By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
CENTRE – One thing that makes Cherokee County High School senior running back Jacob Cornejo such a talented running back is he protects the football.
But on just his second carry of the game Friday night against Alexandria, he lost the ball as he was hitting the ground. Alexandria recovered the ball deep inside its own territory at the 24-yard line, dodging an early punch from last year’s Class 4A state runner-up.
It was just the kind of break the young Valley Cubs needed if they were to have a shot at winning. But two plays later, Alexandria senior quarterback Ty Barker was intercepted by Warrior senior defensive back Haden Wheeler at the 41. The pick led to the Warriors’ first touchdown, a 20-yard run by sophomore running back KeyShawn Woods.
Following the early momentum shift, it continued to stay with the second-ranked Warriors. They took a 34-point halftime lead and cruised to a 48-14 victory in the 2023 season opener for both teams.
The game was the first meeting between the two schools since 2015. It’s the Warriors’ first win over the Valley Cubs since a 29-23 decision back in 2013, and it’s the largest margin of victory Cherokee County has had over Alexandria in 42 meetings.
The Valley Cubs still hold a 28-14 overall series lead that dates back to 1925.
“It definitely put us on our toes after (the fumble) happened. I take the blame for it fully,” said Cornejo, who ran for 150 yards on 14 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns. “I feel like my knee was down, but it’s still going to go down on the stat sheet as a fumble.”
Cherokee County head coach Jacob Kelley wasn’t surprised Cornejo and the Warriors were able to bounce back from the early turnover.
“They’re mentally tough enough to be able to handle a sudden change or adverse situations,” he said. “We’ve kind of been there before. We just haven’t there in ’23 yet.
“His elbow was down, but in a sense, you can learn a lot from a play like that. I thought our defense was lights out, especially early on. The pads were popping. We preach fast and physical for 48 (minutes). Alexandria is a tough, gritty, football-tradition community. They’re hard nosed. We haven’t had a lot of success at all against this bunch. Our overall series record against them is horrendous. It was great to see.”
Valley Cub head coach Todd Ginn agreed the Warriors were “more physical and mentally more prepared than we were.”
“A lot of that is me,” Ginn said. “We get that momentum, that fumble. If we go down and score there, you may be looking at a different game, but then we throw the interception and they go the other way. I was really disappointed at that point. We went down 21-0, and instead of staying the course and responding, we laid down.”
As Ginn eluded, the Warriors scored touchdowns on their next five possessions to take a 34-0 advantage following Cornejo’s fumble. Cornejo scored his first on a 2-yard run near the end of the first quarter to go up 14-0.
Things got even worse for Alexandria.
The Valley Cubs were putting together their most substantial drive early in the second quarter behind junior running back Elijah Hunter. But on a fourth-and-2 near midfield, Hunter was stuffed for a 2-yard loss by the Warrior defense. Hunter was also injured on the play and didn’t return to action.
The Warriors capitalized on the turnover on downs. Junior quarterback Carson Tittle tallied another Cherokee County touchdown on a 37-yard scramble. Following Ben Frampton’s extra point, the Warriors led 21-0 with just under nine minutes remaining until halftime.
Following an Alexandria punt, junior Tae Diamond darted 69 yards for another Warrior score. He finished with 89 yards on just four carries.
Cornejo recovered a Valley Cub fumble on their ensuing possession, which led to a 14-yard touchdown run by Warrior junior quarterback Carson Chesnut just before halftime.
“Dad (hall of fame coach Larry Ginn) used to say nothing is ever as good as it seems and nothing is ever as bad as it seems. Tonight, I can’t imagine a half that I’ve seen of Alexandria football that was worse than what we played the first half,” Todd Ginn said.
“Centre’s got a really good team, but I think we made them a lot better than they really are. We didn’t make them throw it at all. That’s bad on our part. That’s one thing we should be able to go into a game and at least make them do something. That’s why I’m disappointed. We didn’t make them do anything other than what they wanted to do.”
The Warriors kept pouring it on in the second half. Four straight Cornejo runs to open the third quarter resulted in his 1-yard score. Senior defensive back Jace Turner later picked off another Barker pass and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown, giving the Warriors a 48-0 advantage after three quarters.
“Our defense got chewed out after Scottsboro (in a 14-9 scrimmage win last week). We did not do what we were supposed to do,” Cornejo said. “We watched a lot of film and we did a lot of preparation, a lot of defensive stuff. I feel like our defense was the better part of our game.”
Alexandria did have some life about it in the fourth. Eighth grade backup quarterback Monqrea Morris Jr. scored on a 1-yard run with 10 minutes to go. Junior backup running back Aiden Christopher added an 8-yard touchdown run with 3:15 to go for the game’s final touchdown.
Christopher led Alexandria with 56 yards on nine carries and a score.
“I think we knew going in that we had to have some young guys play this year,” Todd Ginn said. “We’re rebuilding and we’ve got to have some young guys play. We just hope the older guys, just to be honest, come along for the ride. If they’re not going to put out and give all they’ve got, then our younger guys are going to take their place.”
Kelley said the win “was good for us” heading to Class 3A, No. 2 Piedmont next week.
“We’ve still got a lot to work on, but as far as playing to our standard, I feel like the guys did that tonight.”