Whitley and W’burg playing hosts Friday

Whitley County and Williamsburg High School football teams will be in action at home Friday night while Corbin will have a week off to enjoy its 5-0 start.

Whitley County hung with visiting Bell County early, but couldn’t overcome the 22-8 halftime deficit as the Colonels fell to the Bobcats, 36-22.

“Our team played hard throughout the game,” said Coach Zeke Eier. “I’m proud of their effort. We need to make sure that we finish the half and start the second half strong.” 

Caden Petrey completed four passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

Sam Harp caught one of the touchdowns for 43 yards, while Trevor Downs caught the other for 23 yards.

Petrey also led the team on the ground, rushing 15 times for 64 yards.

Defensively, the Colonels were led by Tye Hamblin who recorded 17 total tackles and Christian Grubb who had 14.

“Defensively we need to make sure we stay in our gaps, are great communicators. We also need to take advantage of breaks that come our way,” Eier said when asked what the Colonels have to do to shore up defensively going forward.

Whitley County will be looking at a whole new season on Friday as the Colonels host Pulaski County in the first district matchup of the season.

The district record will determine the seedings in the opening round of the playoffs, and in this case, which of the five teams in the district will not make the playoffs.

Pulaski County improved to 2-3 on the season with a 41-14 win last Friday against Madison Southern.

Quarterback Drew Polston threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns, while the Maroons ran for a combined 211 yards on the night.

“We need to make sure we do our job in the secondary. We need to know our assignment and be really good with our eyes and rules,” Eier said of slowing down Pulaski County’s passing attack.

Defensively, the Maroons have given up 174 points in five games, including 60 against Boyle County and 49 against Corbin.

They recovered two fumbles last week against Madison Southern and held the Eagles to less than 250 yards of total offense.

“They are an aggressive defense. They fly to the football and our very sound,” Eier said. “We need to make sure we take care of the ball and execute for four quarters.”

Williamsburg Yellow Jackets

After two weeks off the field, Williamsburg will be back in action Friday, hosting the Somerset Briar Jumpers.

Somerset is 1-3 on the season, coming off of a 52-6 loss at Corbin last Friday.

Williamsburg last played on Sept. 3 when Leslie County came to Finley Legion Field.

The Jackets are 2-1 on the season and ranked 16th in the Class A RPI.

Corbin

Corbin will have the week off before hosting Simon Kenton at Campbell Field on Oct. 1.

“They are a 6A school and have played a very tough schedule,” said Coach Tom Greer. “We will have to play extremely well and contain their QB who is a dual threat player.”

“We will have to defend the pass very well and must do a great job containing their QB,” he said. “Offensively, we have to continue to be very balanced and be very efficient.”

The Redhounds continued their unbeaten season last Friday with the 52-6 victory over Somerset.

Cameron Combs completed 12 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns, while Seth Mills and Seth Huff led the Corbin rushing attack that put up 126 yards and two touchdowns.

“Somerset was loading the box on us and was going to make us throw it to be successful. Cameron Combs did a great job at distributing the ball to our playmakers,” Greer said. “Cameron understands that we have several guys that can get it done and he did a great job versus Somerset. We eight had guys that caught the ball.”

Dakota Patterson led the way with five receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown, while Seth Mills, Seth Huff and Zander Curry each hauled in touchdown passes.

Defensively, the Redhounds were led by Brandon Baker and Mikey Neal who each recorded five tackles as they held the Briar Jumpers to 101 yards of total offense.

Evan Baker and Carter Sevier each recovered a fumble and Seth Mills returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown.

“Defensive team played extremely well and very fast, we must continue to do this and all eleven players must play assignment football,” Greer said. “We had some big plays by several guys, Carter Sevier, Joe Brown and Brayden Reynolds all had sacks and Mikey Neal caused a fumble and Seth Mills had an interception and returned for a touchdown.”

Kicker Jacob Baker, who is currently rated as the top field goal kicker in the state by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, attempted to break his school record 51-yard field goal with a 57-yard attempt late in the first half.

With a few seconds remaining in the half, Greer elected to send Baker out for the try.

“First of all. I know he has the leg to hit it at 57 yards if he connects on it and secondly, there was 1.9 seconds and it just worked out that way,” Greer said. “We would have tried it from 30 yards or 60 yards with that time remaining on clock.”