SHOOTOUT

The Middlesboro Yellow Jackets wore down the Corbin Redhounds and pulled away for a 62-42 win last week in Middlesboro. The two teams locked up in one of the most exciting high school football games for three quarters. Corbin matched the Middlesboro speed with touchdown tosses by junior quarterback Clint Cashen, but the Redhounds ran out of steam in the final period.
“The kids fought hard,” said Corbin coach Steve Jewell. “I am extremely proud of their effort when they came off the field that last defensive effort, I didn’t want them to wash it all away right there because they played hard. We had a lot of kids going both ways and they fought extremely hard.”
“We were outmatched in certain areas and we scrambled around trying to do some different schemes to compact their speed,” said Jewell. “They have good speed and good schemes with that speed.”
“They execute it well,” said Jewell. “They execute the stuff that they do well and found some of our weakness. We did all right defensively there for a while and they quickly found some weaknesses. We had some poor tackling at times and that’s what speed does to you.”
It was the ‘Hounds that surprised Middlesboro early, jumping out to a 13-0 lead. Corbin went to Josh Sanders often on the first drive of the game. A 41-yard pass to the Corbin junior helped sit up the first TD two plays later. Sanders ran it in from two yards out at the 8:13 mark and when Jordan Wagers connected on the point after the Redhounds led 7-0.
It was three and out for the Jackets and a Middlesboro punt pinned the Redhounds back at their own 11 yard line after a penalty.
A short pass to Rob Madon and a 42 yard connection to Wagers quickly took the ball to the Middlesboro 34. On the ensuing play, Cashen hit Sanders for a 34 yard run to the end zone.
Corbin had a chance to take the ball in for a third straight score after Zach Woody recovered a Middlesboro fumble on a fake punt at the Jackets’ 36. However, it was three and out for the Redhounds and Middlesboro went to work from their own 20 yard line.
Three plays later Middlesboro was off and running. Hoskins went 45 yards on a broken play to put Middlesboro on the scoreboard. The PAT was good and the teams went to the second period with Corbin on top, 13-7.
The Redhounds took a 21-7 lead at the 11:27 mark after moving the ball down the field with ease. Facing a fourth and 13 from the 33 yard line, Cashen hit Corey Sewell on a pass that ended at the one-yard line. Cashen ran the ball in for the TD and with Wagers kick, Corbin led 21-7.
The next three minutes saw Middlesboro go from a 14-point deficit to a seven point lead. The Redhounds were called for a late hit on the kickoff return, giving the ball to the Jackets at the Corbin 36. A pass to Casey Earls gave the host a first down at the six yard line. Hoskins went the distance on the following play.
Then an interception on a Corbin first down proved costly as Adams went the distance, tying the game at 21-21.
Three and out, Corbin was forced to punt. Two plays later Hoskins hit Earls on a 54 yard play, giving the Jackets the lead for the first time. They went to the dressing room with a 28-21 score.
Corbin tied the game on their first possession of the third quarter on a 37 yard pass play from Cashen to Jake Reeves.
The teams went to the fourth quarter tied at 42-42. It was anyone’s game and Middlesboro took advantage of some bad Corbin field position and returned a punt to the 40 yard line with 9:28 left in the game. Middlesboro went to the ground game for the go-ahead touchdown. Ford scored on a 20 yard run with 4:34 left in the game. The PAT put the Jackets ahead 49-42.
Corbin returned the ball to the 16 yard line on the kickoff and Cashen was picked off by Ford on first down. Two plays later Earls was in the end zone and the Jackets blew the game open in the final five minutes. After holding Corbin to four plays, Middlesboro took over at the 32 yard line with 3:14 minutes left. Instead of killing the clock, the Jackets went for the kill as Hoskins scored on a 22 yard run with 1:56 left for the final TD.
“I was really proud of our offense tonight,” said Jewell. “You score 42 points you expect to win a ballgame, so obviously we were disappointed defensively but it is the same kids on both sides of the ball with an exception of a few . They kept plugging away, if I can have that type of effort each week we have an opportunity down the road here in the district.”
“I don’t want to let the kids get too down because the effort they have is something to build on,” said Jewell. “They kept coming back they didn’t fold it up.
Corbin will have the week off before heading to Wayne County, October 13 for the first district game of the season.

Corbin 13 8 21 0- 42
Middlesboro 7 21 21 13- 62
First Quarter
C – Sanders, 2 run (Jordan Wagers kick)
C – Sanders, 35 pass from Cashen (kick failed)
M – Trevor Hoskins, 46 run (Bisceglia kick)
Second Quarter
C – Cashen, 1 run (Sanders run)
M – Hoskins, 6 run (Bisceglia kick)
M – Adams, 52 interception (Bisceglia kick)
M – Earls, 54 pass from Hoskins (Bisceglia kick)
Third Quarter
C – Reeves, 38 pass from Cashen (Wagers kick)
M – Hoskins, 35 run (Bisceglia kick)
C – Cashen, 1 run (Wagers kick)
M – Ford, 46 run (Bisceglia kick)
C – Madon, 31 pass from Cashen (Wagers kick)
Fourth Quarter
M – Ford, 20 run (Bisceglia kick)
M – Earls, 6 run (Bisceglia kick)
M – Hoskins, 27 run (kick blocked)