1982Class 2A State Champions

1982: Corbin Captures Fifth State Championship With 18-6 Victory Over Glasgow

LOUISVILLE — For three quarters of the 1982 Class 2A state championship game, Corbin and Glasgow played to a scoreless tie at Cardinal Stadium. Neither team could establish enough offensively to take control, and with 12 minutes remaining in the season, the Redhounds were still searching for their first points of the afternoon.

Corbin found them in the fourth quarter.

The Redhounds scored all 18 of their points in the final quarter, getting a 21 yard field goal from Harold Rudy and touchdown runs from Tommy Greer and Steve Rawlings to defeat Glasgow, 18 to 6, and capture the Class 2A state championship. The victory gave Corbin its third state title in seven seasons and delivered a championship to Larry “Cotton” Adams in his second season as the Redhounds’ head coach.

It was an unlikely ending to a season in which Corbin had been tested repeatedly. The Redhounds entered the playoffs with four losses after playing one of the most demanding schedules in the state, including games against Class 4A opponents Madison Central and Bryan Station along with longtime rivals Danville and Somerset. There had been little about the regular season to suggest an easy road to a championship, and at one point there were even questions around Corbin about the direction of the program under its new head coach.

Adams would later describe 1982 as one of the strangest seasons of his coaching career. He had taken over the program after longtime head coach Archie Powers stepped down following the 1980 season. Powers had led Corbin through one of the greatest stretches in school history, including state championships in 1976 and 1980 and a state runner up finish in 1977. Adams had been an assistant during that run and understood better than most what was expected of the man occupying the head coach’s office in Corbin.

Those expectations were tested during the 1982 regular season. Corbin lost to Madison Central and Bryan Station, two programs from Kentucky’s largest classification, and also suffered losses to Danville and Somerset. The Redhounds were talented, but their record did not resemble that of the dominant Corbin teams that had rolled into the postseason in previous years.

The pressure became particularly noticeable during a game against Middlesboro. Corbin fell behind the Yellow Jackets, 21 to 8, by halftime, and Adams later recalled that some frustrated supporters were circulating a petition calling for his removal as head coach. Adams eventually learned to laugh about the episode, even joking years later that his wife nearly signed it.

Corbin rallied to beat Middlesboro.

The Redhounds kept winning when it mattered, and by the end of the postseason the same coach whose job had been questioned earlier in the fall was taking Corbin to Louisville to play for a state championship.

The championship appearance continued an extraordinary period for Corbin football. The Redhounds had defeated Mayfield, 6 to 0, to win the 1976 Class 2A championship under Powers. Corbin returned to the championship game the following season, losing a 14 to 13 rematch against Mayfield. Three years later, the Redhounds defeated Fort Campbell, 16 to 7, to win the 1980 state championship.

Adams had been on the Corbin sideline for all three of those games.

His connection to Redhound football went much deeper than his years as an assistant coach. Adams had grown up watching Corbin football and eventually became a Redhound himself. He was an offensive lineman on the 1962 team that advanced to the Class 2A state championship game after defeating two time defending champion Highlands, 10 to 0, in the state semifinal. Corbin lost to Danville, 13 to 6, in the championship game that season.

After graduating from Corbin in 1964, Adams played college football at Dakota Wesleyan before eventually returning home and joining the Redhound coaching staff. By the time he succeeded Powers as head coach, his connection to Corbin football stretched from childhood to playing career to assistant coach.

In 1982, he had an opportunity to win a state championship as the man in charge.

Glasgow was the final obstacle.

The Scotties arrived at Cardinal Stadium under head coach Coy Meadows with the same opportunity as Corbin. One victory separated both programs from a state championship, and for most of the afternoon neither team could gain an advantage.

The first quarter ended scoreless. Corbin’s defense kept Glasgow out of the end zone, but the Redhounds were unable to generate points of their own. The same pattern continued through the second quarter, sending the teams to halftime tied at 0.

The defensive struggle continued after halftime. Glasgow remained unable to score, and Corbin continued searching for the breakthrough that had eluded the Redhounds throughout the afternoon. The third quarter ended exactly as the first two had, leaving the championship undecided entering the final 12 minutes.

The scoreboard read Corbin 0, Glasgow 0.

After three quarters without a point, Corbin finally broke the tie when Rudy connected on a 21 yard field goal. The kick gave the Redhounds a 3 to 0 lead and put Glasgow in the position of having to play from behind for the first time.

Corbin soon added the first touchdown of the game.

Tommy Greer scored on a 5 yard run, extending the Redhound advantage. Greer, a member of Corbin’s 1983 graduating class who would later play college football at Western Kentucky and eventually become the Redhounds’ head coach, had delivered one of the biggest touchdowns of Corbin’s season. Greg Duncum added the conversion, and after spending three quarters locked in a scoreless tie, the Redhounds had finally created some separation.

Corbin’s offense was not finished.

Steve Rawlings scored on a 1 yard run for the Redhounds’ second touchdown of the fourth quarter. Corbin had gone from three scoreless quarters to scoring three different ways in the fourth, with Rudy’s field goal followed by touchdown runs from Greer and Rawlings.

Glasgow eventually found the end zone when Todd Childress scored on a 3 yard run. The Scotties attempted to add the conversion through the air, but the pass failed. Glasgow had finally broken through against the Corbin defense, but there was not enough time to overcome the Redhounds’ fourth quarter surge.

When the final seconds expired at Cardinal Stadium, Corbin had an 18 to 6 victory and another state championship.

For a program accustomed to success, the championship strengthened an already remarkable run. Corbin had now won state titles in 1976, 1980 and 1982. The Redhounds had also finished as state runner up in 1977, giving the program four championship game appearances in seven seasons.

The championship was especially meaningful for Adams. Twenty years earlier, he had taken the field as a Corbin player with a state championship at stake and experienced the disappointment of finishing runner up. He later helped coach championship teams under Powers, learning the program and becoming part of the staff that returned Corbin to the top of Class 2A football.

Now he had won one as Corbin’s head coach.

The championship also became part of a connection between generations of Redhound football. Greer, who scored Corbin’s first touchdown against Glasgow, would eventually return to the program and become its head coach. Decades after carrying the football into the end zone at Cardinal Stadium, he would be responsible for leading another generation of Corbin players and maintaining the expectations established by the teams on which he had played.

At the time, however, there was little reason for anyone in Corbin to believe the 1982 championship would become such a historical dividing line for the program. State championship games had become familiar territory. Corbin had been there in 1976, 1977 and 1980 before returning again in 1982. Three championships in seven seasons suggested there would be more opportunities in the years ahead.

Corbin did return to the championship game, but another title proved much more difficult to obtain. Adams led the Redhounds back to the state final in 1990, where Corbin finished as state runner up following a loss to Fort Knox. Other teams followed with deep postseason runs, and later generations again carried Corbin into state championship games.

The 1982 Redhounds nevertheless remained the last Corbin team to finish the season with a championship.

That distinction has given the victory over Glasgow additional significance with the passing years, but the circumstances of the game itself remain worthy of remembering. Corbin did not overwhelm Glasgow from the opening kickoff. The Redhounds did not build an early lead or spend the second half protecting an advantage. For three quarters, they could not score at all.

Neither could Glasgow.

The championship was decided in the fourth quarter, and that was when Corbin played its best football.

Rudy provided the first points with his 21 yard field goal. Greer followed with the 5 yard touchdown run. Rawlings scored from the 1. The Corbin defense, which had already held Glasgow scoreless through the first three quarters, allowed only one late touchdown.

The Redhounds scored 18 points in 12 minutes after scoring none in the first 36.

That was enough.

For the players who had endured four regular season losses, a demanding schedule and the uncertainty that accompanied the transition to a new head coach, the reward was a state championship. For Adams, the victory completed a journey from Corbin player to assistant coach to championship head coach. For a town where football had already been passed from one generation to another for decades, another group of Redhounds had earned its place in the program’s history.

Corbin had won championships before. The 1939 and 1955 teams had established the early championship tradition, and the Redhounds of 1976 and 1980 had returned the program to the top of Kentucky high school football.

The 1982 team added another.

On a December afternoon in Louisville, after three quarters without a point, Corbin found everything it needed in the fourth quarter.

The final score told the rest.

Corbin 18, Glasgow 6.

The Redhounds were state champions.