HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Bryson Lester, Jarae Bryant are game-changers in Virginia High's season-opening victory over Richlands (copy)
Richlands' Bryan Hay tackles Virginia High's Prince Williams.
Virginia High's Chance Wellington gets tackled by Ethan Cordle of Richlands on Friday night.
Virginia High's Jeremiah Daggs carries the ball through a group of Richlands defenders on Friday night.
Richlands Bryan Hay carries the ball as Virginia High's Jordan Franklin stretches out to tackle.
Richlands' Patrick Spencer looks to pass around Virginia High's Aaron Joyce.
Richlands' Xavier Lester tackles Virginia High's Jarae Bryant.
Patrick Spencer of Richlands carries the ball through the Virginia High defense.
Virginia High's Prince Williams gets tackled by Richlands Brock Breeding (50) and Lucas Looney (61) on Friday night.
Ethan Cordle of Richlands carries the ball against Virginia High on Friday night.
Richlands coach Bubba Wallace talks with Landon Absher during a huddle at Virginia High
BRISTOL, Va. – The Virginia High Bearcats are minus two of their reliable standouts, but they came out on the plus side Friday night thanks to a couple of dudes who stepped up and left no doubt.
Bryson Lester and Jarae Bryant produced game-changing plays as VHS opened the 2026 season with a 21-6 Southwest District victory over the Richlands Blue Tornado at Gene Malcolm Stadium.
Lester was at the center of the game’s most crucial sequence about midway through the second quarter.
Virginia High was clinging to a 7-6 lead when Richlands quarterback Jamie Capshaw unleashed a throw on a third-down play.
A junior linebacker, Lester dropped back deep in coverage and snagged an overthrown pass that was intended for Landon Absher. He zoomed 43 yards to the end zone after corralling the pigskin to extend the lead of the Bristolians with 5:24 remaining in the first half.
“I knew something was coming that way,” Lester said. “Once I saw the ball it’s like everything went in slow motion. I almost dropped it, but I caught it, ran down the sidelines, saw my blockers and the open holes and it was just a full sprint ahead.”
The Bearcats had burned a timeout just before the contest’s defining play. Assistant coaches Reece Sydnor, Andrew Belcher and Kregg Mabe – defensive gurus in their own right – were on to something.
Virginia High's Bryson Lester
“The defensive coaches had decided to back him up because of the situation,” said VHS boss Derrick Patterson. “Bryson had a good read on the ball and found himself at the right place. He made some nice moves down the sideline and got in the end zone. … He’s a really hard-nosed kid and isn’t afraid of contact.”
To make the situation even worse for Richlands, Capshaw was injured on the play and did not return. He was on crutches on the Blue Tornado’s sideline in the second half.
The Bearcats can relate.
Injuries have plagued VHS as well with senior quarterback Deion Graham and speedster Kayden Laws, the team’s top rusher a season ago, currently inactive with ACL tears.
“It’s unfortunate that they’re out,” Lester said. “But we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.”
Bryant has also taken on a bigger role with Graham and Laws on the injured list.
He rushed for 90 yards on eight carries and scored two touchdowns on Friday.
“Jarae’s been a really solid player for us the past couple of years,” Patterson said. “He’s seen a lot of time at linebacker and seen some time at running back and had some nice plays. We’re excited for him to have that opportunity and he’s shown in the past he’s got really good vision and will get downhill and run hard.”
Bryant recovered a fumble in the first quarter and two plays later scored on a 36-yard touchdown run with 5:43 remaining in the opening period.
He reeled off a 33-yard scoring scamper with 58.7 seconds left in the third quarter that essentially sealed the deal.
Richlands managed just 91 yards of total offense and had more punts (five) than first downs (four) on the evening.
The only score for the Blue Tornado came with 1:22 remaining in the first quarter on Capshaw’s 6-yard touchdown pass to freshman Treyton Kiser on a 4th-and-Goal play.
Richlands had just two plays that generated double-digit yardage totals and both came courtesy of Ethan Cordle in the first quarter. He had an 11-yard run and was on the receiving end of a screen pass from Capshaw that netted 56 yards.
“Our defense played pretty good, I’m not going to lie,” Bryant said. “We messed up on a couple of blitzes, but other than that everything felt great.”
Bryant, Isaiah Jones, Marcus Joyce, Edward Harvey, Jayden Linder and Jeremy Quinto were among the standouts on D for the Bearcats.
Meanwhile, the offense of the Blues stalled even more after Capshaw exited as reserves Connor Hess and Patrick Spencer both got snaps as signal callers.
Richlands also saw freshman lineman Marcus Mitchell stretchered off the field with an injury in the third quarter. Mitchell had played well on defense before getting hurt.
Bubba Edwards was hired as the team’s interim head coach in June when a surprising coaching change was made. The preseason roster numbered just 34.
“I’m proud of our kids,” Edwards said. “Our backs have been against the wall with the adversity we’ve dealt with. When you have as few kids on the roster as we have, it’s just adversity you have to deal with. We knew it was going to be tough. All I ask them to do is play four quarters and that we did.”
Bryan Hay played hard on both sides of the ball, while Xavier Lester intercepted a pass.
Still, the Blues trailed by just eight points with a minute left in the third quarter.
“Hats off to Coach Patterson, his team did a great job of taking advantage of the situation,” Edwards said. “Our defensive coordinator Eric Phipps did a great job. You should be able to win a game holding Virginia High’s offense to 14 points. … Hopefully, we can bounce back.”
Richlands plays at Gate City on Thursday, while VHS travels to Patrick Henry next Friday. The Bearcats will look to commit less penalties after getting 100 yards worth of flags on Friday.
“Richlands did a good job tonight,” Patterson said. “They made things hard on us and we definitely didn’t help ourselves in some situations. … We’re growing on both sides of the ball. Like I said before the season started, we’re experienced in some spots and young in some spots and it showed. Obviously, we’ve got to learn from it and fix some things moving forward against Patrick Henry next week … We’re 1-0 and we’ll take it.”
Virginia High is shorthanded but not short on determination.
“Missing Deion and Kayden – it hurts. It hurts mentally because those are some of my best friends and it hurts the team,” Bryant said. “I told Kayden Laws that I’ll step up for him. That’s the best I’m trying to do.”
Richlands 6 0 0 0—6
Virginia High 7 7 7 0—21
Scoring Summary
VHS – Bryant 36 run (Walling kick)
R – Kiser 6 pass from Capshaw (kick failed)
VHS – Lester 43 INT return (Walling kick)
VHS – Bryant 33 run (Walling kick)
Team Stats
First Downs: R 4, VHS 9; Rushes-Yards: R 26-16, VHS 34-181; Passing Yards: R 75, VHS 58; Comp.-Att.-Int.: R 6-16-1, VHS 8-12-1; Fumbles-Lost: R 1-1, VHS 0-0; Penalties-Yards: R 7-46, VHS 10-100; Punts-Average: R 5-27.4, VHS 3-33.3
