The Cornersville Bulldogs (4-1, 1-1) hit the road to Murfreesboro to take on the Division-II, Class A - East Region foe, Middle Tennessee Christian School (2-3, 2-1) on Friday night.

The Bulldogs, on the final leg of a road trip that included a win over GCA and a Covid-19 forfeit win over Mt. Pleasant fought a tough MTCS defense and came away with a 13-7 win.

“We faced a good MTCS team with a good quarterback and good receivers,” Cornersville coach Gerard Randolph said. “Their defense is real good, but I am proud of my guys for fighting all the way.”

“We were fortunate to come out with a win tonight.”

Cornersville was led by Cason Warner’s 18 carries for 133 yards and a defense, led by linebacker Rhett Woodard, who tallied 11.5 tackles, showcasing a Bulldog defense that brings hard hitting and aggressiveness on every play.

The Bulldogs won the toss and elected to defer to the second half.

The Cougars, after an out-of-bounds kickoff that placed the ball on the MTCS 35-yard line, began play with a false start penalty.

Penalties plagued MTCS the entire night as the officials flagged the Cougars 11 times for 80 yards.

Righting the ship, the Cougars moved the ball down field, but two more offensive penalties brought up a third-and-19 play from the MTCS 49-yard line where quarterback Aden Hooper’s pass deflected off his receivers’ hands to force a punt.

The Bulldogs showcased their running attack on their first possession and Cason Warner carried the load for 23-yards on four carries before the drive stalled and Cornersville’s Tyler Brockman punted to the MTCS 15-yard line.

On second down, Woodard tackled Cougar running back Eli Wilson for a nine-yard loss and after a Hooper pass to Harrison Gant got some of the yardage back, the Cougars were forced to punt.

A high snap went over the head of MTCS punter Hunter Harris and the ball sailed into the end zone and with Bulldogs and Harris scrambling for the ball, Harris picked the ball up and tossed it out of play for a Cornersville safety, putting the Bulldogs on the board 2-0.

Cornersville took over on the Cougars’ 40-yard line for their second possession.

The Bulldogs like the Cougars, moved the ball, but a personal foul penalty and a fumble recovered by Warner slowed the attack.

On first-and-10 from the MTCS 27-yard line, Bulldog quarterback Jackson Farler’s pass was intercepted in the end zone and the Cougars took possession at their own 20-yard line.

The drive by MTCS was once again hampered by penalties and the Cougars punted back to the Bulldogs.

Cornersville’s broke out the “Wildcat” formation featuring Brady Calahan and the ground game came alive, moving the ball downfield where Calahan swept around the left side from the 9-yard line for the touchdown.

Warner, carrying Cougars on his back, plunged over for the two-point conversation, putting the Bulldogs up 10-0 with 5:40 left until halftime.

A bright spot for the Bulldogs was Ben Franklin, a freshman special teamer, who nailed the Cougars’ kick returner on the ensuing kickoff.

Woodard and the Bulldog defense kept the MTCS offense in check so that when Cornersville got the ball back, the “Wildcat” formation paid off again as kicker Jackson Williams nailed a 32-yard field goal that split the uprights and the halftime horn sounded with Bulldogs in the lead 13-0.

The Bulldogs and Cougars played a scoreless third quarter dominated with fierce defense on both sides that saw hard licks and tempers flaring.

Woodard and his mates stopped the Cougars and MTCS defense did the same on their side of the ball.

At the 8:38 mark of the final quarter, MTCS finally got going with an 18-play drive that ended with a Hooper pass to Jonathon Burns for a touchdown and Harris’s PAT was good, cutting the Cornersville lead to 13-7 with 2:53 left in the game.

On that drive Woodard had four tackles, and on the ensuing onside kick by the Cougars, who else but Woodard recovered the ball.

The Bulldogs ran the clock out and celebrated a hard-fought victory that pushed their record to 5-1.

Woodard, who plays both sides of the ball said after the game, “On the onside kick, the ball was wet and slick, but I held on.”

“I thought we played a good game, I thought we should have held them (scoreless) and I felt we should have scored after the half, but we held on for the win.”

Asked if the layoff from the forfeited game hurt his team Randolph said, “No, not really, we made some mental errors and some silly mistakes that we usually don’t make so we will have to take care of those.”

The ninth-ranked Bulldogs return to the friendly confines of Frog Bottom Friday night for homecoming and a crucial Region 5-A contest against the third-ranked Fayetteville City Tigers.

Cornersville 2 11 0 0-13

MTCS 0 0 0 7-7

Scoring plays:

First Quarter

Cornersville – Safety, 2:20.

Second Quarter

Cornersville – Brady Calahan 3-yard run (Cason Warner run), 5:40.

Cornersville – Jackson Williams 32-yard field goal, 0.01.

Fourth Quarter

MTCS – Jonathan Burns 15-yard pass from Aden Hooper (Hunter Harris kick), 2:53.

Stats CV, MTCS

Number of Plays: 48, 44

Total Offense: 245, 182

Time of Possession: 30:09, 17:51

Rushing Attempts – Yards: 41- 226, 17- 56

Passing: Completions – Attempts: 5-7, 11-27

Passing Yards: 19, 126

Passing: Touchdowns – Interceptions: 0-1, 1-1

Fumbles – Lost: 4-1, 0-0

Turnovers: 2, 1

First Downs: 15, 21

First Downs – Rushing: 10, 2

First Downs – Passing: 1, 10

First Downs – Penalties: 2, 6

Third Down Conversions/Attempts: 4/10(40%), 5/16 (31.3%)

Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts: 1/1 (100%), 1/1 (100%)

Penalties – Yards: 7-55, 11-80

Defensive Sacks – Yards: 1 – 0, 0 - 0

Punts – Average: 4- 34.3, 6 – 23.7

Cornersville Offense

Rushing: Cason Warner 18-133, Brady Calahan 16-46-TD, Alex Hillard 4-28, Jackson Farler 3-19.

Passing: Jackson Farler 5-7-19-0-INT.

Receiving: Alex Hillard 2-19, Tanner Edwards 1-5, B. Calahan 1-5, Garrett Alder 1-10.

Cornersville Defense

Tackles: Rhett Woodard 11.5, Garrett Alder 5, Barrett Powers 3, Riley Qualls 2.5, Eli Welch 2, Tyler Brockman 2, Hunter Fitzgerald 1, Cason Warner 1, Ben Franklin 1, Wesley Pigg 1, Alex Hillard 1 (INT).

Kicking

PAT: Jackson Williams 1-1.

Field Goals: Jackson Williams 1-1-32.

Punts: Tyler Brockman 3-104, Jackson Farler 1-33.

Returns

Punts: Brady Calahan 1-14.

Kickoffs: Riley Qualls 1-0, Brady Calahan 1-5.