The Cornersville Bulldogs went through some growing pains Friday night in the season opener at Frog Bottom, losing 20-17 to the Community Vikings.

“We got punched in the mouth and waited too late, we waited too late,” Cornersville coach Gerard Randolph said. “Mistakes cost us turning the ball over, not executing on offense, and giving up some big third and fourth downs is a recipe for a loss. We have to find a way to fix this on Monday.”

Cornersville had won the four previous meetings with Unionville and is coming off back-to-back runner up finishes in the Class A Blue Cross Bowl, but lost 17 seniors to graduation.

The Vikings outgained the Bulldogs 228-to-141 in the contest and turned the ball over one time while Cornersville had three turnovers.

Cornersville never led in the game, falling behind 14-0 in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs received the opening kickoff, but on the second play from scrimmage they fumbled and Mark Moore recovered the rock at the Cornersville 40-yard line.

The Bulldogs defense held, forcing a three-and-out to force a punt, but the Community defense returned the favor and Cornersville punted the ball back to Unionville with 6:22 remaining in the first quarter.

The Vikings put together an 11-play drive that resulted in a 6-yard TD run by CJ Rivera on a fourth down snap eight seconds in to the second quarter.

Rivera added the two-point conversion run to make it 8-0.

Community came up with a trick play on the ensuing kickoff as they executed a perfect onside kick that was recovered by John Stanley at the Cornersville 35-yard line.

This time the Bulldogs defense came up huge as Devon Massengill put pressure on Community quarterback Zander Monroe, who threw an interception to Jon Estes at the 26-yard line.

The Bulldogs could not turn the turnover in to points as they punted the ball away with 9:02 remaining in the second quarter.

Community took advantage as they marched down the field and scored on a Rivera 33-yard run with 6:17 remaining in the first half.

The PAT pass was incomplete and the Vikings led 14-0.

Massengill dove on another onside kick attempt by the Vikings inside Community territory, but a couple of costly penalties ultimately squashed the drive and the Bulldogs gave the ball back on downs with 3:55 left in the first half.

Community took over the Cornersville 34-yard, but went backwards on a sack and an unsportsmanlike penalty and faced a fourth-and-44 before punting the ball away from their own 4-yard line.

The Bulldogs needed a score bad and after a six-yard run by Brady Calahan on first down, he scampered down the visitor’s sideline for a 27-yard TD on second down and then added a two-point conversion run to make it 14-8 with 1:47 remaining in the first half and that was the score as both teams headed to their respective locker rooms for the halftime break.

Community received the second half kickoff and drove all the way to the Cornersville 21-yard where they faced a fourth-and-two, but the Bulldogs’ defense stuffed the ensuing run and Cornersville took over.

Three plays in to the drive, the Bulldogs fumbled gain and Logan McCool recovered the ball at the midfield stripe with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter.

Eight plays later, Monroe scored on a quarterback scamper to make it 20-8 and the PAT pass attempt was intercepted by Estes with 53 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs could not muster any offense and went three-and-out, but the Cornersville defense held and forced a Community punt with 9:47 left in the contest.

The Bulldogs drove to the Community 25-yard where they were stymied on a fourth down play and gave the ball back to the Vikings with 8:37 remaining in the game.

The Vikings ran the ball three consecutive times to burn time off the clock before punting the ball to Brady Calahan, who came up with a big return down to the Community 27-yard line.

The Bulldogs needed some points to stay in the game and the offense came through as they drove to Community 21-yard line for a first down and another 15 yards for an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Vikings made it first-and-10 at the 6-yard line.

Cason Warner took the handoff on the next snap and bullied his way in to end zone for a touchdown, making it 20-14.

Jackson Williams added the PAT boot with 4:15 left in the game.

Brady Calahan booted the kickoff that was downed at the Community 6-yard line and on a second down play, Eli Welch came up with the defensive play of the game when he wrestled down Blaze Bryson in the end zone for a safety to pull Cornersville within three points at 20-17 with 3:42 remaining in the punt.

Brady Calahan returned the punt after safety 22 yards to the Unionville 38-yard line and five running plays later, the Bulldogs faced a fourth-and-one at the 15-yard line, but Community stuffed the play and took over with 58 seconds left in the game.

Two running plays later, the final horn sounded and the game was over.

“They fought back, but we have to try to keep ourselves out of that position,” Randolph said. “We had opportunities to score, we had touchdowns called back with stupid penalties, we turned the ball over with good field position and you just can’t do that and win a ballgame.”

Cornersville travels to Eagleville for a Week 2 non-conference game while the Vikings host Moore County in a non-region battle.

Eagleville came up with a 19-13 overtime comeback win over Huntland while Moore County outlasted Cascade 21-7.

The Bulldogs shutout Eagleville 41-0 last season after losing three straight to the Eagles, dating back to 2003.

“I hate to say a loss is a good thing, but maybe this is a good thing to get our minds focused and ready to go,” Randolph said. “Believe me, Monday we are going to get back to work, we have some things to get fixed and we will be fine.”

Community 0 14 6 0-20

Cornersville 0 8 0 9-17

Scoring

Second Quarter

Community-CJ Rivera 6-yard run, Rivera 2-pt. PAT run, 11:52.

Community-CJ Rivera 33-yard run, PAT run NG, 6:17.

Cornersville-Brady Calahan 27-yard run, Brady Calahan 2-pt. PAT run, 1:47.

Third Quarter

Community-Zander Monroe 3-yard run, PAT pass NG, 0:53.

Fourth Quarter

Community-Cason Warner 6-yard run, Jackson Williams PAT, 4:15.

Cornersville-Eli Welch safety, 3:42.

Total Yards: Community 228, Cornersville 141.

Rushing:

Passing:

First Downs: Community 11, Cornersville 7.

Turnovers: Community 1, Cornersville 3.

Penalty Yards: Community 10-95, Cornersville 5-45.

Cornersville Offense: Rushing 126, Passing 15.

Rushing: Brady Calahan 10-49-TD, Cason Warner 7-26-TD, Wes Calahan 4-25, Jackson Farler 7-19, Alex Hillard 7-19.

Passing: Jackson Farler 1-9-15-0-0.

Receiving: Brady Calahan 1-9.

Kicking

PAT: Jackson Williams 1-1.

Punting: Cameron Estes 4-137-34.3.

Returns

Punts: Brady Calahan 2-27, Cameron Estes 2-16, Jackson Farler 1-0.

Kickoffs: Brady Calahan 2-82, Devon Massengill 1-for-7, Rhett Woodard 1-0.

Defense

Tackles: Houston Williams 6.5, Dylan Baus 5-5 (1.5 TFL), Rhett Woodard 4.5, Eli Welch 4 (2 TFL), Wes Calahan 4 (TFL), Tracy Wood 3.5 (1.5 TFL), Jackson Mitchell 3, Devon Massengill 3 (2 TFL), Cameron Estes 2 (INT), Trenton Posey 2 (2 TFL), Michael Bungay 2, Alex Hillard 1.5, Cason Warner 1, Tilden Jackson 1.