Football

It was a disappointing night for coverage area high school football teams. The Williamsburg Yellow Jackets have tasted defeat for the first time this season, falling to 4-1 after a 41-13 loss to visiting Somerset. The Jackets will face another tough test next week when they go on the road to play Lexington Christian Academy. As Williamsburg was battling it out with the Briar Jumpers, the Whitley County Colonels were also in action across town, squaring off against the Bell County Bobcats. The Cats were able to remain undefeated and drop Whitley to 2-2 on the season with a 42-21 win. The Colonels will be hoping for a better outcome next...

Two coverage area teams suffered disappointing losses, while another made easy work of their opponents Friday night. After a heartbreaking overtime defeat in week 3, the Lynn Camp Wildcats were hoping to get back on track this week against the visiting Clay County Tigers. It was not to be, however, as the Cats fell to 2-2 on the season after a 51-13 loss. Lynn Camp will be back in action again next Friday, September 20, hosting Estill County. It was a difficult night for the Corbin Redhounds as well, going on the road and falling 26-10 to the Beechwood Tigers. The Hounds, who are now also 2-2 on the year, will...

It was a heartbreaking night for two teams in Corbin, while two teams in Williamsburg are celebrating a pair of big victories... The Corbin Redhounds were hopeful of improving to 3-0 to start out the 2019 season Friday night, but they were unable to put away the visiting Pulaski County Maroons, falling by just one point, 23-22. The Hounds will be on the road for the first time next week when they travel to play Beechwood. Across town at Lynn Camp High School, the Wildcats were hosting the Middlesboro Yellow Jackets in their season home opener. The Cats were also looking to stay perfect on the year, but the visiting Jackets...

It has been another successful week for high school football teams in our coverage area... On Thursday, the Lynn Camp Wildcats improved to 2-0 with a 32-16 win on the road at Jackson County. The Cats will host Middlesboro in their home opener next Friday, September 6. Speaking of Middlesboro, they hosted Williamsburg this week in the "Battle of the Yellow Jackets." In the end, Williamsburg also improved to 2-0 with a 55-28 win. The Jackets will host Leslie County in their home opener next Friday. The Whitley County Colonels played their first home game of the 2019 season Friday, defeating the Scott Highlanders out of Huntsville, TN with a final score...

The 2019 high school football season officially kicked off Friday night with three games involving coverage area teams. In the first-ever Grace Health Bowl, the Whitley County Colonels put up a great fight against the Corbin Redhounds at Campbell Field. The Hounds were able to keep their win streak over Whitley alive in the end, however, winning 35-21 to start the season off at 1-0. Corbin will host Notre Dame out of Chattanooga, TN in the Annual Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic next Saturday, August 31. The Colonels will host their season home opener against Scott, TN next Friday. In other week 1 football action, the Williamsburg Yellow Jackets made easy work of...

The following is a collection of the high school football preview stories appearing in the Wednesday, August 21 print edition of the News Journal... JACKETS HAVE THE TOOLS AND TALENT TO GO FAR THIS SEASON By: Mark White With 54 players on the roster after summer practice, including 21 seniors and 13 juniors, the 2019 season may be the Williamsburg High School football team’s best shot at returning to the state finals since 2014. “Right now we have a record number of seniors. We are real excited about our numbers. They have a great attitude, and have worked hard all summer. We are looking forward to seeing what they can do,” said Williamsburg...

Whitley County Colonel County had its first opportunity to size up new Head Football Coach Jep Irwin Friday night during a meet-and-greet at the high school. Irwin is very familiar with high school football in the area, having previously coached South Laurel, before moving to Alabama and then Georgia. He has spent the last nine seasons as the head coach at Lassiter High School in Marietta, Georgia. Irwin told the crowd of approximately 200 people, including numerous football players and parents, that his goals are to develop well-disciplined and dedicated young men, explaining that those skills are essential to building a winning football team. Irwin emphasized that instilling those traits will benefit...

With so many major championships won by coverage area teams over the past twelve months, the News Journal’s annual year-end list of top sports stories will require a total of ten spots for 2018. 1. Corbin boys basketball team wins region, advances to quarterfinals of Sweet 16 tournament It was a tough call for which story should take the top spot this year, but in the end the Corbin Redhounds’ 13th Region championship and trip to the Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena was too big not to be placed at number one. Led by senior Andrew Taylor, who finished his career as the Corbin High School basketball program’s all-time leading scorer, the...

The following players have been nominated for All-County honors by the News Journal for the 2018 season… All-County Most Valuable Player Chase Estep, senior QB for Corbin The Redhounds’ game plan once again centered around Estep in 2018, only this time he was serving as signal caller instead of taking handoffs out of the backfield. He rushed for over 600 yards and 11 scores on the year, throwing for over 3,000 yards and 39 TDs. A truly special all-around athlete, as long as he was on the field he gave Corbin a chance to win. Quarterback First Team Dalton Ponder, junior from Williamsburg Ponder had some big shoes to fill in 2018, taking over for...

It has been widely reported since Friday evening that a brawl between Corbin and Louisville Central players broke out after the conclusion of the Class 3A state football championship game at Kroger Field in Lexington. In a statement submitted via e-mail Monday morning, KHSAA Communications Director Joe Angolia said, "It is unfortunate that this situation marred an otherwise great game. We will review all available accounts including all actions taken by players, and all actions taken and not taken by other school representatives, and make any determinations following the conclusion of the playoffs." Later Monday, Corbin Independent Schools Superintendent Dave Cox sent out a press release saying, "Corbin and Louisville Central...