a Honaker punt, Easton Taylor had an excellent return to the Honaker 20. Lebanon drove as far as the six but lost yardage on three consecutive plays. On 4th-and-goal from the 13, Hagin Curry attempted a 30-yard field goal that hit the crossbar and bounced back as no good with two minutes remaining. The Tigers then ran out the clock.
“We had a lot of momentum going into halftime,” said Lebanon coach Hunter Norris. “Honaker made some good adjustments in the second half. They’re a well-coached football team. We didn’t capitalize when we needed to.”
Lebanon went to Layne Jessee early and often using the Power-I formation that they hadn’t used in years. Layne Jessee had 152 yards rushing on 19 carries in the first half. Jessee found yardage harder to come by in the second half, finishing with 185 yards rushing.
“Layne got a ton of carries tonight,” remarked Norris. “We knew coming into the ball game we weren’t going to throw the ball a whole lot. That’s something you hadn’t seen from us in the last two years. Layne knew he was going to have a big workload. I thought he did a really good job. He’s a heck of a football player. We’re glad he’s playing for us.”
From the jaws of defeat came victory for the Tigers.
“Our team morale was at an all-time low,” Levi Honaker stated. “We had to go into the locker room at halftime and have an amazing, amazing talk with players and coaches. We came out here on the field and had another talk, and it just boosted us.
“This is definitely a win we can build on. We learned a lot of valuable lessons tonight that we can hopefully carry into the rest of the season.”
The Tigers face a tough schedule and will likely be without Parker Lowe for several games.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever coached as hard in my life as I did tonight,” commented Coach Lowe. “You come in with a game plan, you lose a quarterback, and then you put somebody else in. You’ve got to figure out what to run within the playbook. We went to the drawing board on some stuff.
“It was a total testament to my coaching staff. My staff did an amazing job. They kept their composure. Coach Miller, the defensive coordinator, and those defensive guys made some crazy adjustments tonight to stop Layne. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Lebanon will host Patrick Henry on Friday. Their season is far from over. They will be favorites to win their next five games.
“We’re going to soak this one in tonight,” Norris stated. “Then we’re going to move on to Patrick Henry tomorrow. They are a good opponent. We’re going to have to bring our A game for that one. It will be good to get back to our house. We look forward to our home opener. Behind our home stands, home crowd. We’re excited for the next opportunity. On Monday, we’ll get back to work and see what we need to fix. Overall, I’m very proud to be these guys’ head coach. I’m proud of the grit and toughness they played with.”
The Tigers enjoyed a memorable victory.
“It was a storybook ending,” remarked Lowe. “It starts with our kids. They believed coming out after halftime that we were going to win this thing. And when you believe, anything can happen. And they did that tonight.”
Honaker 21, Lebanon 20
Lebanon 7 7 6 0—20
Honaker 0 2 0 14—21
First Quarter
LEB—L. Jessee 32 run (Curry kick), 9:53.
Second Quarter
HON—Honaker 21 pass from Justus (Beavers kick), 10:01.
LEB—W. Jessee 1 run (Curry kick), 6:22.
Third Quarter
LEB—W. Jessee 2 run (kick failed), 0:29.
Fourth Quarter
HON—Keen 60 pass from Honaker (Beavers kick), 11:48.
HON—Beavers fumble recovery in end zone (Beavers kick), 8:56.
LEBHON
First downs199
Total Net Yards286133
Rushes-yards38-23423-64
Passing 5269
Comp-Att-Int5-10-09-16-1
Fumbles-Lost1-01-0
Penalties-Yards11-8710-71
Punts5-24.26-33.5
