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By John Henson 

Contributing Sports Writer

In the 100-plus years since Harlan and Pineville started playing each other in football, dozens of great players on both sides had big nights in the series now called the Battle of U.S. 119.

Not many, however, could top the performance of Pineville sophomore Landon Robbins on Friday night as he brought the Mountain Lions back from a 14-point halftime deficit with 20 unanswered points in the second half for a 32-26 victory. Robbins reached the end zone four times, two through the air, one on the ground and another with an interception.

“He’s a special player. When you need something, you can depend on him to make a play,” said Pineville coach Allen Harris as the Lions ended a five-game losing streak to open the season.

“The Robbins kid is really good. Our entire plan was focused on him, and he made some plays,” Harlan coach Eric Perry said after watching a lead slowly slip away in the second half to send the Dragons to their fifth straight loss.

Robbins scored on a 57-yard pass from Sawyer Thompson in the first quarter after the Dragons had scored the first 14 points. He added a 51-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, then took back a Baylor Varner pass 95 yards in the third quarter to pull the Lions within two just when it seemed Harlan was about to put the game out of reach. Robbins completed the comeback when he caught a Thompson pass across the middle in the final minute and went in for a 20-yard touchdown.

“We made some adjustments at halftime, and we did pick up some things they were doing,” Harris said of the Lions’ three interceptions. “We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half and dropped some balls. I felt if we could come out and execute the second half, we could win the game. We made some adjustments at halftime, and we told the kids they had to go out there and stay focused and run the plays, and good things would happen.”

Harlan (1-5 overall, 0-1, district) rolled up 272 yards on the ground, led by Darius Akal with 179 yards on 26 carries and Sedrick Washington with 79 yards on 11 carries.

“Our guys made some plays,” Perry said. “I thought our offensive line played a lot better, and Darius and Sedirick both ran the ball really hard.”

Varner, a standout baseball pitcher who joined the football team recently, started at quarterback in his first high school game. He got off to a great start, completing four of four passes in the first quarter, but finished with three interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns. Varner replaced Donovan Montanaro, who moved to receiver and had two touchdown catches after the team went through what Perry described as “internal issues” during the week.

“We did play better for three quarters and we’ve had a lot going on this week. To play as well as we did is amazing to be honest,” Perry said. “We didn’t find a way to win it. We just have to finish the deal, and we didn’t. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times. I felt we dominated the game the first half and played pretty good in the third quarter, but you have to finish, and we didn’t.

Harlan plays host to Middlesboro on Friday. Pineville (1-5 overall, 1-0 district) will travel to Williamsburg on Friday.