1976Class 2A State Champions

1976: Corbin Shuts Out Mayfield to Capture Class 2A State Championship

One touchdown was all Corbin needed.

In a Class 2A state championship game controlled almost entirely by defense, the Redhounds broke a scoreless tie in the third quarter when Tom Harvath connected with Kenny Gilbert on a 29 yard touchdown pass and then turned the rest of the game over to a defense that never allowed Mayfield to answer. Corbin defeated the Cardinals, 6 to 0, at Commonwealth Stadium to capture the 1976 state championship and return one of Kentucky’s proudest football programs to the top of the state.

There was nothing easy about it. Mayfield arrived in Lexington with a 12 and 1 record under head coach Jack Morris and had already handled its postseason opponents convincingly, defeating Edmonson County, 48 to 6, before beating Bardstown, 21 to 7, in the state semifinal. The Cardinals had scored 69 points in two playoff games before meeting Corbin. Against the Redhounds, they did not score at all.

The championship represented the culmination of the rebuilding job undertaken by Corbin coach Archie Powers, who had taken over a program that had fallen from the level it had enjoyed during earlier eras of Redhound football. Corbin had a long football tradition and had fielded some of the most celebrated teams in southeastern Kentucky, but the program Powers inherited needed to be rebuilt before it could again compete consistently with the best teams in the state.

Powers changed that.

With Larry “Cotton” Adams serving as one of his assistants, Corbin developed into a perennial contender and eventually returned to the championship stage. Adams knew the history better than most. He had grown up in Corbin, played for the Redhounds and had been an offensive lineman on the 1962 team that advanced to the Class 2A state championship game. After playing college football at Dakota Wesleyan, Adams returned home and joined the Corbin coaching staff. When Powers took over the program, Adams remained on staff and became part of the rebuilding effort that eventually produced the 1976 championship team.

By the time Corbin reached Commonwealth Stadium, the Redhounds were no longer a program trying to recapture the past. They had an opportunity to create another championship team of their own.

Mayfield presented a difficult final obstacle. The Cardinals had established themselves as one of western Kentucky’s strongest programs under Morris and entered the championship game having lost only once all season. Their postseason results suggested an offense capable of putting points on the scoreboard, but the championship game quickly developed into something entirely different.

Neither team scored in the first quarter.

Corbin’s defense kept Mayfield from producing the kind of offensive success it had enjoyed earlier in the playoffs, but the Redhounds were unable to break through on the other side of the football. The game moved into the second quarter with the championship still scoreless, and neither team managed to change that before halftime.

Corbin 0, Mayfield 0.

For two quarters, the defenses had controlled the game. There had been no early touchdown to settle either team and no lead for one side to protect. With half the championship game gone, one scoring play appeared increasingly likely to make the difference.

Corbin finally found it in the third quarter.

Harvath dropped back and found Gilbert for a 29 yard touchdown pass, giving the Redhounds the first points of the afternoon. The extra point attempt failed, leaving Corbin with a 6 to 0 advantage and giving Mayfield plenty of time to respond.

The Cardinals never did.

What had been a scoreless defensive struggle became a test of whether Corbin could protect the smallest of leads against a Mayfield team whose season was now in danger of ending without a point. Every possession became more important. A touchdown and successful extra point could put Mayfield in front. One defensive mistake could erase everything Corbin had worked for throughout the season.

The mistake never came.

Corbin carried the 6 to 0 advantage through the remainder of the third quarter and into the fourth. Mayfield continued looking for the touchdown that could change the championship game, but the Redhound defense continued turning the Cardinals away.

The fourth quarter ended exactly as the first two had for Mayfield.

With a zero.

When the final seconds expired at Commonwealth Stadium, Gilbert’s third quarter touchdown remained the only score of the game. The Redhounds had beaten Mayfield, 6 to 0, and Archie Powers had brought a state championship back to Corbin.

The manner in which Corbin won made the championship particularly fitting for the team Powers had built. There was no offensive explosion and no comfortable lead. The Redhounds had to win with defense, patience and one decisive offensive play. Mayfield had entered the championship game after scoring 48 points in its playoff opener and 21 in the semifinal. Corbin held the Cardinals scoreless.

The championship also established the beginning of what would become one of the greatest stretches in Corbin football history. The 1976 Redhounds did not know it at the time, but their victory over Mayfield was the first of three state championships Corbin would win over a seven year period.

The Redhounds returned to the championship game the following season, and waiting for them was Mayfield.

The 1977 rematch could hardly have been closer. This time the Cardinals got their revenge, defeating Corbin, 14 to 13, and denying the Redhounds consecutive state championships by a single point. Mayfield went on to win another Class 2A championship in 1978, defeating Somerset, 22 to 6, establishing the Cardinals as one of the dominant programs of the period.

Corbin’s championship window had not closed.

The Redhounds returned to the state final in 1980 and defeated defending champion Fort Campbell, 16 to 7, for another Class 2A championship. That victory became the final game of Powers’ tenure as Corbin’s head coach. Adams, who had served on the staff throughout the championship run, succeeded him.

Two years later, Corbin won again.

Adams guided the 1982 Redhounds through a difficult four loss season and back to the championship game at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. Corbin and Glasgow played three scoreless quarters before the Redhounds scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to win, 18 to 6.

The championships of 1976, 1980 and 1982 eventually became linked as one of the defining periods in the history of Corbin football, but the run had to begin somewhere.

It began against Mayfield.

The significance of the 1976 championship extends beyond the trophy itself. Corbin had possessed a football tradition long before Powers arrived, but tradition does not guarantee future success. Programs have to be rebuilt, standards have to be restored and new generations of players have to prove that the accomplishments of the past can be repeated.

The 1976 Redhounds did that.

They did it against an opponent that would prove its own championship credentials almost immediately. Mayfield returned to win the state title in 1977 and again in 1978. The Cardinals were not simply another team fortunate enough to reach the championship game. They were at the beginning of their own championship run under Morris.

For one afternoon in Lexington, Corbin was better.

The difference amounted to 29 yards.

Harvath’s pass found Gilbert in the third quarter, Gilbert reached the end zone and Corbin had the six points it needed. There were no more touchdowns. There were no field goals. There was no late scoring burst to make the final margin look comfortable.

There was simply a Corbin defense that refused to allow Mayfield to score.

That defense protected the lead through the remainder of the third quarter and all of the fourth. When the game ended, Corbin had recorded a shutout on the biggest stage of the season.

For Powers, the championship validated the work that had gone into rebuilding the program and established Corbin as one of the premier Class 2A teams in Kentucky. For Adams, it was his first state championship as a Corbin coach after experiencing a state runner up finish as a Redhound player in 1962. For the players, it meant their team would forever occupy its own place in the history of a program where championship teams were remembered for generations.

The victory also changed expectations around Corbin football. Reaching the playoffs was no longer enough. The Redhounds had shown they could reach the final game and beat one of the best programs in Kentucky when they got there.

The seasons that followed confirmed it.

Corbin returned to the championship game in 1977. The Redhounds won another title in 1980. They won again in 1982. Over seven seasons, Corbin reached four state championship games and won three of them.

None of that had happened when Corbin and Mayfield took the field at Commonwealth Stadium in 1976.

At that moment, there was only a football game to win.

For two quarters, neither team could score. In the third, Harvath and Gilbert produced the play Corbin needed. For the rest of the afternoon, the Redhound defense made sure six points were enough.

Mayfield entered the game having scored 69 points in two postseason victories.

Against Corbin, the Cardinals scored none.

Corbin 6, Mayfield 0.

The Redhounds were state champions.