Photo courtesy of Phillip Pullen Ben Franklin bursts through the Huntland defensive front and picks up a few yards. He finished with three more rushing touchdowns.
Post Photo by Dennis Holley Austin Cooper makes a dash forward on a short gain.
Post Photo by Dennis Holley Quarterback Blaine Woodard peels out of the pocket and looks downfield for a pass. Woodard threw three touchdown passes in Friday’s win.
By Dennis Holley
Sports Writer
HUNTLAND — The Cornersville Bulldogs (5-3, 2-2) loaded up the buses and headed eastward on Highway 64 for a chance to solidify a third-place finish in region 5-1A against the Huntland High School Hornets (2-6, 1-3).
The Bulldogs came off a bye week, and despite penalties and at times sloppy play on both sides of the ball, parlayed a three-touchdown lead at the halftime horn into a penalty-plagued second half and came away with a 42-7 victory.
That win, coupled with a Collinwood loss at Wayne County, left second-place in the region up in the air and now a Cornersville victory Thursday night at Eagleville and a Huntland win against Collinwood would put the Bulldogs in second place and a home game for the opening round of the Class 1 A state playoffs.
The Hornet defense did its job holding Bulldog running back Ben Franklin to 105 yards on 18 carries, but quarterback Blaine Woodard picked up the slack as the senior completed 10-of-16 passing attempts with three touchdown passes.
Cornersville senior Beau Schillig continued to be a dependable receiver as he hauled in three passes for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Hunter Uland caught a 79-yard bomb for a touchdown and Austin Cooper, back from an injury, caught two passes for 13 yards and a touchdown as the Bulldog passing attack has continued to evolve.
On defense, the Bulldogs continued playing at a high level paced by Franklin, Kale Adcox, who had an interception and a fumble recovery, Woodard, Wesley Pigg and Jack Welch.
The Hornets won the coin toss and elected to defer until the second half and Cornersville’s Brandon Hargrave fielded the ball and advanced it to the Bulldog 23-yard line.
The Bulldogs using Franklin as a battering ram moved the ball with the occasional pass to the Hornet 22-yard line where on second down and 10, Woodard rolled right and found Schillig open at the goal line and the senior hauled the ball in and Joseth Palma booted the PAT and with 6:14 left in the first quarter the Bulldogs led 7-0.
The Hornets took the Bulldog kickoff and began at their own 23-yard line but on third down the Hornets pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and Bulldog cornerback Adcox intercepted the ball and took it to the 3-yard line.
As the players were untangling, one player for Cornersville, Trenton Walker, did not get up and what followed for the next 20 minutes brought a stunned silence from both sides of the stands.
Medical personnel came on the field and with most care the Cornersville player was placed on a board, lifted to the stretcher, and rolled off the field.
As he exited the field, with his head and neck stabilized, Walker raised his hand to let all know he was alert.
After 20 minutes play resumed and despite penalty flags on both sides, Franklin dashed across the goal line, and after two more penalties the 2-point conversion was no-good.
With 4:27 left in the first quarter the Bulldogs led 13-0.
The Hornets took the following kickoff and methodically moved downfield, but on fourth and three from the Bulldog 18-yard line, a Hornet fumble was recovered by Franklin and the Bulldogs took over.
On second down from the 21-yard line Woodard dropped back, heaved a long throw downfield where Hunter Uland had a step on the Huntland defender, caught the ball in stride at the Hornet 43-yard line and headed toward the pylon and outraced everybody.
When Cornersville went for the 2-point conversion, Schillig grabbed the Woodard pass to the back of the end zone and the Bulldogs with 9:08 until halftime led 21-0.
“It was awesome, that’s the first time I ever caught a big touchdown pass in my life. It was awesome,” Uland said.
After the kickoff from their own 27-yard line, Huntland quarterback Evan Keller found Jarren Kinslow open on the right sideline and senior outran the Bulldog defense, Grant Morris kicked the PAT and with 9:08 left in the second quarter the Bulldogs now led 21-7.
The Bulldogs and Hornets exchanged possessions but with about four minutes left until halftime Cornersville began a drive and despite several penalties moved the ball to the Hornet 3-yard line where Franklin roared across the goal line with 5.2 seconds until halftime. Palma’s PAT was good, and the Bulldogs went into the dressing room ahead 28-7.
The third quarter was scoreless even though penalty flags still flew against both teams but a play on defense by Franklin illustrated his ferocious ability on defense as he tore through the Hornet offensive line applying pressure on the Huntland quarterback and as he threw the pass, Franklin tipped the ball into the air and it settled into the hands of Jack Welch for the Bulldog interception.
The fourth quarter saw the Bulldogs again driving, despite more penalties, and from the 3-yard line Franklin ran through the Hornet line, Palma kicked the PAT and with 11:16 left in the game the Bulldogs led 35-7.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Hornets fumbled, and the Bulldogs were in business.
On first down from the 11-yard line, Woodard found Cooper open and the junior running back gathered the pass in and scored and with Palma’s kick the Bulldogs now led 42-7.
That lead stood and the Bulldogs improved to 6-3 and more importantly to 3-2 in region 5-1A and a solid third-place, with the possibility of second place.
“Look, there is nothing as much fun as the playoffs. I told the team that and warned them, be the better man and walk away from trouble to play again. They (Huntland) played Ben well. Their linemen were small and fast, and they kept hitting the gaps. We will have our hands full at Eagleville. They play a spread offense, and they usually have a good quarterback to execute it,” Bulldog coach Eliot Cook said.
Woodard echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“I felt the week off caused us to come into the game not focused and a little lackadaisical, it carried over so it is something we definitely will fix heading into next Thursday night,” Woodard said.
The Bulldogs will travel to Eagleville on Thursday night for the final regular season game of the year.
Cornersville 13 15 0 14 — 42
Huntland 0 7 0 0 — 7
First Quarter
C — Beau Schillig 22 pass from Blaine Woodard, (Joseth Palma kick), 6:14.
C — Ben Franklin 5 run, (2pt. conversion failed), 4:27.
Second Quarter
C — Hunter Uland 79 pass from Woodard (Schillig 2pt. pass from Woodard), 9:29.
H — Jarren Kinslow 73 pass from Evan Keller, (Grant Morris kick), 9:08.
C — Franklin 3 run, (Palma kick), 0:05.
Fourth Quarter
C — Franklin 3 run (Palma kick), 11:16.
C — Austin Cooper 11 pass from Woodard, (Palma kick), 10:53.
