By Dennis Holley ~ For the Tribune
CORNERSVILLE — The Cornersville Bulldogs (4-1, 1-0) needing to get back on track after the loss to Clay County last Friday night welcomed the Collinwood Trojans (0-4, 0-1) for a Region 5-1A contest on a cloudy, humid with brief showers evening to celebrate Homecoming 2021.
The Bulldogs, despite a lackluster and penalty plagued game on the offensive side of the ball, turned back the Collinwood Trojans 21-0 as the Cornersville defense stood their ground.
Coach Gerard Randolph said, “We put (defensive) pressure on the (Collinwood) quarterback, made him scramble. Our defense stood up to the call and we put some points on the board which allowed us to be even more aggressive on defense. We have some things to fix on offense and if we do, we can play Cornersville football and be successful.”
Quarterback Caden White added, “Our offense did not execute like we should have. I and the team has some work to do to get better.”
Bulldog offensive/defensive lineman Blake Jones said, “Defensively we stood up and played good. We had the young guys like, (Jonathan) Zuniga and (Wesley) Pigg step up for us.”
Cornersville’s defense, led by Rhett Woodard and the emergence of linebacker Wesley Pigg, punished the Trojans runners and harassed the Collinwood quarterback into making hurried throws.
The defense also had a hand in all three scores for the Bulldogs – an interception by Tyler Brockman at mid-field, a fumble recovery at the Trojans 27-yard line by Wesley Pigg and a bad snap to the Collinwood quarterback that was recovered by Barret Powers at the Collinwood 13-yard line.
The Cornersville offense in all three cases scored and for the rest of the game the Bulldog defense kept the Trojans pinned down and with hard hits left Collinwood players sprawled on the ground.
The Bulldogs won the coin toss but deferred to the second half.
The Bulldog defense showing the toughness early on, made the Trojans go three and out, with the Bulldogs after the Collinwood punt, taking over at their own 48-yard line.
The Bulldogs on offense began a pattern that held true the entire game.
Cornersville’s offense was flagged for a penalty which in turn destroyed any continuity needed for the possession to be successful.
Running back Cason Warner said, “On offense we should have started out a little bit faster. We picked it up in the second half. If we can get our offense going like our defense, we will be all right.”
The Bulldogs, for the game, had 10 possessions, with eight of those possessions hampered by penalties of some sort.
These penalties wiped away a five-yard touchdown run by Cason Warner and later, a 45-yard highlight reel dash by Ben Franklin.
The Bulldogs got on the board after Brockman’s interception at midfield with the punishing running of Cason Warner and then quarterback Blaine Woodard found Mason Calahan open down the right side, for a 16-yard TD and with Warner running the two-point conversion into the end zone, at the 10:20 mark of the second quarter the Bulldogs led 8-0.
This score would hold up until the halftime horn sounded and raindrops began to bring out raincoats and umbrellas in the stands.
The Bulldogs received the second half kick-off with Warner taking the ball to the Bulldog 35-yard line.
From there, courtesy of a holding call against Cornersville, the Bulldogs faced a third and 17, which netted a five-yard gain and a Tyler Brockman punt on fourth down.
Brockman’s punt went to the Trojan 31-yard line, but an unsportsman like penalty pushed Collinwood back to its 16-yard line.
Seven plays later Pigg recovered a Trojan fumble and the Bulldogs where in business at the Collinwood 36-yard line.
Six plays later on fourth down at the Collinwood five-yard line, Warner rumbled in for the score but a block in the back negated the score.
Then, quarterback Caden White found wide-out Eli Welch between the cornerback and safety, zipped the ball in and Welch snatched it out of the air and raced untouched into the end zone and even though the kick after missed, the Bulldogs led 14-0.
The Bulldogs with Pigg making plays and his teammates hammering Collinwood, on second and nine, a bad snap to the Trojan quarterback resulted in a fumble recovered by Bulldog Barrett Powers.
Cornersville’s Ben Franklin on first down, ran around the left side for a 13-yard touchdown and Logan Springer drilled the PAT and with 1:13 left in the third quarter the Bulldogs led 21-0.
The Bulldogs defense, for the rest of the game, kept hammering the Trojan offense, then a last defensive stand of the game highlighted the Cornersville defense.
After a Trojan interception at the Bulldogs 25-yard line, Cornersville was deemed guilty of a block in the back penalty that moved the ball to the Bulldog 10-yard line.
But the Bulldog defense continued to apply pressure, highlighted by a first-down tackle by Welch that went for a two-yard loss.
With the pass rush by Woodard and Pigg harassing the Trojan quarterback, the Bulldogs forced Collinwood to make hurried throws that fell incomplete on second and third down.
Welch came through on fourth down and on a quarterback scramble, made the stop after a five-yard gain.
Defensive end Eli Welch stated, “Defensively, we play our best game all year.”
Cornersville took over on downs and ran out the clock.
Cornersville is now 2-0 in Region 5-A and will face Eagleville in another must-win Region 5-A contest next Friday night in Cornersville.
Collinwood 0 0 0 0 — 0
Cornersville 0 8 13 0 — 21
Second Quarter
C — Mason Calahan 16 pass from Blaine Woodard, (Cason Warner 2 pt. run.), 10:20.
Third Quarter
C — Eli Welch 10 pass from Caden White. (Kick failed), 2:17.
C — Ben Franklin 13 run, (Logan Springer kick), 1:13.
Stats: Collinwood C’V
No. of Plays: 50 42.
Total Offense: 81, 167.
Time of Possession: 27:52, 20:08
Rushing Attempts – Yards: 32-(-3) yds, 31-139 yds.
Passing: Completions – Attempts: 7 for 18, 5 for 11.
Passing Yards: 78, 28.
TD-Int: 0-3, 2-1
Fumbles: Lost: 2-2, 3-3
Turnovers: 5, 4.
First Downs: 9, 11.
First Downs - Rushing: 3, 9.
First Downs – Passing: 64 2.
First Downs – Penalties: 2, 0.
Third Down Conversions/Attempts: 4/17 (23.5%), 2/9 (22.2%).
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts: 0/3 (0%), 2/4 (50%).
Penalties – Yards: 9-65 yds., 8-80 yds.
Punt Average: 4 - avg. 20.8 yds, 2 – avg. 23.5 yds.
Cornersville:
Passing: Caden White 2-5, 5 yds, TD, Int.
Blaine Woodard 2-3, 21 yds, TD.
Riley Gillit 1-3, 2 yds.
Rushing: Cason Warner 10-50 yds, Ben Franklin 5-30 yds, TD, Rhett Woodard 7-25 yds, Riley Qualls 3-22 yds, Blaine Woodard 2-14 yds, Caden White 3-0 yds, Mason Calahan 1-(-2) yds.
Receiving: Mason Calahan 3-16 yds TD, Eli Welch 1-10 yds, TD. Cason Warner 1-2 yds.
Defense:
Tackles: Wesley Pigg 6, Riley Qualls 4.5, Eli Welch 3.5, Barrett Powers 3.5, Blake Jones 3.5, Cason Warner 3, Rhett Woodard 3, David Metcalf 2.5, Hunter Fitzgerald 2, Jonathon Zuniga 2, Tyler Brockman 2 Int., Caden White 1, Mason Calahan 1, Bradden Hickman 1, Caden Dunn .5.
Kicking: Logan Springer PAT 1-2.
Punts: Tyler Brockman 1-24 yds avg.
Caden White 1-23 yds avg.
Kick Returns: Cason Warner 1-10 yds.
