Redhounds Advance

The Corbin Redhounds advanced to the second-round of the KHSAA playoffs as expected Friday night with a 55-6 win over the Garrard County Lions at Campbell Field. It was the second week in a row that the Redhounds had beaten the Lions. Two weeks ago it was by a near identical score (61-6).
While the offense struggled a bit in the early going (20-0 at the half), the Corbin defense stymied the Lions. Corbin held Garrard County (2-9) to 47 total yards. Jordan Phillips hit on 13 of 27 passes for 38 yards. A lot of the passes were caught but hit for long losses. On the ground the Lions managed just nine net yards. Phillips, who likes to run the ball out of the option had six carries for a minus 15 yards.
On the Redhounds side of the ball, Corbin had 29 carries for 248 yards while junior quarterback Clint Cashen hit on 10 of 16 passes for 112 yards. Corey Sewell had six catches for 74 yards.
Rob Madon even led the return game with 69 yards. In all, the Redhounds had 492 yards compared to Garrard County’s 135. The Lions picked up 88 yards on the seven kickoff returns.
“We played well in the first half, but we sputtered around a lot,” said Corbin coach Steve Jewell. “We created some turnovers and got our selves going and in the second half we made a few adjustments.”
Corbin (6-5) had the game pretty much in hand from the outset. The Hounds scored their first touchdown at the 8:18 mark of the first quarter when junior Josh Sanders rambled five yards into the end zone, capping a four-play 16 yard drive. Jordan Wagers added the PAT for a 7-0 lead.
Corey Sewell was responsible for the next two touchdowns. He scored on a 30 yard run with 1:38 left in the opening period then added another with just :34 left in the half as Corbin went to the dressing room with a 20-0 lead.
Garrard County made some noise at the start of the third quarter when Phillips hit Jared Prewitt on the biggest play of the night for the Lions, a 32-yard pass with 6:32 in the period.
Corbin responded less than two minutes later with a 25 yard drive. Sanders took the third play into the end zone from 11 yards out for the score. Wagers kick made it 27-6.
The Redhounds put the game away with a 72-yard drive at the start of the fourth quarter. Cashen hit Sewell with a 38 yard play for the touchdown and Wagers made it 34-6 with 11:50 left in the game. It was all Corbin after that as the Hounds tacked on 21 points for the final margin.
“Obviously, you have to be pleased with the two games back to back and score that many points,” added Jewell.
The Redhounds will see their second district opponent Friday night when they host the Cardinals of Wayne County. “They look really improved,” said Jewell.
“We struggled over there in the first ballgame,” said Jewell. “We were able to pull out an nine-point win. They look really improved on tape.”
“They seem to be running the quarterback even more,” said Jewell. Jordan Steele accounts for well over half of the Wayne County offense. Steele has passed for 928 yards (58 of 117) while running for 742 on 178 carries.
Prior to the season the Cardinals were high on running back D.J. Hall. But, injuries has kept him out of six ballgames. He is back and has 51 carries for 286 yards. He has seven touchdowns in short yardage situations.
While Hall was out, the load went to Chris Burks. He has 540 yards on 122 carries but just five touchdowns.
When they go to the air, Steele’s favorite targets are Wesley Dick (23 catches for 388 yards) and Robert Corder (17 catches for 246 yards).
“They are making more play calls associated with his (Steele) speed,” said Jewell. “He is their playmaker.”
Jewell said stopping Steele will be the key to Friday’s game defensively. “You have to stop him and keep the ball out of his hands. We need to make them drive the whole field and not give them any turnovers.”
“When you get to the playoffs, it’s always the turnovers that plays the key role,” said Jewell.
Gametime at Campbell Field is 7:30 p.m.

Garrard County 0 0 6 0- 6
Corbin 14 6 7 28- 55
First Quarter
C – Josh Sanders, 5 run (Jordan Wagers kick)
C – Corey Sewell, 30 run (Wagers kick)
Second Quarter
C – Sewell, 3 run (Wagers kick)
Third Quarter
GC – Jared Prewitt, 32 pass from Jordan Phillips (kick failed)
C – Sanders, 11 run (Wagers kick)
Fourth Quarter
C – Sewell, 38 pass from Clint Cashen (Wagers kick)
C – Joel Mitchell, fumble recovery (Wagers kick)
C – Lance Freeman, 71 run (Ryan Fritts run)
C – Jake McPheron, 14 run (run failed)