Dean Manning

Though our local coaches may not agree, I have to say, it was a great to see our local football teams in the midst of competitive games. Pineville came to Finley Legion Field in Williamsburg Friday night and gave the Jackets all they wanted in the Jackets’ 21-13 win. The Mountain Lions were driving for a potential tying score with less than a minute left when Williamsburg’s Cooper Prewitt came up with the game-saving interception. Coach Jerry Herron, Jr. again expressed his frustration with his team, noting that the Jackets failed to play well and escaped with the win. Williamsburg will, likely, see Pineville again on Nov. 12 in the second round of...

Late November will mark one year since I took over as sports editor at the News Journal. With the focus on high school sports, you begin to notice certain athletes in each sport for the way they play, plays they make or seeing their names in the stats sheets time after time. Seeing those players that have excelled in one sport struggle on a team in a down year is hard. I will say that I take no joy in writing that a local team is struggling mightily or was on the losing side of a slaughter. As Williamsburg Football Coach Jerry Herron, Jr. said in his comments last week, “These are kids.” Give...

Williamsburg picked up a quality win Friday night with a 21-14 victory against Somerset. While most people will look at the Briar Jumpers’ 1-5 record and wonder how it is considered a quality win, losing to Beechwood, Paintsville, Corbin and now Williamsburg is like a college team lining up against Alabama, Clemson and Georgia. The good news for the Jackets is they have another opportunity for a statement win Friday when undefeated class A Sayre rolls into Finley Legion Field. The Spartans are currently fourth in the class A RPI rankings, having demolished Eminence, Fort Knox, Dayton and Harlan. They also picked up a 32-24 win over Frankfort. Sayre will be looking to throw...

With week five of the 2021 football season in the books, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association has released RPI rankings for each of the six classes along with individual rankings of players across the state. In class 4A, the 5-0 Corbin Redhounds are ranked third behind Boyle County and Lexington Catholic. Before Redhound nation starts handing out pitchforks and torches to march on the KHSAA, there are few things to consider. Yes, Corbin has stomped each of its opponents by a sizeable margin. Yes, Corbin gets credit for being the only undefeated team remaining in 4A. Corbin is hampered by several of the marquee opponents not playing up to expectations. Franklin County and Pulaski...

As we move into week five of the high school football season where do our local teams stand even though no official standings have been released by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. At 4-0, Corbin is rolling along in class 4A. The Redhounds have outscored their opponents by a combined 156 to 34 and are averaging 39 points a game. Among the other teams in District Seven: Knox Central is 3-1, Wayne County is 2-1, and Lincoln County is 1-3. None of the other teams have statement wins on par with Corbin’s victories over Franklin County and Pulaski County. When you talk 4A football in Kentucky, in addition to Corbin, Boyle County, Franklin...

While the Corbin Redhounds Football team was very impressive in Friday night’s 27-7 win over Franklin County, the entire atmosphere at Campbell Field was even more so because it is exactly what high school football should be under the Friday night lights. The Corbin faithful were out in force, packing not only the bleachers, but along the fencing on Corbin’s side of the field. Franklin County did not disappoint, as plenty of fans made the drive and put a loud crowd on the visitor’s side. The Corbin faithful will have their own opportunity to hit the road and support the Redhounds in a big game Friday night at Pulaski County. At initial glance,...

Though it is still early in their respective seasons, a number of local high school teams are already making some noise, while others have reached the make-or-break point. Coach Tom Greer’s Corbin Redhounds can look in the mirror in a lot of ways to prepare for Friday’s game against the Franklin County Flyers. The Flyers, who also play in class 4A were the 2020 state runner ups, losing to Boyle County. They defeated Johnson Central in the state semi-finals. Franklin County likes to run the ball, but will throw it given the opportunity. In the 61-0 win against Western Hills last Friday, nine different runners touched the ball at least once. But it was running...

If you didn’t get down to Campbell Field Friday night to see Williamsburg play Oneida and/or Corbin play Christ School in the Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic, then I’m here to tell you, believe the hype. Williamsburg and Corbin were both machines in the demolition of their respective opponents, and it was, by whatever definition you choose, a demolition. Jackets’ quarterback Sydney Bowen ran the offense, playing pitch and catch with five different receivers to the tune of 338 yards and five touchdowns, while running for two more scores. Shannon Martin caught five passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns, while Jayden Rainwater caught seven passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns in...

High school golf has teed off, and volleyball, soccer, football and cross country will open their seasons over the next three weeks. Like other areas of Kentucky, and the United States, residents in Whitley County have developed intense loyalties to Corbin, Whitley County and/or Williamsburg. For some it will involve a particular sport during a particular time of year. For others, it doesn’t matter if the Hounds, Jackets or Colonels are playing football, volleyball, basketball, or if they start fielding a Hopscotch, tee ball, or competition Monopoly squad. They will be there, decked out in the school colors and ready to root the team on to victory. Over the last year-and-a-half, the...

Every day I am learning something new about high school sports in the area. When I planned for this week’s sports page to feature soccer previews, I planned on how to cover eight teams, the boys and girls’ teams from Corbin, Lynn Camp, Whitley County and Williamsburg. Then I learned that neither Lynn Camp nor Williamsburg have either soccer team. As two of the smaller schools in the area, it is understandable why not. Adding full-sized soccer teams, which require a minimum of 11 players, would impact the football programs on the boys’ side and the volleyball program on the girls’ side, not to mention the cross country teams. Of the 15 teams associated...