2002

2002: Corbin Survives a Rough Start and Returns to the State Championship Game

The 2002 Corbin Redhounds did not look like a state championship team in September. Five games into the season, Corbin was 2 and 3. The Redhounds had lost at Conner, beaten Bryan Station and South Laurel, then dropped consecutive games to Middlesboro and Bell County. The Bell County loss was especially lopsided, 50 to 15, and left Corbin with more losses than wins as the calendar moved toward October. What followed became one of the more remarkable turnarounds in program history. Corbin won its final five regular season games, swept through four rounds of the Class 2A playoffs and reached the state championship game for the first time since 1990.

The team was coached by Steve Jewell, a former Corbin player who had been part of the Redhounds’ championship tradition as a student. By 2002, Jewell had built a team around a physical running game, an experienced offensive line and a defense that improved steadily as the season wore on. Corbin scored 356 points through its first 14 games while allowing 269, but those totals were heavily influenced by the difficult opening month. The version of Corbin that entered November was much different from the one that had stumbled through September.

The offense revolved around Jarrod Lawson. Lawson carried the football 305 times through the first 14 games for 1,854 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns, averaging more than 132 yards per game. He also scored two receiving touchdowns and returned one turnover for a score, finishing with 184 points. Justin Moore provided a second option in the backfield with 350 rushing yards and three touchdowns, while Travis Prewitt also figured into Corbin’s running game.

Jeremy Brock directed the offense at quarterback and gave the Redhounds enough balance to prevent defenses from loading entirely against Lawson. Brock completed 127 of 231 passes for 1,645 yards and 10 touchdowns through the first 14 games. Justin Barton led the receiving corps with 41 catches for 602 yards and four touchdowns, while Isaac Mills caught 38 passes for 529 yards and three scores.

The offense was built behind a line that featured Travis Hart at center, Brandon Felts at right guard, Mark Payne at left guard, Jeff Cloud at right tackle and Ryan Cleary at tackle. Mills lined up at tight end, Barton at wide receiver, Moore at fullback, Lawson and Prewitt in the backfield and Brock at quarterback. On defense, Corbin relied on Moore and Felts at inside linebacker, Jeremy Ware and Lawson on the outside, Sean Gosser and Chaz Stradley at defensive end, Craig Owens and Cloud inside, Jesse Knuckles and Barton at corner and Dempsey Ballou at free safety.

The season opened August 23 at Conner, where Corbin lost 20 to 6. It was not the beginning anyone around the program wanted, but the Redhounds responded immediately. A week later, Corbin defeated Bryan Station 28 to 14 in the Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic, then beat South Laurel 28 to 13 on September 6 to move to 2 and 1.

The next two weeks brought the lowest point of the season. Middlesboro defeated Corbin 34 to 18 on September 13, and Bell County followed with a 50 to 15 victory on September 20. Bell entered that game with a strong team and controlled Corbin from the start. After five games, the Redhounds were 2 and 3 and had allowed 104 points in the two losses to Middlesboro and Bell.

Corbin had an open date before beginning district play, and the break proved important. The Redhounds opened the district schedule on October 4 against Casey County and won 35 to 13. The victory started a five game winning streak and gave Corbin the kind of reset it needed after the difficult September stretch.

Taylor County was next. Corbin went on the road and won 18 to 6, improving to 2 and 0 in district play. The following week brought one of the most important games of the regular season, a road trip to Russell County. Corbin won 14 to 9 in a tight defensive game, the type of contest that would prepare the Redhounds for the postseason.

Corbin’s offense broke loose against Adair County. The Redhounds scored 62 points in a 62 to 22 victory, their largest offensive output of the regular season. The performance showed how far the offense had come from the opening weeks, with Lawson and the running game becoming increasingly difficult to contain.

The regular season ended at Wayne County with the district title already within reach. Corbin escaped with a 14 to 13 victory, completing a perfect 5 and 0 district record and finishing the regular season 7 and 3. The Redhounds had won five consecutive games after the Bell County loss and had transformed themselves from a struggling September team into a dangerous playoff opponent.

Washington County hosted Corbin in the opening round of the playoffs on November 8. The game turned into a shootout, and Corbin survived 37 to 33. For a team that had spent much of the second half of the regular season winning with defense and field position, the playoff opener required the offense to carry a larger burden. Corbin did enough to advance.

Bardstown came next. Corbin won 36 to 21, pushing the winning streak to seven games and moving deeper into the Class 2A bracket. The Redhounds had now scored 73 points in two playoff games and had found a level of offensive consistency that simply was not there in September.

The third round brought LaRue County to Corbin. This time the Redhounds’ defense dominated. Corbin shut out LaRue County 21 to 0, producing the kind of complete performance expected from a team one win from the state championship game. The shutout sent Corbin into the state semifinal at 10 and 3.

Webster County came to Corbin for the semifinal on November 29. The Trojans entered 12 and 1 and represented the strongest postseason challenge the Redhounds had faced. Corbin won 28 to 21, earning its 11th victory and sending the program back to the state championship game for the first time in 12 years.

The championship matchup carried a storyline that would become much more interesting years later. Breathitt County entered the game undefeated at 14 and 0 and was led by quarterback Justin Haddix, who would eventually become Corbin’s head coach and take the Redhounds to back to back state championship games in 2017 and 2018. In 2002, however, Haddix was on the opposite sideline trying to deny Corbin a championship.

The game was played December 6 at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville before an announced crowd of 5,340. Conditions were cold, with the temperature listed at 29 degrees. Breathitt County took control almost immediately and never allowed Corbin to establish its offense.

Breathitt scored first on a 47 yard punt return by Brandon Thomas. Haddix added a 1 yard touchdown run later in the first quarter, giving the Bobcats a 14 to 0 lead. Breathitt then exploded for 25 points in the second quarter, scoring on a 2 yard run by Darren Back, a 7 yard touchdown pass from Haddix to Dustin Barnett, a 4 yard run by Cour. Johnson and another 1 yard run by Haddix. Corbin went to halftime trailing 39 to 0.

Breathitt added two more touchdowns after halftime, with Haddix throwing scoring passes to Johnson and Thomas. The final score was 51 to 0, completing a 15 and 0 season for Breathitt County and ending Corbin’s year at 11 and 4.

The championship game was easily Corbin’s worst offensive performance of the season. The Redhounds managed only four first downs and 54 total yards. Lawson carried 18 times for 62 yards, while Brock completed only two of 11 passes for 27 yards and was intercepted twice. Corbin also lost three fumbles. Breathitt’s defense kept Corbin off the scoreboard for all four quarters.

The result in Louisville was difficult, but it should not overshadow the season that got Corbin there. Few teams recover from a 2 and 3 start, particularly when two of those losses come by margins of 16 and 35 points. Corbin did more than recover. The Redhounds won eight consecutive games from October 4 through the state semifinal.

That run began with Casey County and continued through Taylor County, Russell County, Adair County and Wayne County. It carried into the postseason with victories over Washington County, Bardstown, LaRue County and Webster County. Corbin went from 2 and 3 to 11 and 3 before the state final.

Lawson was at the center of the turnaround. His 1,854 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns through 14 games gave Corbin a dependable offensive identity, and his presence forced every opponent to build its defensive plan around stopping the run. Brock’s 1,645 passing yards gave the Redhounds enough balance to keep opponents honest, while Barton and Mills combined for more than 1,100 receiving yards.

The defense also had identifiable leaders. Jeremy Ware led the team with 117 total tackles through 14 games, while Moore recorded 79. Ballou intercepted five passes and Barton intercepted four. Lawson recovered three fumbles, including one he returned for a touchdown, while Stradley recovered two.

That balance was what made the 2002 team successful. Corbin had a featured runner in Lawson, a productive quarterback in Brock, reliable receivers in Barton and Mills, a physical offensive line and a defense capable of creating turnovers. The Redhounds were not dominant every week, and the early part of the season made that obvious, but by October the pieces had come together.

The senior group also played an important role in getting Corbin back to Louisville. Barton, Brock, Ware, Mills, Ballou, Moore, Lawson, Owens, Payne, Dixon, Stradley, Felts, Cloud and Knuckles were among the players who saw action in the final. Those names became part of the first Corbin team since 1990 to play for a state championship.

The 2002 season also became a bridge between different eras of Corbin football. Jewell had grown up inside the program’s championship tradition, and his team restored Corbin to the state final after a 12 year absence. Haddix, the quarterback who beat Corbin that night, would eventually come to Corbin as head coach and lead another generation of Redhounds to championship games.

The final 51 to 0 score was ugly, and there is no reason to pretend otherwise. Breathitt County was the better team that afternoon and finished the season undefeated. Corbin had turnovers, struggled offensively and never recovered from falling behind early.

The season itself, however, deserves to be remembered for much more than that final afternoon. Corbin lost three of its first five games, including a 50 to 15 defeat against Bell County. Instead of collapsing, the Redhounds won eight straight, captured an unbeaten district championship, won four playoff games and returned Corbin football to the state championship stage.

The final record was 11 and 4. The final game was a loss. The season was still one of the most significant of the modern era because it proved Corbin could climb back to the final after more than a decade away.

That was the 2002 Corbin Redhounds.

They started 2 and 3, found their identity in October, won eight straight games, captured a district championship and rode one of the best individual rushing seasons in the program’s modern history all the way to Louisville.