Corbin’s march towards state finals continues

The Corbin Redhounds’ undefeated season continued in dominating fashion last week as the team recorded their sixth straight shutout victory, this time downing the visiting Letcher County Central Cougars, 49-0. With the win, Coach Tom Greer’s squad has now bested opponents by a combined score of 297-0 dating back to October 7.

Sophomore quarterback Kade Elam has thrown the ball exceptionally well during the later stages of the regular season and the first two rounds of the Class 4A playoffs, compiling 1,139 total yards and 17 touchdowns through the air.

Catching many of those passes has been junior receiver Carter Stewart, who has 625 receiving yards and seven TDs in Corbin’s last six outings.

The Hounds have also stayed strong in the run game, with senior Cameron Combs rushing for 579 yards and finding pay dirt nine times.

Meanwhile, senior kicker Jacob Baker has scored an impressive 38 points with his field goals and extra points, and senior linebacker Zayne Hammack has helped keep opposing offenses out of the end zone while recording 48 tackles.

The fact that Corbin has made it this far into the season is not surprising, although some may not have expected them to do so with an unblemished record still intact. Still, if one were to go back to the beginning of the 2022 season, few could have predicted just how strong this team would look heading into round three of the playoffs.

At this point, it looks like the Redhounds could cruise to a state championship title. With the kind of momentum they have going, plus the fact that they get the benefit of homefield advantage all the way up to the state finals, this very well could be the year that they achieve that goal, but the chances of them continuing to shutout their opponents gets much slimmer starting this week against the Johnson Central Golden Eagles.

The Eagles (10-2) have been a thorn in Corbin’s side in recent years. In 2019 they didn’t face the Redhounds, but went 15-0 and defeated Boyle County 21-20 for that year’s Class 4A state championship. The following year, they ended the Redhounds’ season in round three of the playoffs, only to lose to Franklin County in the state semis.

Johnson managed to top Corbin again in playoff action last year, winning 34-13 at Campbell Field in round three. This time they would advance and pick up the win over Franklin County in the semifinals, but they fell to Boyle County in the state championship game, 30-13.

The Golden Eagles look to favor the run game on offense this year, with two running backs who have rushed for over 1,000 yards on the season. Sophomore Zack McCoart leads the team with 1,641 yards and 25 scores, while senior Chase Price has 1,011 yards and 11 TDs.

When comparing common opponents, one game in particular standss out. While both teams were able to easily handle Harlan County, Lincoln County and Wayne County, Johnson managed to defeat Letcher Central by just one point, 35-34, whereas the Redhounds completely blew the Cougars out last week.

Another interesting result on the Eagles’ schedule is the 15-14 loss to North Laurel from back on September 2. This was by all accounts a pretty major upset, but by the end of October Johnson was back to form, defeating the Belfry Pirates 35-0. Granted, Belfry has been a little on the inconsistent side in 2022, but a blowout win over the defending 3A state champions is still nothing to scoff at.

Most would probably agree that Corbin is the favorite to win in this third round contest, but if history has taught us anything it is to expect the unexpected when these two teams go at it on the gridiron. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Campbell Field.

Photos courtesy of Crystal Roberts