FOURTH QUARTER RUN

Whatever Corbin Coach Steve Jewell told his Redhounds at halftime of Friday’s game must have worked. The Redhounds scored 21 points in the second half to pull away from the Shelby Valley Wildcats in the second-round of the KHSAA State Football playoffs with a 44-27 win.

After the Redhounds scored the first 23 points of the game, the Wildcats roared back for 20 straight points to make a game of it.

“The big thing was not to panic,” said Jewell. “We told them we were still ahead but we were playing not to lose, but not to win.”

“You’ve constantly got to go for the jugular and put a team away,” said Jewell.

Corbin (11-1) did that, but it didn’t come until the second half when they stopped a Shelby Valley drive that could have put the Wildcats ahead.

Shelby Valley opened the second half with the ball, but the Redhounds held the Wildcats to a three-and-out. Corbin picked up a first down on its first possession, but was forced to punt midway through the quarter.

The Matthew Taylor punt went into the end zone, forcing the Wildcats to start at their own 20-yard line. Shelby Valley, aided by a facemask call, began moving the ball down the field behind the Class 2A leading rusher, B.J. Roberts and running back Dillon Hughs. The ‘Cats drove the ball down to the Corbin 29-yard line before the Redhounds stiffened.

Hughs was thrown for a three-yard loss on a third and three from the 29. The Wildcats tried to pick up the third down, but a false start moved the ball back to the 36. Still the Wildcats had hopes of getting a new set of chains but quarterback Cody Varney missed his receiver and the ‘Hounds took over at their own 36-yard line.

Senior Caleb Watkins took the first-down handoff 27 yards to the Shelby Valley 37. Ryan Fritts followed the line for a seven-yard gain and the Redhounds were off and running. Watkins broke loose for a 21-yard carry to the nine-yard line.

Two plays later it was Fritts going in for a one-yard touchdown, giving Corbin a 29-20 lead. Saxon Okuma booted his fourth PAT of the game and the Redhounds owned a 10-point lead.

Roberts fumbled the kickoff return and Corbin quickly took advantage of the mistake. Corbin took the ball at the Wildcats 15-yard line. Watkins and Fritts had back-to-back five yard runs for a first-down at the five. Watkins took the final carry all the way to the end zone putting the Redhounds ahead 36-20. Okuma added the kick for the 17-point margin.

The flurry of scores continued on the kickoff when Roberts got through the Corbin defense for a 90-yard return for the only second half touchdown by the Wildcats. After the extra point, Shelby Valley had cut the lead back to ten (37-27) with 9:50 left in the game.

However, Corbin answered when Derek Mahan alertly grabbed an onside kick at the 45-yard line. The Redhounds put together an 11-play drive that took four minutes off the clock before Roman Mitchell hit senior Ben House on a 23-yard pass play for the touchdown.

Shelby Valley (8-4) went to the air in an effort to score quickly but the Redhounds secondary batted away pass after pass.  The Wildcats turned the ball over on downs and Corbin drove down to the nine-yard line before running out the clock.

Watkins, who scored two first half touchdowns, led the attack with 228 yards on 24 carries.

Corbin will be on the road Friday night when they travel to Prestonsburg for the region championship game.

Corbin 44, Shelby Valley 27

Corbin                        23    0   0  21- 44           

Shelby Valley               8  12   0    7- 27

First Quarter

C- Watkins, 65 run (Saxon Okuma kick)

C- Safety

C- Watkins, 6 run (Okuma kick)

C- Brady Foley, 9 run (Okuma kick)

SV- BJ Roberts, 8 run (Donovan Hamilton pass from Cody Varney)

Second Quarter

SV- Roberts, 40 run (run failed)

SV- Roberts, 6 run (kick blocked)

Fourth Quarter

C- Ryan Fritts, 1 run (Okuma kick)

C- Watkins, 5 run (Okuma kick)

SV- Roberts, 90 kickoff return (Jared Bartley kick)

C- Ben House, 23 pass from Roman Mitchell (Okuma kick)

RUSHING: Corbin: Watkins 24-228, Fritts 12-70, Taylor 1-29, Jewell 2-10, Totals 39-352. Shelby Valley: Roberts 14-59, Varney 6-8, Hughes 17-125, Tacket 1-5, Totals 38-196.

PASSING: Corbin: Mitchell 4-7-0, 62; Shelby Valley: Varney 2-7-0 15

RECEIVING: Corbin: House 2-37, Taylor 1-19, Foley 1-6. Shelby Valley: Bentley 1-15.