DISTRICT WIN

 It didn’t come easy by any means, but Corbin’s 27-7 win over Hazard Friday extended the Redhounds’ regular season winning streak to 24 games, moving the team to 5-0 on the season as well.

After an hour-and-a-half lightning delay held up the start of Friday’s game, the visiting Bulldogs struck first, picking up where they left off a week before in a 63-8 win over Williamsburg. After a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jon Combs to Jordan Olinger gave Hazard a 7-0 lead on its second possession of the game, the Redhounds were put in a situation they hadn’t been in all year; trailing in the game.

The good news for Corbin coach Steve Jewell is the way the Redhounds responded, rattling off 27 unanswered points, 21 of which came in the second quarter, to improve to 5-0 on the season with the 27-7 win. He said he was much happier with his team’s effort this week.

"It was a battle in the trenches tonight and I don’t think we did too well early on," Jewell said. "It seems like every game we start real slow, especially offensively, and I think we were able to make some adjustments and get some things going.

"I was much prouder of our team this week and I think they came out here and represented the community well this week," he added. "Last week we just didn’t feel like the ball club that we were and it was good to get back to that."

After falling behind, the Redhounds managed to hold Hazard scoreless on its next two possessions to set up a 65-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Taylor to Ben House with just under eight minutes to play in the half. The kick by Saxon Okuma tied the game at seven apiece.

The Hazard offense stalled once again on its next possession as it was forced to punt the ball away for the third time in the game. The difference this time was that the Redhounds’ Caleb Watkins came to life, scoring on 42-yard return for a touchdown to push the score to 14-7 with 6:43 to play in the half.

The backbreaker for the Bulldogs was undoubtedly their second turnover of the game, which came at the end of a 43-yard run by Combs, who fumbled the football just before he was able to cross the goal line, giving Corbin the ball on its own one-yard-line. Fourteen plays later, Mitchell connected with senior tight end Aaron Manns on a four-yard pass to make the score 21-0 at halftime after the Okuma extra point.

Neither team was able to find the end zone in the third quarter, but Corbin was able to extend its lead to 27-7 with just under seven minutes to play in the game on a 15-yard touchdown run by Watkins. Hazard would have one more chance to cut into the lead, but the Redhounds’ defense forced a punt for the sixth time in the game.

In the end, Jewell said he felt like his squad eventually wore down the Bulldogs by keeping the pressure on and continuing to play Redhound football.

"I feel like we actually wore them down as the game went on and you saw we were able to break some big runs there in the second half," he said. "I think they were getting a little bit tired and we really kept the pedal down and I am really pleased with that."

For the game, Corbin finished with 261 yards on the ground and 9 through the air. Watkins tallied 140 on the ground on 17 carries, while Ryan Fritts racked up 93 yards on 14 carries.

Now, Corbin will get set to face a George Rogers Clark team that sits at 2-3 on the season, with wins over Montgomery County (49-35) and Lafayette (13-10). The Cardinals’ three losses have come at the hands of Bryan Station (56-24), Dunbar (13-7) and Scott County (40-0). 

"It’s the first time we have played them in a while, but the big thing is we are playing a 6A school that is going to run a lot of numbers at you," Jewell said. "We have already looked at some things on film and once again, we are a smaller team on the line.

"They are really huge, but we just have to go to the drawing board and work some things out, get the kids rested and come out ready to play," he added.

Kickoff for Friday’s game is set for 7:30 p.m. at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester.

Corbin 27, Hazard 7

Hazard  7  0    0  0   0

Corbin  0  21   0  6  27

H- Jordan Olinger 12 pass from Jon Combs (Austin Delpont kick)

C- Ben House 65 pass from Matthew Taylor (Saxon Okuma kick)

C- Calel Watkins 40 punt return (Okuma kick)

C- Aaron Manns 4 pass from Roman Mitchell (Okuma kick)

C- Watkins 15 run (kick failed)