Local football teams hit the road for district games Friday

High school football’s second season will begin in earnest Friday night as district matchups take place across Kentucky.

Locally, Corbin will travel to Knox Central. Williamsburg will make the drive to Harlan. Whitley County will look to upset Southwestern, and Lynn Camp will go down 25E to face a resurgent Pineville.

Williamsburg Yellow Jackets

Coach Jerry Herron, Jr’s team is searching for answers to its rollercoaster season following last Friday’s 35-17 loss at home to Sayre.

“They flat hammered our brains out tonight,” Herron said.

“We had a chance to show everybody in the state that we could play some football against a good player and we didn’t,” Herron said.

The player to whom Herron was referring was Sayre quarterback Cole Pennington, who threw for 334 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another.

Pennington, the son of former NFL quarterback and Sayre Coach Chad Pennington, has committed to play Division I college football at Marshall University.

Herron said going into the game that the senior quarterback was going to have a big game against the young and inexperienced Jackets’ defense.

However, Herron noted that Williamsburg put themselves in an even bigger hole with a poor effort and silly turnovers.

Williamsburg turned the ball over three times on the night with a fumble and two interceptions.

“We are going to get better,” Herron said.

“We are going to have a sit-down talk,” he said, explaining that the players would work out any problems and play as a team going forward.

Herron said just as with the loss to Middlesboro, the Jackets came into Friday night off a seemingly impressive win over Somerset and it affected them in practice all week.

“We were so happy with what happened last week that we just went through the motions,” Herron said.

“We played terrible. We just played physical,” Herron said of what led to the victory against Somerset.

“We’ve got to get back to being and team and doing off the stuff that we are supposed to do,” Herron said.

Harlan will go into the game with a 2-6 record after losing to Unaka out of Elizabethon, Tennessee Friday night, 52-34.

Green Dragons quarterback Cade Middleton completed 13 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Jayden Ward carried the ball 11 times for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Herron said the goal in practice this week will be to beat Williamsburg.

“If we beat ourselves and we get out and beat out all of our bad habits and off of our stuff that we are doing wrong, it doesn’t matter who we play. We will be fine,” Herron said.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Corbin Redhounds

The Corbin Redhounds improved to 6-0 on the season with a 56-24 victory over Simon Kenton.

Coach Tom Greer said with the Redhounds coming off of a bye week, he was concerned how the team would come out against the class 6A Pioneers.

“We came out really fast,” Greer said as the Redhounds put up three quick touchdowns and took a 21-10 lead into halftime.

While the 24 points Simon Kenton scored marks the most points put up against the Redhounds defense this season, Greer noted that Corbin held the Pioneers under their season average of 35.

“We get upset if anybody scores, just as we get upset, offensively, if we don’t score on every possession,” Greer said. “We have high expectations.”

Offensively, Corbin put up his most yardage of the season with a combined 665 yards of total offense.

“I don’t know of a Corbin team that has ever had those stats,” Greer said.

Cameron Combs completed eight passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, while Kade Elam completed two passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns.

Treyveon Longmire was the favorite target, catching five passes for 192 yards and all three touchdown passes.

On the ground, Seth Huff again chewed up big chunks of yardage, carrying the ball 15 times for 202 yards and three touchdowns.

Combs added 122 yards on seven carries with a touchdown.

Seth Mills added another touchdown run, carrying the ball five times for 72 yards.

For the first time this season, kicker Jacob Baker did not kick a field goal in the game. However, the kicker did make all eight of his extra point attempts.

The Redhounds will begin district play Friday night with the bi-annual trip to Knox Central.

Greer said it is the most heated rivalry that Corbin has among the three district opponents and one that carries over to any sport in which the schools compete.

“Like I told our players, this starts a new season,” Greer said. “We could go 6-0, but this starts what determines what happens come playoff time.”

Knox Central comes into the game with a 3-3 record after losing at home Friday to Bourbon County, 35-20.

Greer said, defensively, the Redhounds will be looking to stop the Panthers’ running game.

“Offensively, we have to continue to execute,” Greer said.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Whitley County Colonels

Whitley County ran into an offensive juggernaut as the Collins Titans put up more than 500 yards of total offense en route to the 52-27 win over the Colonels Friday night.

The Colonels were able to move the ball on the ground as Coach Zeke Eier has been seeking to do all season.

Quarterback Caden Petrey led the way with 13 rushes for 112 yards and four touchdowns.

Caden Rose added 63 yards on 12 carries as the Colonels ran for 215 total yards.

Whitley County will resume district play Friday night with a trip to face the 5-1 Southwestern Warriors.

Southwestern showed it is the team to beat in the district after defeating North Laurel last Friday, 32-7.

The Warriors ran for a combined 325 yards in the victory, led by Brainard Giddeon with 92 yards.

Quarterback Collin Burton completed seven of eight passes for 147 yards.

Southwestern’s only loss on season came at the hands of Mercer County on September 17, 22-21.

The Warriors are ranks sixth in Class 5A based on RPI.

Lynn Camp Wildcats

Lynn Camp had its closest brush with victory last Thursday, losing to Jellico, 40-38.

The Wildcats Tylen Smith and Brody Lane combined for 286 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the night.

Lane carried the ball 23 times for 151 yards, while Smith had 18 rushes for 135 yards.

The Wildcats will head south to Pineville to open district play against the 5-1 Mountain Lions.

Pineville defeated Jackson County Friday night, 47-14.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.