2018 All-County football selections named

The following players have been nominated for All-County honors by the News Journal for the 2018 season…

All-County Most Valuable Player
Chase Estep, senior QB for Corbin
The Redhounds’ game plan once again centered around Estep in 2018, only this time he was serving as signal caller instead of taking handoffs out of the backfield. He rushed for over 600 yards and 11 scores on the year, throwing for over 3,000 yards and 39 TDs. A truly special all-around athlete, as long as he was on the field he gave Corbin a chance to win.

Quarterback First Team
Dalton Ponder, junior from Williamsburg
Ponder had some big shoes to fill in 2018, taking over for the graduating Alec Poore, but he rose to the occasion and passed all tests with flying colors. An elusive runner, he led the team in rushing with nearly 1,300 yards and 20 touchdowns. He got the job done in the passing game as well, throwing for almost 3,000 yards and 35 scores.

Quarterback Second Team
Kyle Graham, senior from Whitley Co
Graham shared time under center in 2018, especially in the early stages of the season, but in the end he emerged as the Colonels’ top pick for QB. Primarily a passer, his favorite target throughout the year was fellow senior Hunter Hollingsworth (607 yards, 5 TDs).

Running Back First Team
Zach Saylor, sophomore from Whitley Co
After a breakout freshman season in 2017, Saylor was the workhorse for the Colonels’ offense this past fall. He led all other rushers on the team by a wide margin, and continued to show great promise for his next two years at Whitley.

Running Back Second Team
Treyveon Longmire, freshman from Corbin
Coming into the 2018 season Redhound football fans were eager to see what Longmire might do at the varsity level after dominating in the middle school ranks. He did not disappoint, finishing just a few yards ahead of senior quarterback Chase Estep as the team’s leading rusher on the season. His overall athleticism made him a threat as a receiver as well, and solidified him as one of the program’s top playmakers moving forward.

Running Back Honorable Mention
Kyle Davis, senior from Williamsburg
Davis returned to the field for the Yellow Jackets this season and made an immediate impact, finishing behind quarterback Dalton Ponder as the team’s second leading rusher.

Receiver First Team
Jacob Steely, junior from Corbin
There were several impressive receiving performances in the county this year, but Steely was able to top them all with 960 yards and 10 TDs. When senior teammate Christian Gosselin went down with a broken collarbone at one point in the season, Steely stepped in to make sure the Hounds maintained a legitimate passing threat to opposing defenses.

Receivers Second Team
Gavon Thomas, sophomore from Williamsburg and Caleb Rose, junior from Williamsburg
Thomas and Rose were both primary targets for quarterback Dalton Ponder in 2018. Thomas led the team with 854 receiving yards and ten scores, and Rose was not far behind with 814 yards and eight TDs. Yellow Jackets head coach Jerry Herron has to be thrilled about the future with both of these talented playmakers returning to the roster next fall.

Receivers Honorable Mention
Eli Mattingly, senior from Williamsburg and Christian Gosselin, senior from Corbin
Mattingly and Gosselin both deserve recognition for their respective performances on the field this season. They have both factored in heavily to their teams’ offensive game plans over the years, and were able to finish out their high school careers on a strong note by piling up hundreds more receiving yards and several additional touchdowns each. As mentioned above, Gosselin was forced to miss much of the 2018 campaign with a broken collarbone. Had that not been the case, he probably would’ve been a frontrunner for First Team honors.

All-County Offensive Line
Corbin Redhounds
Any offensive line that leads its team to an appearance in a state championship game has to be considered the best of the best. That is exactly what the Redhound O-line did in 2018, and that is why they, collectively, are being awarded with All-County honors.

All-Co Offensive Line Runner-Up
Williamsburg Yellow Jackets
The blocking by the Yellow Jacket offensive line allowed the team’s skill players to put up some very impressive stats this season. Because of that, the Jackets ended up with another district title, and found themselves competing for a regional championship for the first time since 2014.

Defensive Co-Player of the Year
Ethan Wine, junior from Corbin
Wine got to opposing quarterbacks a lot in his junior season. He also did a good job of recovering loose balls, and was seemingly involved in just about every big defensive stand that Corbin made en route to their state championship appearance. He will definitely be a key to the Redhounds’ success as a senior next year.

Defensive Co-Player of the Year
Hunter Brown, senior from Williamsburg
Brown was a tackling machine this season from his linebacker position, making life for opposing offenses very difficult.

Defensive Player of the Year Runner-Up
Grant Gibson, senior form Corbin
Gibson was an all-around great playmaker for the Redhounds on both sides of the ball in 2018, but he shined defensively, especially during the playoffs when it mattered the most.

Defensive Honorable Mentions
Austin Huddleston and Preston Yount, seniors from Whitley Co
Huddleston and Yount provided strong veteran leadership to a defensive unit that gave the Colonels a chance to win most of the games they were involved in this past season.

Special Teams MVP
Will Childers, senior kicker for CHS
Childers was pretty much automatic with his kicks for the Hounds this season, finishing as one of the team’s top overall scorers.

Special Teams MVP Runner-Up
Clay Kysar, senior kicker for Williamsburg
Kysar was reliable kicking the ball for the Jackets this season, adding to their wide array of offensive weapons.

Special Teams Honorable Mention
Noah Langford, senior kicker for Whitley Co
Langford was once again an asset for the Colonels in the kicking game this season.