STATE CHAMPS VISIT CORBIN

 The 16^th Annual Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic maybe the toughest yet for the Corbin Redhounds. Corbin (1-0) will be a heavy underdog when they take on the Boyle County Rebels, the defending 4A state champions and the current #1 team in the state.

The first game of the night will be Pikeville taking on tradition-rich Danville at 6 p.m.; Corbin and Boyle County are scheduled for 8:45 p.m.

The Rebels have won 17 games in a row dating back to a 4A state championship loss to the Bell County Bobcats in 2008. The Rebels are 31-1 under third-year coach Larry French.

“They have a very high-powered offense,” said Corbin Coach Steve Jewell. “They have a good offensive line and a good backfield. Their quarterback is smart and savvy. There are not a lot of weak points with them.”

“They are a team that we will have to create a couple of turnovers here and there and do some things on special teams, The biggest thing is that we can’t do anything to hurt ourselves. We can’t give them an easy short field to score on.”

“On the flip side we need to have some first downs and some drives, eat the clock up and minimize the opportunities that they have and capitalize when we do have some drives,” said Jewell.

The Rebels opened the season with a hard-fought win over Johnson Central, 36-29 with (#31) Chris Cook, a senior, leading the Rebels with 193 yards and two touchdowns. Senior quarterback Devon Hale hit to two touchdowns on eight-of-14 passing. His two favorite targets in that game were (#6) junior Jarrod Harrington and (#18) sophomore Lloyd Hall.

Last week the Rebels had their way with the Franklin County Flyers in a 51-20 win. It was very similar to Corbin’s easy win over Harlan.

Cook ran for two touchdowns and 102 yards while Zach Hester had seven carries for 77 yards and a touchdown. French gave Hale plenty of rest in the lopsided win, but he was still 8 of 12 with two touchdowns.

Jewell felt his team came off the field against Harlan with a positive frame of mind. “We watched the tape and there were tons of errors, obviously that’s what coaches do. There is so much room for improvement, especially on our offensive line. We have to get all five of us on the right cylinder.”

“We’ve got to get much better blocking out of our backfield, even though we rushed the ball really well we did miss some blocks,” said Jewell. “We still have to hit the right receivers, if they start focusing on one or two guys we are going to need some release valves with some other receivers.”

Jewell said fans would see a very basic defense from the Rebels. “They are a smack you in the mouth type of football team. They will not do a lot of blitzing; they will do a lot of things fundamentally sound. They like to just line up and whip you,” he said.

“They are not a huge ball club, but they are a lot bigger than us,” Jewell said. “They have a lot of kids that can move really well.”

Boyle County is a very experienced team according to Jewell. “They will line up five seniors across that front line. They are experienced in what they are trying to do,” added Jewell.

Corbin has 10 of the 15 previous bowl games. They defeated the Pikeville Panthers last season. The Panthers are back with new coach Chris McNamee, a former Panther himself. This is his second stint with the Pikeville program.

Pikeville opened the season last week with a 16-7 win over Boyd County. The Panthers finished the season 6-6 and lost to Harlan 21-14 in the second-round of the playoffs.

They will take on the Danville Admirals who had one of the worst seasons in many years. Danville was 5-7 and lost to Green County, 61-22 in the second-round of the 2A playoffs.

The Admirals have rebounded to start the 2010 season 2-0 after victories over Mason County, 21-14 and Rockcastle County, 40-0.

Danville was led by quarterback Devonta Alcorn who had four touchdown passes in the win over Rockcastle County. Receiver Cameron Burgess was on the end of two TD passes and had three catches for 103 yards.

Jewell is proud of the teams that the Corbin Redhound Varsity Club brings to the Pigskin Classic. “There is a lot of rich tradition between Pikeville and Danville. Boyle County has had a lot of tradition the last 20 years and we feel like we have a tradition-rich ball club at Corbin,” said Jewell.

“We feel like we can showcase some teams that are not common the first week of the season,” said Jewell. “We feel we can bring some of the top teams in the state in here.”