Published: November 06, 2009 09:47 am      

New season begins

Redhounds enter game as heavy favorites against Morgan County

By Les Dixon / Sports Editor

The Corbin Redhounds enter today’s Class 2A first round playoff matchup against visiting Morgan County as heavy favorites.

But Redhound coach Steve Jewell was quick to point out his team isn’t going to overlook Brian Turner’s squad.

“They are much improved from last season,” Jewell said. “They basically run five to six sets on offense, but they are better.”

The two teams met each other last season in the first round and Corbin (8-2) came away with a convincing 53-0 win.

The Redhounds ran for 124 yards on the ground, but passed for 115, while the Corbin defense limited Morgan County to only 125 yards on total offense.

“They are a developing program and I know our kids won’t overlook them,” Jewell said. “We are still upset with last week’s loss against Lexington Christian.

“The loss left a little bit of a sting,” he added. “We did have a lot of positives in the first half that we hope can carry over into this game.”

The Redhounds will rely on their running game to to get things started today.

Mr. Football candidate Caleb Watkins leads the way with 1,498 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns, while Ryan Fritts (505 rushing yards and five touchdowns) and Matthew Taylor (368, two) follows.

“We want to establish the run,” Jewell said. “We just need to take what they give us and go from there. This team we are playing are very similar to Knott County Central, so we know we might be able to do some things on offense, but we’ve got to be ready on defense.”

Morgan County (2-8) likes to run the ball and is led by Mitchell Harvey’s 1,047 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Adam Cooper has 581 yards on the ground, while Kyle Havens follows with 496.

Larrin Collins leads the way behind center with 11 completions for 111 yards and three touchdowns.

“We’re excited to get things going,” Jewell said. “This is the state playoffs and the kids are ready to go. Everyone’s slate is wiped clean and now everyone has a new life.

“I hope we have a lot of fan support at the game and we’ll see what happens,” he added.