This year’s Hounds rank up there with the best

In 1939 the Corbin Redhound football team went undefeated with an 11-0 record. Since there wasn’t any playoffs then the state’s best team was determined by the Litkenhouse ratings and that team was Corbin, state champs.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

That is the year I was born and that is the only Corbin team I haven’t seen play for a state championship. The 11-0 1955 team was declared the state champion, also by the Lit ratings. At that time I was a sophomore at Corbin High School.

Since then I have broadcast six of the state finals, and I have watched the rest. The first game I broadcast was in 1962 when Corbin played Danville for the double A state title at UK’s Stoll Field. Corbin had beaten Danville earlier in the season but the Admirals won the title game.

The next time I had the opportunity to broadcast a title game was in 1976 when Corbin beat Mayfield 6-0. Then the next year Mayfield got revenge when they beat the Hounds 14-13 in the title game. Corbin tried for the two point extra point but failed, and that decided the outcome.

The game in 1980 is one of my most memorable games when Corbin beat Ft. Campbell 16-7. That was the game the players decided to put Coach Archie powers on their shoulders after the victory but they slipped and dropped him. The late coach Powers was one of my favorite coaches of all-time and in my radio interview with him after the game he said, “Well we fumbled the ball all year and they fumbled the old coach.” But coach Powers was very proud of the effort the players made in winning.

In 1982, coach Larry “Cotton” Adams led the team to its fifth state championship. The Redhounds beat Glasgow 18-6 in the Class AA game.

In 1990, the Redhounds made it to the title game but lost to Ft. Knox. Then as a spectator I watched in 2002 when Breathitt Co. beat the Hounds. They were back in 2017 and lost to Boyle Co. and in 2018 in the title game they were edged out by Louisville Central.

I have seen some of the greatest to ever wear a Redhound uniform. My all-time favorite was my classmate Calvin Bird. But close behind was Rodger and Billy Bird.

I got into doing play-by-play simply because I wanted to follow Calvin at UK. I was fortunate to broadcast games he played in at UK.

But this year’s Redhound team ranks right up there with the best I have seen. They have been outstanding. Corbin has a great football program and a great head coach, Tom Greer.

At age 83 it makes me want to be a broadcaster again. I could get really excited with this team. Go Redhounds, win the state!