1980: Corbin Takes Down Defending Champion Fort Campbell to Win State Title
Corbin had been here before.
Four years earlier, the Redhounds had left the state championship game with a trophy after shutting out Mayfield. A year later, they returned to the final and came within a point of winning another. By the time Corbin arrived at Cardinal Stadium in 1980, playing for a state championship had become familiar territory for a program that had established itself as one of the best in Kentucky.
This time the Redhounds had to go through the defending champion to bring another title home.
Corbin overcame an early Fort Campbell touchdown, took the lead in the second quarter and relied on its defense the rest of the way to defeat the Falcons, 16 to 7, for the 1980 Class 2A state championship. Ritchie Grigsby scored both Corbin touchdowns, including a 17 yard run in the fourth quarter that provided the final margin, as Archie Powers and the Redhounds captured their second state championship in five seasons.
The opponent waiting for Corbin in Louisville was no stranger to championship football. Fort Campbell had developed into one of the state’s strongest programs under head coach Marshall Patterson and had reached the state championship game in each of the previous two seasons. The Falcons defeated Paintsville, 15 to 13, to win the Class A championship in 1978 before moving into Class 2A and shutting out Pikeville, 26 to 0, for another championship in 1979. The meeting with Corbin represented Fort Campbell’s opportunity to win a third consecutive state title and its fourth championship under Patterson.
Corbin brought a championship history of its own. Powers had taken over a struggling Redhound program years earlier and turned it into a perennial contender. His 1976 team defeated Mayfield, 6 to 0, at Commonwealth Stadium to win the Class 2A championship. Corbin returned to the championship game in 1977 and came within a single point of repeating, losing to Mayfield, 14 to 13. Three years later, the Redhounds were back, this time facing a Fort Campbell program that had become accustomed to finishing seasons with championship trophies.
Fort Campbell struck first.
Kevin Extine broke loose for a 37 yard touchdown run in the opening quarter, and Darrell Stewart added the extra point to give the Falcons a 7 to 0 lead. For a Fort Campbell team attempting to defend its Class 2A championship, it was exactly the kind of beginning Patterson wanted. The Falcons had the first touchdown and the early advantage.
Corbin did not allow another point.
The Redhounds responded in the second quarter behind Grigsby, who scored from a yard out to pull Corbin within one. Rather than attempt to tie the game with a kick, Corbin went for two. Greg Taylor ran in the conversion, and the Redhounds had turned a 7 to 0 deficit into an 8 to 7 lead.
That one point advantage remained through halftime.
The championship settled into a defensive game after Corbin moved in front. Fort Campbell had scored on Extine’s 37 yard run in the first quarter, but the Corbin defense prevented the Falcons from building on it. The Redhounds did not score in the third quarter either, leaving the outcome very much undecided entering the final 12 minutes.
Corbin led 8 to 7.
One point separated the Redhounds from the defending state champions with a quarter remaining.
The situation carried some familiarity for Corbin. Three years earlier, a single point had separated the Redhounds and Mayfield when Corbin lost the 1977 championship game, 14 to 13. There was little room for error then, and there was none against Fort Campbell.
Grigsby finally gave Corbin the separation it needed.
The Corbin back broke free for a 17 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, his second score of the championship game. The Redhounds added the conversion and stretched the lead to 16 to 7. After spending much of the afternoon protecting the smallest possible advantage, Corbin finally had a two possession lead.
Fort Campbell never answered.
The Falcons had entered the game attempting to add another championship to one of the most impressive runs in Kentucky football. Patterson had built Fort Campbell’s program from its beginning in 1962 and turned it into a state power. The Falcons won the Class A championship in 1976, captured another in 1978 and then won the Class 2A title in 1979 after moving up in classification. By the end of the 1980 championship game, Fort Campbell had appeared in three consecutive state finals and four in five seasons.
Corbin stopped the championship streak.
After Extine’s first quarter touchdown, the Redhound defense shut out Fort Campbell for the remaining three quarters. Corbin did not need an offensive shootout to win the championship. The Redhounds needed two touchdowns, two successful conversions and a defense that refused to allow the defending champions back into the end zone.
When the final seconds expired at Cardinal Stadium, the scoreboard read Corbin 16, Fort Campbell 7.
The Redhounds were state champions again.
For Powers, the victory added another championship to a remarkable period in Corbin football history. When he took over the program, Corbin had gone years without reaching the heights of its earlier championship teams. Under Powers, that changed. The Redhounds became a fixture in the Class 2A postseason and developed into a program capable of competing with anyone in Kentucky.
The results spoke for themselves.
Corbin won the championship in 1976.
The Redhounds finished state runner up by one point in 1977.
Three years later, they won another championship.
The 1980 victory was also significant because of the opponent. Fort Campbell was not a team making an unexpected appearance in Louisville. The Falcons were the defending Class 2A champions and had won state titles in three of the previous four seasons across two classifications. Patterson had built one of the state’s premier programs, and Fort Campbell arrived with an opportunity to win another championship.
Corbin beat them anyway.
The game also became the final chapter of Powers’ tenure as Corbin’s head coach. After leading the Redhounds back to the top of Class 2A football, Powers stepped down following the championship season. Larry “Cotton” Adams, a former Corbin player who had returned home and worked as an assistant on Powers’ staff, took over the program. KHSAA’s retrospective on Adams confirms that Powers’ tenure was highlighted by the 1976 and 1980 championships and that Adams succeeded him following the 1980 title.
That transition would eventually make the 1980 championship an important bridge between two of the most successful teams in Corbin history.
Several members of the 1980 team would still be around when Corbin returned to Louisville two years later. Among them was Tommy Greer, who would score a touchdown in the 1982 championship victory over Glasgow and, years later, return to lead the Redhounds as head coach. Adams inherited a program with championship expectations already firmly established, and in his second season he would add another title when Corbin defeated Glasgow, 18 to 6.
The championships of 1980 and 1982 would ultimately stand beside one another in the record book, but the teams reached them in different ways. The 1982 championship was decided by an 18 point fourth quarter after Corbin and Glasgow played three quarters without scoring. The 1980 Redhounds had to respond after falling behind and then spend much of the afternoon protecting a narrow lead against the defending champions.
Fort Campbell scored first.
Corbin answered.
That became the story of the championship.
The Falcons’ opening touchdown could have changed the game. Instead, it became the only time Fort Campbell reached the end zone. Grigsby’s 1 yard touchdown and Taylor’s conversion gave Corbin an 8 to 7 lead in the second quarter, and the Redhounds carried that advantage through a scoreless third quarter.
Then Grigsby finished it.
His 17 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter provided the insurance Corbin had been searching for and put the championship in the hands of a defense that had already spent three quarters controlling Fort Campbell.
The defense did the rest.
For Corbin, the victory represented another step in a remarkable championship era. The Redhounds had won a state title in 1976, missed another by a point in 1977 and returned three years later to defeat the reigning champion. They had established themselves not merely as a good football team from southeastern Kentucky, but as one of the premier Class 2A programs in the state.
The championship was also the last for Powers at Corbin. His tenure had taken the Redhounds back to the highest level of Kentucky high school football and left behind a program strong enough to remain there after his departure.
Two years later, Corbin would win again.
But the 1982 championship belonged to another coach and another season. On that afternoon in Louisville in 1980, the moment belonged to Powers, Grigsby, Taylor and a Corbin defense that surrendered seven points in the opening quarter and nothing afterward.
Fort Campbell came to Cardinal Stadium as the defending state champion.
Corbin left as the new one.
The final score was Corbin 16, Fort Campbell 7.
The Redhounds were state champions once again.
