Middle school teams win conference championships

Williamsburg Middle School Yellow Jackets

The Williamsburg Middle School Yellow Jackets football team were 9-1 on the year, undefeated in conference play, going into Saturday’s Mountain Middle School Athletic Conference championship game with Middlesboro at Union College, and thanks to a total team effort they were able to claim this year’s conference title with a 40-16 win.

The Jackets scored on their first play from scrimmage when quarterback Dalton Ponder passed the ball from near midfield to Dalton Dunn, who took it in for a score at the 7:48 mark. The lead was extended with 4:56 left in the first quarter when Ponder ran it in himself from four-yards-out. Solid defensive play kept Middlesboro out of the end zone, and when the first quarter ended Williamsburg was ahead 12-0.

Good things continued to happen for the Yellow Jackets before the half, beginning with Ponder hooking up with wide receiver Lucas Combs on an 80-yard touchdown reception with 4:27 left on the clock. That made the score 18-0.

Middlesboro finally got on the board via a quarterback keeper from two-yards-out less than a minute later, but Williamsburg responded before the half when Ponder passed to Dunn again for another score with only 16 seconds left on the clock. Ponder ran in the two-point conversion himself, making it 26-8.

The Jackets were the first to strike in the second half, extending their lead to 32-8 with an eight-yard touchdown run from Dunn with six second left in the third quarter. They added on eight more points midway through the fourth thanks to another Combs reception from Ponder, and a two-point conversion from Eli Mattingly.

Middlesboro found their way into the end zone again with 2:18 left in regulation, but by then it was too late. The Williamsburg Yellow Jackets had become your 2014 Mountain Conference champs.

“This was a big step for our team,” said Head Coach Matt Jones after the win. “We came up short last year, and that has been on our minds ever since. We’ve worked hard since the first day, and it has paid off.”

When asked about the team’s progression this season, Jones said, “We started off as a young team, and we didn’t really know what to expect, but they have gotten better and pushed themselves individually. We have challenged them by asking, ‘How do you want to be remembered?’ and they have really responded. They wanted this win, and they want to continue getting better.”

The middle school Jackets now look ahead to the division 3 state playoffs, where they will meet up with either New Harlan or Evarts on Saturday, October 18 in Williamsburg. Jones said that he hopes his team can perfect what they’ve been working on and clean up many of the little mistakes they’ve been making before that time. “We are a good team,” he said. “But we can become a great team if we can take care of things like that.”

Corbin wins SEKC championship

The Corbin Middle School Redhounds football team were set to host Meece Middle School from Somerset Monday night at Campbell Field for the Southeast Kentucky Conferences championship, but severe weather forced the game to be cancelled.

However, because the Hounds (9-0) had defeated Meece already in the regular season, they became SEKC champs by default.

Head Coach Brent Jackson said of his team, “They have worked very hard to put themselves in a great position to make a run at a state title. We know it will take great preparation, physical play, and a total team effort to compete in the eighth grade division 1 bracket this year, but we are excited to get started.”

Corbin’s first game in the state tournament will be against the winner of Southern Pulaski and McCreary, and it will be played at 6:00 PM this Saturday, the 11^th, at Campbell Field.

Whitley County competes in division 1 playoffs

The Whitley County eighth grade football team was scheduled to play Knox County at Knox County last night (Tues), with a chance to play against Johnson County this Saturday on the line. Due to deadlines, we are unable to report a final score from that contest, but the Whitley seventh graders will compete in the first game of their state tournament at Johnson County this Saturday, the 11^th. 

Corbin Middle School Redhounds