[Old School Hound]

I always have looked forward to Corbin-Pikeville football games. Pikeville has always played bigger than their 1A designation. Much to Hoot Gibson's chagrin, Pikeville is a school that competes well with the bigger boys and there is much historical precedence to support that. Let's look at a brief history of the times that the Hounds of Corbin have knocked heads with little beast from the east, the Pikeville Panthers.


Corbin and Pikeville have played ten times, with Corbin winning seven of those ten.  Eight of those ten games were in my lifetime, with several of them being while I attended Corbin High School, so I remember the games well. Six of the ten games have been played at Corbin, with four being held in Pikeville.  Corbin and Pikeville had never met up until the 1956 season, when Coach Bill Tucker and the Redhounds welcomed Pikeville to Campbell Field. The homestanding Hounds came away with a 34-19 win in the inaugural game between the schools. Corbin , under the legendary Walt Green,  returned the favor the following year and went to Pikeville. It wasn't much of a favor for the Panthers, as Green's Hounds souplexed the Panthers 62-0 .

After the '57 debacle , the two schools didn't play again for twenty years.  Fast forward to the Hounds heyday under the great , Archie Powers.  Powers' Hounds welcomed Pikeville to Corbin in 1977 in the state AA state semifinals. The Hounds were coming off a state championship in '76 over Mayfield and were hoping to advance to Hangar Field in Richmond for a shot at back-to-back titles. The Hounds did , in fact, advance by beating the Panthers 27-7. This game would mark the first of three straight games between the two that would occur in the AA state semis.

Two years later, in 1979 , Corbin again welcomed the Panthers to Campbell Field in the state semis. This was a Corbin team that I remember feeling like was state championship bound.  Corbin had a stretch in '79 when they recorded six straight shutouts, with only a strong Churchill , TN team being able to score on Corbin. I was very confident in the Hounds' chances against Pikeville in the '79 game. In fact, I thought we'd win convincingly. Turns out, I needed a wakeup call. I got one.  Pikeville completely shutdown the Hounds offense, posting their own shutout, 16-0

The following year, 1980, Corbin returned to Pikeville for the first time since the 62-0 pasting of the Panthers in '57.  It wasn't 62-0 this time but it was convincing, a 42-13 Corbin win in the state semifinal affair. The Hounds would go on to Cardinal Stadium the following week and win another state championship, beating Fort Campbell.

A home and home series in '84 and '85 saw the two schools split two games, with Pikeville winning 27-10 at the W.C. Hambley Sports Complex  and Corbin winning 43-8 at Campbell Field the following year. Pikeville's most lobsided win in the series occurred in 2005, when the Panthers shutout Steve Jewell's Hounds 34-0.  Both times that Pikeville came to Corbin and won they held the Hounds scoreless. 

Corbin would return to Pikeville in 2008, for what has turned out to be their last trip to the home of the Panthers.  Jewell's Hounds came away 23-15 winners in '08. The schools did not meet again until 2022 , when Pikeville came to take on the Hounds in the Pigskin Classic. The Hounds came back from an early two score deficit to win 24-19.

And now we pull the curtain up on the Luke Salmons era. Coach Salmons begins his Corbin tenure in style, hosting the Hounds old AA rival from the '70's. It should be a dandy. If you're not there to see it at the new $13 million complex on the banks of Lynn Camp Creek on August 23, you're gonna miss something special. There's no place I'd rather be in Kentucky on that evening. Hope to see you there.


Series record:  7-3 in favor of Corbin.   Corbin has won 3 of 4 at Pikeville  and 4 of 6 at Corbin.  Total points scored in the series is 265-158 in favor of Corbin.