PINEVILLE — One of the state’s leading rushers coming into Friday’s Battle of 119 against visiting Harlan, senior tailback Landon Robbins built on those stats in a big way Friday by rushing for 316 yards and scoring four touchdowns as the Mountain Lions opened their district slate with a 48-6 win in the annual renewal of one of the state’s oldest rivalries.
“He is a head football coach’s dream. His willpower and aggressiveness to not go down is just unbelievable,” said Pineville coach Arthur Carter.
Robbins beat the Dragons to the outside early in the game but found more success running through Harlan defenders as the game progressed with numerous missed tackles on the last two touchdown runs.
“I’d like to see us tackle better, but I’m not going to criticize the kids for missing tackles because I missed them when I played,” Harlan coach Brian Williams said.
The Lions found success early through the air with the Harlan defense set to deal with Robbins. Junior quarterback Tate Slone completed three straight passes to set up a 15-yard touchdown run by Robbins with 8:06 left in the first quarter. Slone completed eight of 10 passes on the night for 146 yards.
“They came out with some three-wide stuff that affected us. That’s really the first time they have thrown it much this year,” Williams said.
“We’ve got to try to throw the ball more because everyone is stacking the box on us with eight, nine or 10 people in there,” Carter said. “It’s really hard to establish the run when people stack the box like that.”
Gage Love recovered an onside kick to set up the next Pineville score. Slone found Trevor West on a short pass that turned into a 16-yard touchdown for a 12-0 lead with 6:29 to play in the opening period.
Robbins capped a seven-play, 64-yard drive with a 14-yard TD run for an 18-0 lead with 1:47 to play in the period.
Slone found Robbins and West for first downs and then ran 20 yards in a five-play drive capped by West’s 16-yard touchdown run with 7:52 remaining in the second quarter. Slone connected with Brennan Hill for the two-point conversion and a 26-0 lead.
The Lions put together a 10-play drive late in the half before fumbling on the Harlan 2. Boss Bryson cashed in on the mistake in a big way as he found an opening in the Pineville defense and raced 98 yards for a touchdown that cut the deficit to 26-6 with 2:06 to play in the half.
Robbins answered with a 78-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the half to push the advantage to 32-6 at halftime.
Pineville needed only four plays to reach the end zone in the second half after a long kickoff return to midfield by Gabriel Kells. Slone teamed with West for a 29-yard touchdown pass with 9:42 left in the third quarter. Robbins’ two-point conversion run pushed the lead to 40-6.
Robbins broke numerous tackles in an 82-yard TD run down the sideline. Slone teamed with Braxton Baker for a two-point conversion to start a running clock with 7:34 left in the third quarter.
Bryson topped the 100-yard mark for the second straight week.
“I’m proud of the young man,” Williams said. “He comes to play every game. He is improving and moving in the right direction.”
Harlan (1-4) will play its first home game of the season on Friday against Middlesboro. Pineville (3-3) plays at Williamsburg on Friday.
“I’m happy with my football team, but we’ve got a tall task next week,” Carter said. “Williamsburg is a good football team, and we have to play really well to play with that bunch.”