Strong Start

Bulldogs outmuscle rival Richland in opener

By Chris Siers ~ sports@t-g.com
Posted 8/19/21

CORNERSVILLE — It became clear to Cornersville coach Gerard Randolph early on in Thursday night's Battle of Buford Station that Richland had sold out on stopping senior fullback Cason …

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Strong Start

Bulldogs outmuscle rival Richland in opener

Posted

CORNERSVILLE — It became clear to Cornersville coach Gerard Randolph early on in Thursday night's Battle of Buford Station that Richland had sold out on stopping senior fullback Cason Warner.

With the Raiders keying on Warner, that opened up the playbook for Ben Franklin to have a breakout night—and did he ever.

The sophomore bulldozer rushed for 199 yards and three touchdowns in the Bulldogs' 31-7 romp over Richland.

“I'm very proud of that kid and the way he ran the ball tonight. He works hard in practice every day. I'm just glad he (Franklin) got the opportunity to showcase his talents tonight. We knew he could be a force and he stepped up big when we needed him tonight,” Randolph said.

With torrential rains drowning the greater Cornersville area earlier in the afternoon, the field became a sloppy mud pit, creating all the more opportunities for miscues by both teams.

Having deteriorating field conditions, it took a while for the Bulldogs to gain momentum on the offensive side of the ball.

Cornersville's first drive of the night ended in a three and out punt barely 1:15 into the game.

The second drive, however, ended a 15-play drive with a 31-yard field goal by Mason Calahan with 11:40 left in the first half.

With both teams struggling to establish the run through the remainder of the quarter, Cornersville forced a Raider punt with 3:24 left in the second quarter, giving the Bulldogs decent field position in the closing minutes of the half.

Two carries by Warner set the Bulldogs up first and 10 from the Raider 47-yard line.

Breaking free

On the third play of the drive, Franklin found a crease in the line and found an extra gear once he hit the defensive secondary.

He finished the run on a 47-yard dash up the middle for the first touchdown of the night with 1:57 left in the first half.

“The offensive line did a really good job tonight. We faced some adversity early. They were keying in on Cason and didn't want him to beat them. When Ben got the opportunity, the offensive line opened up holes and made good for us,” Randolph said.

While the kick attempt after failed, Richland looked poised on the first drive of the second half and promptly picked up a first down on a scramble by Sam Edwards.

The very next play, Cornersville linebacker Riley Qualls picked off Richland quarterback Bryce Miller on the 43-yard line.

Three plays later, Franklin notched his second score of the night—a 36-yard trot to the end zone with 8:44 left.

Warner tacked on the successful two-point conversion to give the home team a 17-0 lead with 8:44 remaining in the third.

The momentum from the second Bulldog touchdown of the night was short-lived as Richland's Ethan Workman took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to the house to end the shutout bid.

Penalties hurt 

Leading 17-7, the next Bulldog drive was plagued by several penalties that backed Cornersville up to a second and 55 to go from their own 14-yard line.

After punting, Cornersville's defense forced a turnover on downs after Richland attempted a fake punt that set the Bulldog offense up on the Richland 35-yard line.

Warner finished off the following drive, finally breaking into the end zone on a six-yard outside run with 9:33 left in the game.

He successfully ran in his second two-point conversion, putting Cornersville up 25-7.

From there, it became a feast of riches as the Bulldog secondary recorded its third interception of the night, courtesy of Blaine Woodard.

That following drive needed just three plays for Franklin to cap his hat trick with a 21-yard strike for the final touchdown of the night.

In total, Franklin was the spark plug for the offense and recorded 199 yards on 15 carries.

Warner added 27 yards on 18 carries.

Quarterback Caden White attempted just four passes, but connected with Rhett Woodard on a 34-yard gain in the first half.

As a team, Cornersville piled up 292 yards of offense, with 258 coming on the ground.

Shutdown 'D'

Defensively, Richland managed just 95 yards of total offense against the stingy Bulldog defense.

That effort on the defensive side of the ball, according to Randolph, came from a perhaps overlooked secondary, which has been fuel to the fire.

“We've been talking about the secondary all year. People throw on us because they think we can't defend. We've taken it personally. We want to defend and get turnovers in the secondary. I'm very proud of how the secondary played tonight,” he said.

Miller completed just 5-of-19 tries for 49 yards with three interceptions.

In addition to the three interceptions by the Bulldog defense, Warner recorded six solo tackles, including a tackle for loss, while Hunter Fitzgerald chipped in four.

Logan Springer added the team's lone sack of the night.

While there was plenty of positives to take away from Thursday night's opener, Randolph says there's still plenty to clean up before a Week 2 meeting against arch-rival Forrest.

Cornersville was flagged eight times for 80 yards in the opener and had to work around several botched snaps as well.

“Those are things we can fix and we will definitely work on those this week. We can't keep going through the season and keep doing things like that,” he said.

Rivalry victory

While any win is a good win, Thursday night's rivalry win over Richland meant just a little more to Randolph and his team.

“This is a big win for us. Richland—it's a rivalry game. No love lost here. They came to play and we came to play. You never know what you're going to get out of a rivalry game like this. I'm definitely thrilled to come out with a win tonight,” he said.

With one rivalry game in the books, the Bulldogs now turn their attention to the north end of the county against arch-rival Forrest.

“I know they're coached up well. We'll have to bring our A-game, cut out a bunch of penalties we had tonight and do what Cornersville football does and that's play fast, physical and aggressive,” Randolph said.

The Bulldogs will kick off next Friday night at Forrest.

Richland 0 0 7 0 — 7

Cornersville 0 9 8 14 — 31

Second Quarter

C — Mason Calahan 31 field goal, 11:40.

C — Ben Franklin 47 run, (kick failed), 1:57.

Third Quarter

C — Ben Franklin 36 run, (Cason Warner 2pt. run), 8:44.

R — Ethan Workman 80 kick return, (Andrew Huff kick), 8:30.

Fourth Quarter

C — Warner 6 run, (Warner 2pt. run), 9:33.

C — Franklin 21 run, (kick failed), 5:55.

The Yard Stick

                                                     Richland                                 Cornersville

Total offense                                 95                                               292

Passing                                            49                                              34

Rushing                                           46                                              258

Receiving                                       49                                              34

Penalties                                         1-5                                             8-80

Turnovers                                      3                                                 0

Third-down conversions         3/11                                         7/13