Pioneers edge Marion
Will Jessee passed for 217 yards and Layne Jessee rushed for 108 yards as the Lebanon Pioneers earned an 18-12 Southwest District football win over Marion for their first victory of the 2026 season.
Will Jessee threw a touchdown pass to Liam Spencer, while Braelin Hess returned a fumble for a score and Layne Jessee had a TD run as Lebanon (1-2) built an 18-0 halftime lead.
Marion (0-3) got on the board in the second quarter with quarterback Colten Jessee leading a pair of scoring drives.
However, Lebanon held off the Scarlet Hurricanes down the stretch.
“It was a tough football game,” said Lebanon coach Hunter Norris. “When we needed to execute and run the clock out, we did. Those are the things that got us beat the previous two weeks by not executing late in the game. We did a great job of finishing in the second half.”
Marion suffered its 24th straight loss, but there has been improvement by the ‘Canes.
“We battled for four quarters,” said Marion coach Billy Testerman. “We had two turnovers early in the game and blew a coverage on the first played that led to scores of them. Us not allowing a second half score was great. Battling back from three scores down to have a chance in the end was tremendous for us. Proud of our effort.”
Marion 0 0 12 0—12
Lebanon 6 12 0 0—18
Scoring Summary
L – Spencer 37 pass from W. Jessee (conversion failed)
L – Hess 34 fumble return (conversion failed)
L – L. Jessee 2 run (conversion failed)
M – Bowman 4 pass from C. Jessee (kick failed)
M – C. Jessee 2 run (run failed)
Team Stats
First Downs: M 11, L 16; Rushes-Yards: M 30-136, L 26-135; Passing Yards: M 38, L 217; Comp.-Att.-Int.: M 5-15-2, L 15-34-1; Fumbles-Lost: M 2-1, L 1-1; Penalties-Yards: M 4-25, L 8-93; Punts-Average: M 4-39.2, L 3-27.
