Staff Reports
CENTRE – Cherokee County High School senior running back Jacob Cornejo has collected a lot of yards in football games before, but Friday night against eighth-ranked Oneonta topped them all.
Cornejo compiled 420 yards on 26 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns in the second-ranked Warriors’ 49-21 victory in Class 4A, Region 6 action.
Cornejo’s rushing performance is the second all-time rushing performance in school history. It’s also tied for 13th with Hubbertville’s Tommy Haley-Ricks (2008) for the most rushing yards in a game in Alabama High School Athletic Association history.
Parrish’s Tony Dixon holds the record with 531 yards on 21 carries against Hubbertville in an 81-58 victory in 2003.
For the game, the Warriors (4-0, 2-0) churned out 563 yards rushing. Keyshawn Woods added 84 yards on nine totes with three scores.
Cornejo got the Warriors on the board in the first quarter on a 1-yard run. Ben Frampton kicked the first of his seven extra points to give the Warriors an early 7-0 advantage.
Oneonta (2-2, 1-1) responded with Fluff Bothwell’s 8-yard touchdown run. The extra point tied the game at 7. Woods broke the tie with a pair of first-quarter scores on runs of 12 and 7 yards, providing the Warriors with a 21-7 lead.
The Redskins rallied with another Bothwell score – this one on a 64-yard run – to trim Cherokee County’s lead to 21-14 after one.
Bothwell led Oneonta with 146 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns.
The Warriors extended their lead to 35-14 at halftime on a Carson Tittle 32-yard touchdown run and Tae Diamond’s 11-yard score.
Oneonta tried to get back in the game in the third quarter on Landon Abernathy’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Teigan Hill. The point after cut the Redskin deficit to 35-21, but Cornejo and Woods put the game away in the fourth. Cornejo scored his second touchdown on a 73-yard run. Woods capped the scoring with his 41-yard run for the final.
Jace Turner and Tripp Davis both had an interception to help lead the Warrior defense.
Cherokee County hosts Hanceville on Friday. Oneonta takes on Fultondale.