For the 20th consecutive year, The A.F. Bridges Awards program includes awards for School System Administrator of the Year, Principal of the Year, Athletic Director of the Year, Female Coach of the Year, Male Coach of the Year, Official of the Year, and Contributor of the Year. The awards recognize 63 individuals from across our state that represent what’s best in high school athletics. Recognition was made in the above mentioned categories in each of the nine athletic districts in our state.

Cornersville Athletic Director Eric Crabtree and Bulldog head football coach Gerard Randolph won the awards in Athletic District 6.

“I would not have won this without my coaching staff, they make my job easy,” Crabtree said. “And the people that have been here before me, Spencer Mitchell, Joe Stocstill, and Bob Edens, I just kind of fell in.”

Crabtree is a Marshall County High School graduate and coached Middle School football and high school softball at Cornersville before becoming athletic director.

“We have good coaches here at Cornersville who teach good sportsmanship,” Crabtree said. “They drive that home every day, they know these kids are student athletes first, it’s great to win, but you have to teach how to become good young men and good young ladies.”

Randolph, a Giles County High School graduate came to Cornersville in 2015 and went 3-7 his first season.

“I am very appreciative of this, hats off to my players, my former players, and my coaching staff, this is just a tribute to them,” Randolph said. “They have made me look good and helped me get to this.”

“This is very humbling and I really appreciate this so much and I share it with all of them because they are the reason for this.”

The Bulldogs improved to 5-6 in Randolph’s second season before blowing the top off of all the Cornersville football records in 2017 when the Bulldogs posted a 13-2 record, including 12 straight wins.

“Changing the culture and getting the guys to buy in was the key to our success and when you see that happening, it makes you feel good as a coach,” Randolph said. “These guys give me everything they got each and every day and I love them to death and just appreciate everything they give me and my coaching staff.”

Cornersville won their first-ever region title, first playoff game win, first home playoff win, and made it all the way to the Class A state title game where they lost to 42-21 to Greenback.

If you think that was good, 2018 was even better as the Bulldogs went 14-1 with 14 straight wins, a second region title, and an amazing 10 shutouts in row.

After playing all of its playoff games except the title game at home in 2017, the Bulldogs had to go on the road after their first two postseason wins in 2018.

A tough 13-7 win at Huntingdon in the quarterfinals was followed by a classic at Lake County in the semifinals as the Bulldogs spotted the Falcons an 8-0 lead before scoring 21 unanswered points on a rainy night in Tiptonville to advance to the Class A title for the second year in a row.

Unfortunately, the weather was not good in Cookeville for the title game and the Bulldogs fell 7-6 to Whitwell.

Randolph lost 17 seniors from the storied Class of 2018, including Mr. Football finalist Cameron Whitaker and Mr. Football semifinalist Eli Woodard.

Joining Whitaker and Woodard on The Tennessee Football Coaches Association All-State Football Teams were linebacker CJ Coble and fullback Trenten Warren.

The star-studded team was also honored when Alex Webster, Blake Pickett, Ryan Prosser, Houston Williams, Coble, Peyton Finch, Devin Baus, Ethan Courtemanche, Dylan Baus, Clay Mitchell, Warren, Whitaker, Woodard, and Henlee Mitchell were all named to the All-Region 5A Team.

“It’s just a family affair,” Randolph said about the Class of 2018. “Having them early and all the way through high school is unbelievable.”

“I hated to see them go, my biggest complement to them is I did not want to see them go,” Randolph said. “They were a great group of kids, they enjoyed playing the game and I enjoyed coaching them, they were just a great group to have.”

Randolph and the Bulldogs are currently 6-3 and in the Class A playoffs once again. They play their regular season finale at Zion Christian School on Friday.

“Coach Randolph is by far the backbone of our school to be completely honest with you,” Crabtree said. “He sets the tone for the entire school and does a fantastic job.”

Nominations were made by a Citizenship/Sportsmanship Committee and member schools in each athletic district and the final selection was made by a State Selection Committee.

Bernard Childress, Executive Director of the TSSAA stated, “Being recognized for one of these awards as a school or individual should be seen as one of the highest honors in high school athletics in our state. Those who receive the awards truly reflect what high school athletics should be about, and that’s good sportsmanship and good citizenship.”

The awards will be presented at the Regional meeting on Thursday, November 7 at Hillwood High School at 10 a.m.

Athletic District 6

School System Administrator of the Year

Dr. Cathy Beck, Cheatham County School District

Principal of the Year

Kevin Eady, Hickman County

Athletic Director of the Year

Eric Crabtree, Cornersville High School

Female Coach of the Year

Anna Arnold, Summertown High School

Male Coach of the Year

Gerald Randolph, Cornersville High School

Official of the Year

Eric Bradford

Contributor of the Year

Charles Pulliam, Williamson Herald