For the Corbin Redhound football program, a state championship run is not just a goal, it is an expectation.
This season, the Redhound Faithful are celebrating 50 years since the 1976 state championship.
“It’s a great thing to honor and recognize,” said Corbin Redhound Head Coach Luke Salmons. “You know, they laid the groundwork for what we are today.”
So, who are the Redhounds today?
This year’s squad returns last season’s quarterback, Mason Salmons, who passed for more than 2,400 yards and 30 touchdown pass completions.
Mason Salmons said this fall is about picking up where they left off last year.
“Being tough, a physical team, playing with a lot of intensity and playing fast. That’s going to be huge for us,” said Mason Salmons.
Also returning from last year’s squad are the team’s four leading defenders. Silas Mahan, Malachi Brown, Malachi Zachery and Zach Thomas accounted for 263 of the team’s 729 tackles.
Mahan led the team in tackles taking down 81 players alone.
Going into his senior year, Mahan said this season is about looking at the team as a whole and not just two or three players.
That holistic approach is closely related to how Mahan describes the team’s mentality this season.
“It’s giving everything we have. Like, it takes everything. It takes all. All guys on the roster. It doesn’t matter if it’s a freshman or a senior so just stay ready all the time.”
Coming in behind Mahan for tackles on the season, Brown logged eight sacks last season, and he is a current University of Kentucky commit. Despite being a future Wildcat, Brown is a current Redhound with the goal of helping his teammates.
“[I’m] really just trying to guide others – bring others with me [and] being more of a leader this year than I was in the past,” Brown explained. “Just getting the team together.”
Brown won’t be headed to UK alone next fall.
Fellow senior Larron Westmoreland transferred to Corbin from Jeffersontown. This will be his first season as a Redhound.
During his junior season, he logged 78 net yards passing, 287 net yards rushing, 459 yards gained receiving, 112 points, 67 tackles and three interceptions.
Nearly half of this year’s team are either juniors or seniors. That kind of experience means these players know what it takes to not only make it to post season but to make a deep run.
While teams like the 1976 state champion Redhounds may have laid the groundwork, this year’s squad hopes to leave a legacy of its own.
For Brown, that legacy looks like picking someone up when they are down.
“Maybe they make a bad play. Pick them up next play. You got to just keep going,” said Brown. “Just keep striving through it.”
The Redhounds begin the regular season Friday night during the second game of the Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic against Western Hills High School (OH).
The game is set for 8:30 p.m.
