In their first game of the 2020 season, the Lebanon football team won convincingly over the Hillcrest Hornets on Friday night in Springfield, 34-13.
The night's biggest news came early in the third quarter when sophomore quarterback Peyton Mitchell took a hard hit and was forced to come out of the contest with an apparent shoulder injury after LHS took a 19-0 lead with 4:37 left in the third quarter.
“We will be having to work with backup quarterbacks throughout this week,” head coach Will Christian said after the game on Friday. “Peyton (Mitchell) will probably be out for a little while, but we don’t know exactly how long because he is a tough kid, but will more than likely be out for a little bit.
“Drew (McBride) started at quarterback for a 9-0 freshman team, so he is a winner and can figure things out. We also have Preston Ellingson and Max Groce, so we will get things to where they need to be.”
With Mitchell out, Lebanon didn’t skip a beat as senior Drew McBride took the reins on offense and helped lead the team down for two scores as senior Antonio Rogers barreled into the end zone along with senior Cordell Zebell after a 56-yard drive to extend the lead to 34-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Hornets returned the kickoff for a touchdown to cap the scoring at 34-13.
“I was super proud of our kids and coaches,” Christian said. “One of the first things I told them on the field after the game was that this is my 26th year coaching football, and one of the big things we need to grasp ahold of is that all W’s are awesome, so we need to enjoy them because they’re difficult to get.
“Things were a bit sloppy and weird in a way, which is pretty typical when playing at Hillcrest. I think of many many years and weird situations that have happened here over the years.”
For the complete story, see Saturday's edition of the Laclede County Record.
