LEBANON (Sept. 4, 2026) – On Friday night at Harry Stuart Field, Patrick Henry secured a decisive 35-14 win over the Pioneers. Six-foot-two, 200-pound running back Jeb Stewart was a force to be reckoned with. The elusive senior scored four of the Rebels’ five touchdowns.
“Stewart runs hard. A great football player,” said Lebanon coach Hunter Norris. “Patrick Henry came in with a great game plan and executed it well. He’s just hard to stop. They’re good at getting him the ball in a variety of positions. Wherever he’s at, you’ve got to be aware of him and try to keep him from getting the ball. They do a really good job of scheming it up so he can get the ball multiple ways. They’re just a good football team. They had a great plan, and they executed it well.”
Stewart totaled 240 yards on the ground and also caught four passes for 99 yards.
“Jeb goes to these camps and stuff to get recruited, but I’m like, Guys, if you don’t watch him play football, he’s a gamer, man,” Patrick Henry coach Austin Cooper said. “The stuff he does on the field is remarkable.”
Patrick Henry (1-1) was coming off a 7-0 loss to Virginia High in double overtime.
“I think the loss last week and how badly we wanted the win fueled us coming into this week,” said Stewart. “It motivated us to do what we did tonight.”
The quality road win will give the Rebels a confidence boost.
“We turned things around,” commented Cooper. “Our defense is still playing lights out, just like they did last week. We finally got some things moving on offense, got Jeb loose, and he was able to do what he does. He’s kind of unbelievable.”
Patrick Henry had over 400 yards of total offense, with 310 coming on the ground. They were big up front and controlled the line of scrimmage.
“We knew that was the key for us to have success up front,” declared Cooper. “These guys have worked hard. They’re young, and we’re figuring out how to move people around, but they mauled Lebanon. They did a great job up front.
“We always talk about that. That’s the key to victory, right? You have to win the line of scrimmage, and tonight we did that.”
Patrick Henry took the opening kickoff and immediately set the tone for the game. They ran nine plays, all on the ground, with eight carries by Stewart, including a six-yard TD plunge.
After three plays and a punt for the Pioneers, the Rebels scored in just four plays. Stewart broke wide open on the left side for a 33-yard touchdown run.
The Pioneers responded quickly. Freshman quarterback Will Jessee connected with Easton Taylor down the seam on an 86-yard scoring strike, pulling the Pioneers within 14-7 before the end of the first quarter.
The toughest play for Lebanon came just before halftime. PH quarterback Kolby Hicks hit Mason Hutton with a 30-yard touchdown pass with six seconds remaining before the break, putting the Rebels up 21-7.
“We just had two busted coverages on defense that put the game out of reach,” Norris stated. “I think if we didn’t have those two, especially the one before halftime, it’s 14-7, and you’ve got a different outlook on it. Again, we’ve got to do a better job. Defensively, we didn’t tackle well. You ain’t going to arm-tackle Steward. You’ve got to bring a shoulder pad with you, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
Lebanon took the second-half kickoff and ended up punting to pin Patrick Henry inside their own 10-yard line.
On their second play, Stewart exploded around the right end on a 92-yard TD scamper. It gave the Rebels a 28-7 advantage.
To their credit, Lebanon kept battling.
Will Jessee led them on a six-play, 50-yard drive. Jessee found Liam Spencer on a 27-yard TD pass.
“Will did a good job in the second half, slinging the ball a bit and getting it out to some of our guys in space,” stated Norris. “We had some success with that. We’ve got to be better in the run game, though. We went from rushing for about six yards a carry last week to, I bet, not getting half a yard a carry tonight. We’ve got to clean up the run game a little bit. If we can’t run the ball, we can’t win.”
Lebanon appeared to cover an onside kick by Hagin Curry. The officials ruled the Pioneers illegally touched the ball and awarded possession to PH.
“We had a couple of things not go our way, like the onside kick,” remarked Norris. “I thought we got that. I thought we had it. We got our guys out there on offense, and then we didn’t get the ball. I thought that was big. We could have gotten some momentum there, scored a quick touchdown, and gotten the ball back with some time left.”
The Rebels put it away when Hicks passed to Stewart, who raced down the sideline for a 41-yard touchdown, the final margin.
Will Jessee was 18-of-28 passing for 282 yards with two touchdowns.
The Pioneers did not have standout Layne Jessee for the entire second half, and he was only used sparingly in the first half.
“Layne tried to gut it out,” Norris noted. “He was out most of the week and didn’t practice. He’s a game-changer for us. When he’s not out there, we’re a different team. But we’ve got to have guys who, if he’s out, step up with a next-man-up mentality. We’ve got to have people rise to the occasion, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
Lebanon will host Marion in their first Southwest District contest on Friday.
Patrick Henry 35, Lebanon 14
P. Henry 14 7 7 7 —35
Lebanon 7 0 7 0 —14
First Quarter
PH—Stewart 6 run (Ratliff kick), 7:03.
PH—Stewart 33 run (Ratliff kick), 2:44.
LEB—Taylor 86 pass from W. Jessee (Curry kick), 1:41.
Second Quarter
PH—Hutton 30 pass from Hicks (Ratliff kick), 0:06.
Third Quarter
PH—Stewart 92 run (Ratliff kick), 5:29.
LEB—Spencer 27 pass from W. Jessee (Curry kick), 0:39.
Fourth Quarter
PH—Stewart 41 pass from Hicks (Ratliff kick), 9:16.
PHLEB
First downs 179
Total Net Yards 427 298
Rushes-yards 36-310 19-16
Passing 117 282
Comp-Att-Int 5-7-11 8-28-0
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards 7-50 5-40
Punts 1-35 4-28.8
