Lebanon Cedars look for their first win since 2020 under new leadership and vision

It’s a team that hasn’t had much success on the scoreboard, but a brand new coach said success is being achieved behind the scenes. The Lebanon High School Cedars football team is looking to break its losing streak and win on and off the field.

The last time the Cedars football team won a game was in October 2020.

Tyler Pritchett moved to Lebanon, PA with his family this year to coach this football team. He said, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

CBS 21’s Elise Person sat down with Pritchett to learn why he decided to come to Lebanon.

“I saw a place called Lebanon and said, ‘Hmm, let me do a little research on that,’ and then looked it up and saw you know what kind of kids come out of there,” Pritchett said.

Pritchett grew up in Fairfield, Alabama. He said that when he grew up where he grew up, many of his friends are no longer with us today.

“That definitely influenced me and I think that definitely drove me,” Pritchett said.

He said that trip took him to Lebanon, PA.

When he looked at Lebanon, he said, he saw how many children were told what they weren’t allowed to do.

Currently in his first season as head coach of the Lebanon Cedars football team, Pritchett said he has always felt a calling to influence youth.

“Who tells them what they can do?” Pritchett said.

Camron Buchmoyer is a junior linebacker for the Cedars. Brandyn Castro is a senior quarterback.

Neither Buchmoyer nor Castro ever won a high school football game.

“Anyone who is a powerhouse wasn’t made into a powerhouse by one move. It took hard work. It took determination. It took people who knew what they were doing and really wanted to invest in the community and in these kids,” Pritchett said. “And I felt like there was a lack of that here.”

Castro said he quit football after his sophomore year because he didn’t like the program.

“I kind of did my own thing and didn’t really think about football,” Castro said.

But in his first year in Lebanon, Pritchett approached Castro and tried to get him back on the football team.

“One day he came to me in the cafeteria and talked to me. And since that day, I’ve been like bread and butter to him,” Castro said.

Together, Castro and Pritchett work to build this powerhouse, but it hasn’t been easy.

“I had five kids at my first training session. Five. And I remember sitting down and saying, ‘How am I going to field a soccer team with five kids?’ Well, you keep working, you keep making your presence felt, and we’ve gone from five to now over 40,” said Pritchett.

Now the focus is on getting 1-0 every day.

“We talk about the football game. It will prepare you for the game of football, but it will also prepare you for the game of life,” Pritchett said.

Castro said he could feel the difference this year compared to previous years.

“It’s like kids actually want to play no matter what’s on the scoreboard,” Castro said.

Castro said it’s not just the culture change that’s different, but also the support system he has now.

“We can contact our coaches any time we need it. One day when I had an emergency in the middle of the night I called Coach Pritchett and he picked up the phone. It’s just everything,” Castro said.

Castro said the team is like a family now.

As the team looks to end a nearly four-year losing streak, the upperclassmen said they are laying the foundation for the new Lebanon Cedars football team.

“We’re just trying to build a new identity in this city,” Castro said.

Head coach Pritchett said he is focused on growing his program and giving something he is proud of.

He said the wins would come, as would the team’s personal growth.

“I think I needed Lebanon. My family needed Lebanon, but I think Lebanon might have needed us too,” Pritchett said.