The Cornersville Middle School Bulldogs (2-1) were dealt their first loss of the season on Thursday night when they dropped a hard fought 28-20 decision to an unbeaten Mt. Juliet Christian Academy Saints squad at home.

CMS held an 8-6 advantage at halftime before opening up a 20-12 advantage late in the third quarter, but the Saints (4-0) got the better of the Bulldogs down the stretch and outscored Cornersville 16-0 over the final nine minutes of the contest to take home the eight-point victory.

After averaging 44 points per game in their first two outings of the 2013 campaign, the Bulldogs committed two turnovers and finished with a season low 164 yards of total offense against Mt. Juliet Christian, which included 145 yards rushing on 36 carries.

Unplanned change

With starting quarterback Eli Woodard unable to play because of an elbow injury, Kolbe McMahon filled in admirably for Woodard at QB and rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries while also completing 1-of-3 passes for 19 yards. Darien Bush was the only other Cornersville back to gain positive yards on the ground and rushed for nine yards on seven carries.

The Bulldog defense limited the Saints to just 71 yards rushing on 20 carries and a paltry 121 yards from scrimmage overall , but Mt. Juliet won the special teams battle decisively and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns to offset their offensive struggles.

"I think penalties and mistakes killed us. We had too many turnovers and gave up two touchdowns on kickoff returns. We also had a touchdown called back because of a penalty. Mt. Juliet Christian made fewer mistakes tonight and deserved to win the game," said CMS coach Ray Stocstill. "I was proud of the way the kids fought though and I thought we hit hard on defense."

Stats

Quarterback Alex Pitman accounted for three of the Saints four touchdowns, as he completed 3-of-8 passes for 50 yards and a TD, rushed for 29 yards and a score on six carries, and returned a kickoff 75 yards for six points.

Tristan Mathis also rushed for 20 yards on two carries to go along with one reception for five yards, while Josh Jose toted the ball seven times for 13 yards and caught one pass for 15 yards. Preston Sloan hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass for Mt. Juliet Christian as well.

Adam Qualls and Trenton Warren tallied seven tackles apiece to lead Cornersville's defense with Qualls recording a sack. C.J. Coble also notched six tackles for the Bulldogs, while McMahon, Peyton Finch, and Bush registered three tackles apiece with McMahon recovering a fumble.

After both teams came up empty on their first three drives of the game, the Bulldogs started their fourth offensive series with excellent field position when Qualls blocked a punt by Pitman to set up Cornersville at the Saint 26.

Missed chance

CMS was unable to capitalize on the opportunity, as McMahon had a 26-yard touchdown run negated by a motion penalty before the Bulldogs picked up only one yard on their next three plays.

Although they were forced to kick the ball away, Cornersville managed to pin Mt. Juliet Christian at their own four-yard line thanks to a nice pooch punt by McMahon.

The Bulldog defense set up the offense with tremendous field position once again when Warren jarred the ball loose from Jose a few moments later and McMahon pounced on the fumble at the Saint four-yard line.

McMahon then scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge two plays later before finding Cameron Whitaker in the end zone on the two-point conversion pass to give CMS an 8-0 lead with 2:37 left in the second quarter.

Mt. Juliet Christian quickly counterpunched and put together a six-play, 56-yard touchdown drive, punctuated by a 30-yard TD catch by Sloan, to narrow the gap to 8-6 with :42 left in the half.

MJC catches up

Bush tackled Pitman short of the end zone on the two-point conversion to keep the deficit at two, but the Saints took the lead at the start of the second half when Pitman returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown to stake Mt. Juliet Christian to a 12-8 lead.

After the Saints failed on their two-point conversion attempt, McMahon put the Bulldogs back on top on their ensuing possession by bursting up the middle for a 48-yard touchdown run to make it 14-12 with 5:07 left in the third quarter.

Cornersville then forced a punt by Mt. Juliet Christian before McMahon broke loose for a 35-yard touchdown jaunt on CMS' next offensive series to stretch their lead to 20-12 with 1:15 remaining in the third period.

The Bulldogs lead would prove to be short lived, as Saint lineman Dawson Perry scooped up a short kickoff by CMS and rumbled 52 yards for a touchdown before Pitman ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game at 20-20.

Winning drive

Following a three and out by Cornersville, Pitman raced 30 yards for a touchdown on Mt. Juliet Christian's ensuing drive prior to running in the two-point conversion to put the Saints up 28-20 with 6:50 left in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs then fumbled the kickoff and Noah Michael recovered the ball to give the Saints possession at the CMS 34. Cornersville's defense, however, bowed it's neck and stopped Mt. Juliet Christian on downs with the help of a sack by Qualls.

On their final drive, the Bulldogs advanced from their own 32 to the Saint 27 with the aid of a 19-yard reception by Caleb Crowell and a 22-yard run by McMahon, but picked up just two yards on their next four plays and lost the ball on downs with only :26 left in the game.