CORBIN — By Les Dixon / Sports Editor

When it comes to playing the best in the Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic, the Corbin Redhounds welcome the state’s best and Saturday’s match-up with No. 1 ranked Boyle County isn’t any different.

The Redhounds will enter the game as big underdogs against the Rebels, who captured the Class 4A state championship last season, while compiling an impressive 31-1 record during their past 32 games.

Larry French’s squad is also riding a 17-game win streak, so the odds are stacked for a Redhound win, right?

Wrong.

If you listen to Boyle County coach Larry French, his Rebels will have to play a perfect game to beat Corbin at Campbell Field — and he may be right. The Redhounds pulled off a big upset a few years back when they knocked off a heavily-favored Rockcastle County squad 42-22 during the Pigskin Classic in 2004 and they almost did the same against Lexington Catholic in 2001 — the loss was later awarded a 1-0 victory because of a Knight forfeit.

“Corbin has a very good football team,” French said. “They are a good, disciplined team. I don’t think it’s going to happen (blow Corbin out). They are going to give us fits. They have a lot of talent.”

But so do the Rebels.

There is a reason they are picked to repeat as Class 4A champs — they return lots of talent.

Boyle County already has wins over Johnson Central (36-29) and Franklin County (51-20). The Rebels are averaging 281 yards on the ground and are led by Chris Cook’s 295 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Devon Cox has 93 yards on the ground this season, while Zach Hester follows with 77.

Quarterback Devon Hale has completed 16-of-26 pass attempts for 205 yards and four touchdowns.

“They are a big, physical and strong team,” Corbin coach Steve Jewell said. “They are very basic at what they do, but they do it really well. Their bread and butter is their offensive and defensive lines. That’s where they win their games. To be honest, they are a complete ball club.

“But that’s what we like here at Corbin, we don’t mind facing challenges,” he added. “And Boyle County is a challenge. This is going to test the character of our kids and I believe we’ll be ready for the test. We will be able to find out where we’re at and we know we’re the obvious underdog, but we’re going to show up and play.”

Corbin looked solid during its first game of the season last week, when the Redhounds ran past Harlan, 52-14.

Jewell’s squad totaled 374 yards on offense, while Matthew Taylor scored four touchdowns in the first half (two rushing, one on a punt return and one on a fake punt) and finished the game with five, while Brady Foley rushed for 112 yards in the game (all in the game’s first 24 minutes) to lead Corbin to the easy 38-point win.

“The big key for us is to score more points than they do,” French said. “They put 52 points on the scoreboard last week, so we know they are going to be ready to play. This is a game where you have two schools that have great football tradition and we hope to be able to go down there and be able to play our ‘A’ game.”

So what does Jewell think about his team’s chances of pulling off the upset?

“I feel like we have a good shot,” he admitted. “I know we have a great game plan. There’s no doubt we obviously have unseasoned kids right now, but I do feel like the kids will play well. We’re going to make mistakes, but we’re hoping to have some good things happen early and have a positive snowball effect. If that happens, I like our chances.”

Game time is slated for 8:45 p.m.

Both Danville (2-0) and Pikeville (1-0) come in unbeaten and will open the Pigskin Classic at 5:45 p.m.

The Admirals have wins over both Mason County (21-14) and Rockcastle County (40-0), while the Panthers defeated Boyd County, 16-7, this past week in the Pike County Bowl.