Corbin handles Franklin Co.; Whitley Co. picks up first win for Zeke Eier; W’burg demolishes Leslie Co.

It was a week of statement wins for the high school football teams across Whitley County.

Corbin faced its toughest game of the season, hosting another of the top teams in class 4A in Franklin County at Campbell Field.

The Redhounds didn’t blink on either side of the ball as they ran for 230 yards led by Seth Mills’ 163 yards and two touchdowns, while holding the Flyers to a combined 155 yards on offense en route to the 27-7 win and a 3-0 season record.

“We talk to our players every week about coming out and playing always with their best Effort and being Focused on their particular assignments for each week. Physicality is always a discussion for us,” said Corbin Coach Tom Greer. “I was extremely proud of our players and coaching staff for Friday night. We were all zoned in with laser focus and played as a real team.”

The Redhound defense made its biggest statement on the night on the opening Franklin County drive.

Running back Kaden Moorman busted off a couple of big runs as the Flyers drove to Corbin’s 28-yardline.

From there the defense stiffened, stopping Franklin County on a fourth-and-one on the 19-yardline to force the turnover on downs.

“We played assignment football and contained an offensive team that was averaging 52 points a game,” Greer said. “The defensive line did a nice job keeping the offensive lineman off of the linebackers and Rovers, which allowed them to make plays. It was a complete unit accomplishment.”

The Redhounds showed they could move the ball against Franklin County, driving down the field to the Franklin County 26-yardline.

With the drive stalled, Greer sent out kicked Jacob Baker who nailed the 44-yard field goal to give Corbin the lead it would not relinquish.

After the defense forced and recovered a fumble on the Flyers’ first play from scrimmage on the next possession, the Redhounds drove the 15 yards to extend the lead to 10-0.

Franklin County answered with its only score of the night, driving 81 yards in eight plays for the touchdown. Moorman capped off the drive with the one-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 10-7.

Mills extended the lead with a three-yard touchdown run with about a minute remaining in the half to send the Redhounds into the locker room leading, 17-7.

In addition to the 163 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, Mills caught two passes for 27 yards and threw the only touchdown pass on the night for Corbin, hitting Brody Wells for the four-yard completion in the endzone.

Cameron Combs completed nine of 18 passes for 89 yards to five different receivers.

Defensively, Wells, Bryson Batt and Mikey Neal led the Redhounds with seven tackles each among Corbin’s 55 tackles

“From a win and lose perspective, I am satisfied with where we are.  While we are 3-0, of course I still see all the maneuvers and mistakes to be fixed or tightened up,” We still have tons of room for improvement. Our guys come to work every day though willing and motivated to progress individually and as a collective based on our feedback.”

Corbin will be on the road Friday night to face Pulaski County.

While the Maroons are 1-2 on the season, the losses have come at the hands of Lexington Catholic and Boyle County.

Pulaski County is led by quarterback Drew Polston, who completed 21 passes for 327 yards and five touchdowns in the season opening win against Belfry.

Boyle County held Polston to 32 yards in the 60-29 win, but the Maroons used backup quarterbacks Brysen Dugger and Jaylon Wooldridge to rack up a total of 218 passing yards on the night.

“Coach Hines is a great football coach and you can mark it down, Pulaski  County will be well coached and ready to play the Redhounds Friday night. They do like to throw the ball all over the yard, so we will have to be very sound in our pass defense and get after the quarterback,” Greer said. “Defensively they will give us an odd front with the key being our domination upfront from the offensive line and defensive line.”

Whitley County

Coach Zeke Eier has his first win as head coach as the Colonels defeated Harlan County, 42-16.

Caden Petrey completed nine of 14 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns while throwing one interception.

Sam Harp proved to be Petrey’s favorite target, catching six passes for 184 yards and all three touchdown passes.

Caden Rose added 95 yards on the ground.

“He is a really good running back. He has really good vision,” Eier said. “We had some guys that started making some blocks for him.”

Trevor Downs added another touchdown for Whitley County fielding a loose ball on a squib kick and returning it 56 yards for the touchdown.

“We responded the right way to last week,” Eier said of the comeback from 45-0 loss to Corbin.

“I think that was the turning point in the game,” 

Kickoff return 

Defensively, Harlan County was able to move the ball , racking up 349 yards on the ground. Despite the number of yards, the Black Bears were held to the two touchdowns on the night by running back Demarco Hopkins.

“We switched our fronts up and tried to confuse them,” Eier said “Our kids did a great job shutting him down.”

Whitley County will be off Friday night and then be back in action on Sept. 17 at home against Bell County

“It is going to be the same type of game as against Harlan County where they want to run the ball,” Eier said of the Bobcats who will host Lincoln County Friday night. “The question is, can we stop them?”

Williamsburg 

Coming off the 60-28 loss last week at Middlesboro, Williamsburg found itself in an early 7-0 hole against visiting Leslie County Friday night, but quickly answered and then went on to defeat the Eagles, 62-14.

Quarterback Sydney Bowen threw for five touchdowns and ran for two more as the Jackets improved to 2-1 on the season.

“We had good practices leading up to Leslie County,” said Coach Jerry Herron, Jr. “The players and staff were embarrassed with how we played against Middlesboro.”

“You have to play hungry to win tough games,” Herron said. “We lost that edge. A great week of practice while improving our character put us in a position to win.”

Defensively, Herron said it was a similar situation as the Jackets’ players and staff worked hard in practice to correct the mistakes made against Middlesboro.

“We had a very good week of preparation on the defensive side of the ball,” Herron said. The coaches and team felt we had to get to work and fix our problems.” 

Williamsburg will be off for the next two weeks after Friday’s scheduled game against Evangel Christian was cancelled after that team cancelled its season. Williamsburg will return to action on September 24 against Somerset.

The Briar Jumpers class 2A Briar Jumpers are 1-2 on the season, losing to Lincoln County in the opener and falling to Beechwood, 49-0 last Friday.

Somerset is scheduled to host Paintsville Friday and then will travel to Corbin on September 17.

“Somerset is a well-coached team that is having trouble with numbers and depth,” Herron said. “Coach Lucas will have them ready to play. Whatever team controls the line of scrimmage will win the game.”