A dropped, wide-open touchdown pass on the opening drive proved to be an early warning sign for Highlands on what became an ominous night in Fort Thomas.
Things continued to spiral and the Bluebirds never found their footing in a 35–21 loss to visiting Corbin in the third round of the KHSAA Class 4A playoffs…a result that stunned a home crowd expecting the favored Bluebirds to advance.
Corbin controlled the game at the line of scrimmage from start to finish, leaning on a relentless ground attack that piled up 347 rushing yards. Outside of their first possessions of each half, the Redhounds were nearly flawless in executing their veer offense, repeatedly sustaining drives and wearing down the Highlands defense. Missed tackles only compounded the Bluebirds’ problems as Corbin consistently turned modest gains into back-breaking plays.
“We didn’t play our A game,” Bluebirds coach Bob Sphire said. “They played their A game. They played a great football game and controlled the football game. They played with tremendous effort and discipline and physicality and we couldn’t get them off the field. Give them credit. They came in with the perfect gameplan and executed it.”
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Rob Lux
Highlands struggled just as much to maintain rhythm on offense. The opening-drive drop was followed by another on third down in the first quarter—one of several missed opportunities that stalled early momentum. Three interceptions, a missed wide-open touchdown throw, and a series of ill-timed penalties further derailed the Bluebirds’ attempts to rally.
Corbin set the tone early with a 53-yard touchdown run from Mason Salmons, then stretched the lead to 14–0 when Salmons converted a fourth-and-21 screen pass to Cole Stevens, who weaved through defenders for a 41-yard score.
“There were plenty of opportunities in this game tonight and not one play I want to focus on,” Sphire said. “If there’s one thing we didn’t do as well tonight as we had all year and that was tackle well. That was very disappointing.”
Highlands briefly climbed back within 14–7 on a three-yard run by Issac Niemann, but the Redhounds’ answer before halftime restored a two-score cushion at 21–7.
The decisive blow came midway through the third quarter. After Highlands failed to convert a red-zone opportunity that could have trimmed the deficit to one score, Corbin responded with a methodical 16-play, 80-yard march that bled more than eight minutes off the clock. Cam Estep capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown, pushing the margin to 28–7 and putting the game firmly in Corbin’s control.
“These kids expect to win,” Redhounds coach Joshua Salmons said. “That’s their mindset. They want to win. They’re gonna do whatever it takes, cramping up, playing hard. And they did it.”
Highlands added two late touchdown passes from Rio Litmer, one to Colt Kremer and another to Cale Harris, but the comeback never truly materialized as Corbin continued to dictate the pace and field position until the final whistle.
The loss ended a Highlands season filled with championship aspirations, as the program hoped to bring a state title back to Fort Thomas for the first time since 2014. For a school with 23 championships in its storied history, the drought now reaches 11 years, extended by a Corbin team that traveled north and delivered a commanding, physical performance few expected.
“I’m so proud of our guys and the season they’ve had,” Sphire said. “I’m disappointed for them that they couldn’t get past this game, but they lost to a really, really good football team tonight. They played a great football game, and that doesn’t take the hurt away. You know, the pain that the seniors in particular feel, and I hate that for them. But our guys kept playing to the last minute. It just wasn’t in the cards tonight.”
The Redhounds play at Boyle County in the semifinals, the Rebels also denying a potential dream state title matchup between Highlands and Covington Catholic. Boyle defeated CovCath, 49-14 on Friday night.
REDHOUNDS 35, BLUEBIRDS 21
CORBIN — 7-14-0-14 — 35
HIGHLANDS — 0-7-0-14 — 21
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(C) Salmons 53-yard run (5:50) Witherington kick
2nd Quarter
(C) Salmons 41-yard pass to Stevens (11:04) Witherington kick
(H) Niemann 3-yard run (6:43) Anderson kick
(C) Person 1-yard run (:42) Witherington kick
4th Quarter
(C) Estep 3-yard run (11:22) Kick blocked
(H) Litmer 10-yard pass to Kremer (8:53) Anderson kick
(C) Estep 2-yard run (4:47) Salmons pass to Estep
(H) Litmer 7-yard pass to Harris (2:36) Anderson kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Corbin 44 (Salmons 2/5, TD) Highlands 161 (Litmer 14/28, TD, 3 INT, Lorenzen 1/2)
Rushing Yards: Corbin 347 (Stevens 19-139, Salmons 17-107, Estep 8-57, Akins 5-38, Person 2-6) Highlands 157 (Lorenzen 9-92, Kremer 11-36, Litmer 5-26, Niemann 1-3)
Receiving: Corbin (Stevens 1-41, Estep 1-11, Akins 1-(minus) 8), Highlands (Kremer 3-58, Garrahan 3-32, Lorenzen 3-25, Jacob 1-22, Feldbrugge 2-16, Harris 1-7, Armstrong 1-1)
Turnovers: Corbin 0, Highlands 3
Penalties: Corbin 10-80, Highlands 7-67
Records: Corbin 10-3, Highlands 10-3