I have seen girls out on the high school football field. I don’t remember the exact team, but the center was a girl. It wasn’t a local team, but she hung right in there with the boys. The majority of times that I have seen girls on the football field has been as the place kicker....

I know there is a reason why the schools in the area of Kentucky located in Jackson, Clay, Laurel, Whitley, Knox, Bell and Harlan counties make up the 13th Region. As Tom Hanks’ character, Jim Lovell, famously, told his wife in the blockbuster movie, “Apollo 13” when she asked...

I have a rescue dog at home that is part Shih Tzu and, we are pretty sure, part terrier. Maggy looks like a black Shih Tzu. Shih Tzus are cute. Every dog lover loves a Shih Tzu. But, several years ago, one person in the parking lot at The Arena almost experienced one part of...

The girls’ basketball district tournaments are under way. The girls wrestling tournament was held Monday. Spring sports, including softball, along with tennis and track for both the boys and girls will begin in just a few weeks. Corbin’s Lady Redhounds, Whitley County’s Lady...

I’m going to start out this week up in the cheap seats by giving a shout out to Corbin Basketball Coach Tony Pietrowski who set the school record for most coaching wins in the program’s history as the Redhounds defeated Whitley County Friday night. Pietrowski notched win 442 at...

There are more than 2,500 high school students between Corbin, Whitley County and Williamsburg. There are 35,000 people living in Whitley County. So why are the high school gyms so sparsely populated during basketball games? Granted, despite the stereotype, not everyone in...

Thursday will mark four weeks since my wife of 17 years, Sharon Woods Manning, died suddenly. While Sharon had a large number of friends and associates from her 26 years working for the state, I always thought of my own network as fairly small. From the moment I put the word out...

Friday night brought a promising year in local high school football to a screeching halt as Corbin and Williamsburg both lost. From the time the season kicked off, Coach Tom Greer’s Redhounds appeared to be a team on a mission to make it to Lexington, despite Class 4A being...

While I was covering the Corbin Lady Redhounds’ state volleyball tournament game against Montgomery County, I noticed that there were fans and then there were spectators. Almost everyone in Gilliam Gymnasium that night was cheering for Corbin or Montgomery County, except for the...

I’m going to give the Kentucky High School Athletic Association a lot of credit when it comes to disseminating information. Football, volleyball, basketball, soccer, baseball and softball scores on the KHSAA.org website are updated quickly and readily available when the media or...

Though our local coaches may not agree, I have to say, it was a great to see our local football teams in the midst of competitive games. Pineville came to Finley Legion Field in Williamsburg Friday night and gave the Jackets all they wanted in the Jackets’ 21-13 win. The Mountain...

Late November will mark one year since I took over as sports editor at the News Journal. With the focus on high school sports, you begin to notice certain athletes in each sport for the way they play, plays they make or seeing their names in the stats sheets time after time....

Williamsburg picked up a quality win Friday night with a 21-14 victory against Somerset. While most people will look at the Briar Jumpers’ 1-5 record and wonder how it is considered a quality win, losing to Beechwood, Paintsville, Corbin and now Williamsburg is like a college...

With week five of the 2021 football season in the books, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association has released RPI rankings for each of the six classes along with individual rankings of players across the state. In class 4A, the 5-0 Corbin Redhounds are ranked third behind...

As we move into week five of the high school football season where do our local teams stand even though no official standings have been released by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. At 4-0, Corbin is rolling along in class 4A. The Redhounds have outscored their...

While the Corbin Redhounds Football team was very impressive in Friday night’s 27-7 win over Franklin County, the entire atmosphere at Campbell Field was even more so because it is exactly what high school football should be under the Friday night lights. The Corbin faithful were...

Though it is still early in their respective seasons, a number of local high school teams are already making some noise, while others have reached the make-or-break point. Coach Tom Greer’s Corbin Redhounds can look in the mirror in a lot of ways to prepare for Friday’s game...

If you didn’t get down to Campbell Field Friday night to see Williamsburg play Oneida and/or Corbin play Christ School in the Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic, then I’m here to tell you, believe the hype. Williamsburg and Corbin were both machines in the demolition of their...

High school golf has teed off, and volleyball, soccer, football and cross country will open their seasons over the next three weeks. Like other areas of Kentucky, and the United States, residents in Whitley County have developed intense loyalties to Corbin, Whitley County and/or...

Every day I am learning something new about high school sports in the area. When I planned for this week’s sports page to feature soccer previews, I planned on how to cover eight teams, the boys and girls’ teams from Corbin, Lynn Camp, Whitley County and Williamsburg. Then I...