By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

Cherokee County High School football coach Jacob Kelley gets a little skittish when it comes to letting Warrior senior running back Jacob Cornejo and junior defensive lineman Tae Diamond go up against each other in practice at full strength.

It’s kind of like when an immovable object meets up against an unstoppable force.

Kelley knows both Warriors need to be at full strength come Friday nights because they’re both so invaluable.

Every Wednesday throughout football season, Kelley said the Warriors have boar drills as a way to end practice. Occasionally, the two juggernauts faced off against each other, but only for a brief few moments.

“If you’ve got Tae and Jacob going at it, that whistle is going to be really quick,” Kelley joked. “There was one of the Avengers movies, maybe Civil War, where they were fighting each other. I don’t necessarily want to see that every week. I like it better when they all come together to fight the bad guys.”

Cornejo and Diamond have certainly been like superheroes the past two seasons. Both have saved the day on numerous occasions in leading the Warriors to back-to-back Class 4A state title games in 2022 and 2023.

Last season, Cornejo ran for 3,003 yards and 36 touchdowns, both school records. Meanwhile on defense, Diamond delivered 130 total tackles including 33 for loss with 22 sacks and forced four fumbles.

On Tuesday, the dynamic duo was named as repeat finalists for the Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 4A Back and Lineman of the Year respectively. They were also recently chosen for the second consecutive year as the All-Cherokee County Football Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.

For guiding the Warriors to a 13-2 season in 2023, Kelley was again selected as the All-Cherokee County Football Coach of the Year.

Neither Cornejo nor Diamond look at themselves individually as superheroes. They both consider themselves just part of the team.

“Me breaking the (school) records was all because of my teammates and my coaches. They all believed in me and trusted me, and I felt like I needed to provide for them,” Cornejo said. “These records just aren’t my records. They’re team records to me.

“It’s a great way to go out my senior year. I’m glad I got to play with my guys one last time and I’m glad we got to push it to the limit. We were one of the last two 4A teams. It was great.”

“It’s an honor to play with the people I play with,” Diamond said. “We grew up since peewee playing together. We’re like a family. It’s fun. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. I love all of them. They’re all my brothers. It’s just a blessing that all the hard work I put in to get honored for it.”

Kelley calls Cornejo “the ultimate Warrior.”

“You look at some of his runs and the yards after contact. He had double digit yards from broken tackles after initial contact,” Kelley said. “When people get their hands on you or get their pads on you, you would expect the play to almost be done. That’s when the play starts for Jacob. He does have a great line in front of him, but his innate ability to keep off the ground is great.

“I think vision is also great for him, but sometimes he runs at the train and not around the train. Sometimes he might actually be the train. He’s got great vision, great balance. People always dog his speed, but he’s not getting caught a lot. I think he’s a whole lot faster than a lot of people give him credit for, especially in pads.”

While Kelley came to expect Cornejo’s big-play ability on offense, he came to expect the same with Diamond on defense.

“Who else has 42 sacks in two years? That’s a crazy stat, along with the tackles for loss,” Kelley said of Diamond. “From a defensive standpoint, it seemed like whenever we needed a huge stop, 21 (Diamond) was there in some sense, whether he was absorbing a double team or whether he was hitting. He just blossoms. He just does a great job of sensing the ball. He knows a lot of times what offenses are trying to do to him.

“He gets held every single play. I know everybody says ‘they’re holding’ but watch the film and I promise you. The refs can’t call holding on a guy every single play, but he gets held every single play. I’m like ‘Mr. Ref, I know you’ve already called it once, but we’re in the fourth quarter and the last play that guy had his jersey over his helmet.’ It’s not only that but I’ve got to replace these jerseys they’re ripping. I’m like ‘Save me some money.’”

Cornejo agrees with Kelley about Diamond’s knack for finding the football.

“He’s going to make sure to find a way to be a part of the play. If the ball is on the other side he’s going to get to it someway, somehow,” Cornejo said.

While Kelley likens both Diamond and Cornejo to Avengers, Diamond said Cornejo reminds him of another popular movie franchise.

“He’s like a Transformer changing up against people. It’s hard to stop him,” Diamond said. “He does everything so good. I feel like his ability to break tackles is his best strength.”

Finding the football and breaking tackles aren’t the only strengths Diamond and Cornejo possess. Kelley said they’re also both great leaders as well, both in the weight room and on the field. They did everything that was asked of them, including when other players were injured and they had to step up their roles.

“With (quarterback) Carson (Tittle) going down in the playoffs, you’ve got Jacob taking most of the snaps at quarterback. For him to do that and not to have ever done it before really just tells you how versatile and coachable he can be,” Kelley said. “For Tae, it was taking handoffs from somebody who’s not been doing it all year long.

“It’s really kind of amazing we were able to do that in the last couple of games. It bit us a little bit, but I think the heartbeat of the team overcame any of the adversity that we were going to face. They just said we’re going to band together and get it done.

“You talk about two players who are invaluable to the program, it’s those two.”

Joining Cornejo and Diamond from the Warriors on the All-Cherokee County Football Team are Tittle, Alex Johnson, Carson Chesnut, Ben Moseley, Cooper Rodgers, Tristan Brown, Haden Wheeler, Keyshawn Woods, Ben Frampton, Jace Turner, Trip Davis, Caleb Harbour, Alex Loyd, Blake Butts, Antonio Hernandez, Cooper Martin, Landon Ransum, Aidan Watts and Zack Gaylor.

Warrior honorable mention players are Asa Hulbert, Tyson Wood, David Herrick, Dylan Duncan and Luke Young.

Selected from Spring Garden (8-3) were Chapel Pope, John Welsh, Jacob Welsh, Grey Simpson, Connor Bates, Noah Barber, Tanner Ruark, Clayton Sadler, Zane Edwards, Hayes Garmon and Jacob Dempsey. Colton Driskell is an honorable mention.

Representing Cedar Bluff (5-6) is Hunter Stallings, Kadin Fife, Carson Webb, Alex Baty, Kaden Pack, Caleb Edmondson, Eli McFry, Carter Dillingham and Hunter Jenkins. Tiger honorable mention players are Jacob Chambers and Byrann Kinsey.

Chosen from Sand Rock (2-8) are Kane Robison, Gavynn Cunningham, Cam Gifford, Gatlin Cox, Caiden Bullard and Morgan Tucker.

Representing Gaylesville (1-9) is Braden Sharp, Kyler Bradley and Eli Bryson. Trojan honorable mention players are Collin Hendon, Caden Angle, Tanner Hughes and Jack Sentell.