Football

The Kentucky-Tennessee Border Bowl is moving to Sevierville in 2017. For the past nine years the University of the Cumberlands’ James H. Taylor II Stadium has been the site of the annual all-star high school football game, but Border Bowl X will feature a change of scenery. This year’s game is being played at Sevier County High School, home of the Smoky Bears, with practices taking place at the state-of-the-art Rocky Top Sports World facility in Gatlinburg. Williamsburg’s Jerry Herron is serving as head coach for this year’s Kentucky All-Stars team. “I’m honored to represent the state of Kentucky,” he said. “I have a great staff helping me this year. We’ve...

University of the Cumberlands football has made its mark on the country for a number of years. Numerous players have earned high honors while the team has made a plethora of appearances in the NAIA Football Championship Series. Now, one Patriot has made the climb all the way to the 53 man roster in the NFL. Patriot alumnus Wendall Williams was signed as an undrafted free agent with the Houston Texans back in May. After going through fall camp with the Texans, he was cut on the final day of roster cuts, sending him into free agency. After trying out for multiple teams including the Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots...

The following is the News Journal’s list of Most Valuable Players in Whitley County for the 2016 high school football season (Corbin, Whitley County and Williamsburg High Schools). Overal MVP - AJ Moore (Sr, Corbin) Moore helped lead the Redhounds to a 12-2 record in 2016, including a district championship, a region championship and an appearance in the Class 3A state championship tournament semifinals. He led all Corbin receivers with 800-plus yards and 13 touchdowns on the year, setting a school record for career receptions in the process. Quarterback First Team - Camron Sizemore (Jr, Corbin) Quarterback Second Team - Dylan Wilson (Jr, Whitley Co) Quarterback Honorable Mention - Alec Poore (Jr, W’burg) Running Back First...

“We came up short today, but we have to learn from it, and we have to keep working.” In addition to letting his players know how proud he was of them for all of their hard work this season, that was Corbin Head Coach Justin Haddix’s message to his team after suffering a heartbreaking loss to the Belfry Pirates last Friday in the semifinal round of this year’s Class 3A state championship playoffs. The loss was heartbreaking for many different reasons. It marked the end of the Redhounds’ 2016 season just one week short of an appearance in the state championship game, it marked the end of the high school careers...

The Lynn Camp Wildcats football team achieved a winning season in 2016, winning six straight games between August 26 and September 30. They went 0-4 to end the season, but there is no doubt that the program is headed in the right direction. There were several Cats who posted some impressive stats this year, but none moreso that sophomore Dalton Cook (#32) and junior Brenton Medlin (#40). Cook entered Lynn Camp’s playoff game at Pikeville four weeks ago with nearly 1,500 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns. Medlin came in with just over 800 yards on the ground, and six scores. Both were also favorite targets through the air for senior QB Dylan Brown,...

The Casey County Rebels made things a little more difficult than many expected they would last Friday night, but in the end the Corbin Redhounds were able to get the 38-17 win, improving them to 12-1 on the year and advancing them to the semifinal round of this year’s Class 3A state championship playoffs. The victory also made the Redhounds back-to-back region champions, a fact that junior quarterback Camron Sizemore was very excited about after the game. “We’ve been busting our butts ever since the summer to get to where we are right now,” he said. “Every day in practice we are pushing one another, and I believe that we’re...

After an easy 44-8 victory over the Bell County Bobcats last week, the Corbin Redhounds (11-1) are now set to host the Casey County Rebels (10-1) in this year’s region championship game, scheduled to take place this Friday at 7:30 p.m. under the lights at Campbell Field. The Hounds had no trouble against the Rebels back on October 21, going on the road and defeating them 35-7 to sew up a district championship title. This time around, Casey County will have to make the trek to Corbin, where they will undoubtedly be the heavy underdogs in this rematch contest. Corbin had another week of impressive stats against Bell County, with junior QB...

Three coverage area teams made it to the second round of this year's state championship playoffs, but now only one remains... The Corbin Redhounds improved to 11-1 Friday with a 44-8 victory over visiting Bell County. Next week the Hounds will welcome in Casey County for a regional championship matchup. The Whitley County Colonels saw their season come to an end Friday, losing to visiting Pulaski County 41-28. The Colonels close out their 2016 campaign with an overall record of nine wins and three losses. Also closing out their season Friday were the Williamsburg Yellow Jackets, who fell to visiting Hazard 56-31. The Jackets went 7-5 on the year. For more on these contests,...

Round one of the 2016 KHSAA high school football championship playoffs is in the books, and we are now left with three of our four coverage area teams left standing. The Lynn Camp Wildcats ended their season at 6-5 after traveling to Pikeville and falling 55-3 to the defending Class A champion Panthers in their first round matchup last Friday. That leaves us with Corbin, Williamsburg an Whitley County, all of whom will be hosting round two games this Friday evening, November 11. Starting with Corbin, the 10-1 Redhounds will be hosting district rival Bell County after their dominating performance against Knott County Central last week. The Hounds were able to put...

The Whitley County Colonels came to play Thursday night when they hosted the Lincoln County Patriots in the first round of the 2016 Class 5A football state championship playoffs. A fumble on the game’s opening kickoff was recovered by the Colonels deep in Patriot territory, leading to a 14-yard scoring run from senior Nathan Jackson a few minutes later. The Noah Langford PAT put the home team up 7-0 with 10:08 remaining in the first quarter. Lincoln tied things up at 7-7 with 3:38 on the clock, but Whitley quickly responded, going up 14-7 at the 1:47 mark when junior quarterback Dylan Wilson threw the ball to receiver Dawson Swain, who...