LOOKING BACK

 The Corbin Redhounds fought back from a 28-7 deficit Friday evening to beat a good Wayne County Cardinals team, 35-28. It was the second comeback win in the last two Redhound games.

The coaching staff is obviously making half time adjustments that are very effective, and the players are playing with a great deal of heart.

No one has ever played with more heart than Brady Foley. Week in and week out, Foley grinds out the tough yardage, while taking a physical beating, and the same can be said of Matt Jewell. The Redhounds are also getting gritty performances from Ty Cobb, who has come through at critical times with clutch pass completions to yet two other tough kids, Josh Jewell and Hunter Grubb to help rally the Redhounds to back-to-back come from behind wins. Freshman Jake Coppock continues to impress with his lead blocking and shows promise as a ball carrier.

On defense freshman Tanner Powers continues to be more impressive each game, and of course, Nick Howington, Grant Grigsby and Cody Deaton all played well in the second half for the Redhounds.

The Redhounds will play host to McCreary Central Thursday evening this week.

I went down and watched open gym one day last week as the prospects for the Corbin Redhound basketball are tuning up for the round ball season.

I was really pleased with what I saw. The new kid, Victor Berezutchi, a foreign exchange student from Brazil is very strong with the ball. Victor jumped well and has good size at about 6’4” and around 210 pounds. Eric Jones is back out for the team and he has added some size and strength. Eric still has a very good touch on his outside shot and should be a welcome addition to the team.

Travis Smith is my pick as the preseason player of the year in the 13^th region, and Robbie Igo at 6’6” is much quicker and more aggressive than last year. Zack Farley handles the ball well and has a pretty jump shot. Donnie Wilson has good quickness as well. The wild card on the team is young eighth grader Trevor Hill, who has tremendous skills sets. Kevin Goins and Joe Shelton are two other players who caught my eye, and Andrew Johnson has a very good shooting touch and handles the ball well.

Add to that mix Hunter Grubb, who returns to the team after football season and several other young players who are working hard and the prospects for another exciting season at Gilliam Gym seems to be on the horizon.

I mentioned Kevin Goins earlier in my column, which I really like as a player. Kevin has good genes, his father Dennis was an outstanding basketball player and his uncle Gary, a good friend of mine, was also a former Redhound football and basketball player.

It was the football season of 1957 in a game that was critical for the season’s success against Danville.

With only seconds left in the game Danville had just scored a touchdown to cut the Redhound lead to 14-12.

The Admirals lined up to go for a two-point conversion, The big Danville running back lowered his head and attempted to plunge into the end zone, but he was met by Gary Goins and driven backwards, preserving a Redhound win. Gary Goins always a Redhound.

As I look ahead a bit, the game of the regular season for the football Redhounds will be Friday, Oct. 14, less than two weeks away with the Bell County Bobcats on Log Mountain. Just how steep will Log Mountain be for the Redhounds on that evening? It all depends on how their defense can contain the Bobcats running back, Scotty Davenport.

It will also depend on how well the Redhounds are able to protect Ty Cobb and allow him to have a clear lane to throw the football.

All I say is 51 years ago, Bell County had never beaten the Redhounds in football history.

The Bobcats were an over-whelming favorite to break the ice with their great running back Russell Miracle leading the way.

In 1960, however, the Redhounds had a pretty fair running back of their own named Rodger Bird. Corbin 32, Bell Co. 6.

Rodger, Barry Brooks, Phil Henderlight, Jesse Grant and their teammates are celebrating the undefeated season of 1960 this week at a lodge near Tompkinsville.