Clash of the State Champions

 The 15^th Annual Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic has been subtitled the Clash of the State Champions. Visitors to Campbell Field Saturday night will see some tradition-rich football.

Boyle County, Corbin, Danville and Pikeville. The four teams share 22 state championships since 1959 when the KHSAA started keeping records. All four teams have also been in numerous state finals.

“We feel like we have a pretty good line-up coming in this year,” said Corbin Coach Steve Jewell. “Probably one of the best in a long time.”

“Danville is a tradition-rich football team, Boyle County in the last 15 years is probably the winningest team across the state and Pikeville has a long standing tradition,” said Jewell.  “Obviously, we consider ourselves one of the more traditional schools in the state. Back in the 80s and 70s we have some battles with Pikeville as well as Danville.”

“This is one of the ways we can get Danville on the schedule and next year we will play Boyle County,” said Jewell.

“We hope we can have an early playoff type atmosphere,” said Jewell. “We want to get people to come out and watch that first ballgame. I think you are going to see one of the better teams in the whole state in Boyle County.”

The Rebels come in with a 2-0 record after handing Johnson Central a 49-7 defeat in the opening week of the season. Last week they rolled past Rockcastle County, 42-22 in the Bob Allen Pigskin Classic at Danville.

Their opponent will be the Panthers of Pikeville High School. Pikeville lost its opener to Covington Holy Cross in the Pike County Bowl, 32-14. There is a lot of excitement in Pikeville with new coach Ben Howard at the helm. Howard was the quarterback of the Panthers when they won three straight Class A titles from 1987-1989.

The second game, which is scheduled to start at 8:45, will pit the Redhounds, a 42-16 winner over Harlan last week against the Danville Admirals. Danville opened the season in the Meadowview Regional Kickoff Classic with a loss to Mason County, 48-21. They rebounded in the Bob Allen Classic last week to beat Franklin County, 22-6.

“Danville vs. Corbin should say enough for itself,” said Jewell. “If you have been here since the ‘70s, then you know there have been a lot of big ballgames between Danville and Corbin.”

Jewell said the speed of the Admirals is his biggest concern. “They have a lot of good team speed but they also have one of the bigger lines that I have ever seen them have. They move well and come off the ball really well.”

“They are just a big physical ball club and they have a lot of quick backs,” Jewell added. “They don’t have a lot of power backs, but they have these slashing backs that’s going to stick it up there and try to bounce it outside when they get the opportunity,” he said. “They are really fast.”

“They changed some things on Franklin County in mid-stream last week and popped 22 points out there real quick,” said Jewell.

Jewell said the Redhounds are hot and cold right now. “We have to find more consistency. We will have one play where three or four guys are blocking well then a couple that are not.”

“We are just searching for those kids that are going to sacrifice for the whole team,” Jewell said. “We just have to learn to mesh as 11 people out there working as one unit.”

It will be hard to just key on one Danville player, but it was Patrick Brand (16), who had a big night against Franklin County last week, carrying the ball 23 times for 186 yards. Brand is a 5-10, 170-pound junior running back.

Junior Devin Lynn, a 5-9, 183-pound runner, scored two touchdowns in the win over Franklin County. He has 14 carries for 67 yards. Others to watch are senior Corian Knott, 5-6, 132-pound; Max Ray, 6-0, 161, sophomore; Jacody Taylor, 5-5, 146-pound junior and Rhodes Bell, a 5-8, 162-pound sophomore running back.

The quarterback is sophomore Iman Jones, a 5-9, 149-pound sophomore. His main receiver is 6-1, 196-pound junior Cameron Burgess.

The player to watch Saturday night might be Boyle County’s Rees MacShara. The senior running back had 344 yards on 13 carries against the Rockcastle County Rockets last week.

Some of the other top Rebels are Devan Hale, a 5-8, 160-pound junior wide receiver; Lamar Dawson, a 6-2, 230-pound junior tight end/linebacker; Boone Goldsmith, a 6-4, 190-pound senior is the starting quarterback.

The Pikeville Panthers (0-1) will depend on quarterback Blake Barnham for much of its leadership early in the season. Senior J.R. Robinson, a fullback should also help in the scoring for the Panthers.

Others to watch are: junior Ross McCoy (fullback) and sophomore Randy Maynard (tight end).

Pikeville finished last season with some momentum, going to the regional finals before losing to Hazard, 41-14. The Panthers lost three of their first four games before rebounding to win six of their final nine.

Last year’s team lost to Corbin in the Pike County Bowl, 23-15.