The Cornersville Bulldogs put a scare into District 11-A leader Columbia Academy on Friday night, but couldn't keep pace with the Maury County private school down the stretch, as they lost 55-31 to CA on the road after holding a five-point halftime lead.

Although Columbia Academy (6-0, 3-0 District) had won the last three meetings between the two teams and came into Friday's contest ranked sixth in the Class A AP poll, Cornersville had CA on the ropes early on and built a 19-14 lead in the first half.

After Columbia Academy scored two straight touchdowns in the third quarter to seize a 27-19 advantage, the Bulldogs (3-4, 1-2 District) sliced the deficit to 27-25 early in the fourth period.

CA takes over

Cornersville, however, ran out of steam during crunch time, as CA outscored the Bulldogs 28-6 over the final 7:10 to pull away for the 26-point victory.

"We had a couple of guys get hurt in the fourth quarter so we couldn't substitute and just ran out of gas," said CHS coach John Denton. "I'm really proud of the guys though. They played hard and laid it on the line. Overall we played pretty well. It should give us a ton of confidence too. This is the third ranked team that we've faced this season and we played a lot better than we did in the first two games."

Thanks to Friday's triumph, Columbia Academy captured their first District title since 1984, while Cornersville finished third in the conference standings.

Stats

Bolstered by their late offensive surge, CA rolled up 475 yards of total offense overall, which included 328 yards rushing on 50 carries. Rhett Heflin paced Columbia Academy's ground game with 59 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Jacob Adkins also added a 58-yard TD run, while Thomas Garrison and Hunter Primm tallied 49 and 45 yards rushing respectively. Drew Thornton chipped in a pair of touchdown runs for CA as well.

Quarterback Jackson Cary complemented Columbia Academy's rushing attack by completing 10-of-15 passes for 147 yards and three touchdowns to go along with two interceptions. Tyler Thompson was Cary's primary target and hauled in six passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns, while Thornton had four receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown.

Cornersville, conversely, finished with only 207 yards of total offense and committed four turnovers, which led directly to four of CA's eight touchdowns. CHS gained most of their yards on the ground and totaled 161 yards on 42 carries.

Great play

Quarterback Stone Riner almost single handedly kept the Bulldogs in the contest and racked up 358 all-purpose yards. Along with returning two kickoffs for touchdowns, Riner rushed for 120 yards on 17 carries and completed 3-of-7 passes for 46 yards and two touchdowns while tossing two interceptions.

"Stone was out of this world and played great. He made play after play and was the best player on the field. He was phenomenal tonight," said Denton.

Senior wide out Tyler Lowery accounted for three of Cornersville's five touchdowns, as he caught two passes for 42 yards and two TDs while also adding a two-yard scoring run. After rushing for 252 yards against Columbia Academy last year, junior running back Chance Dyer was held in check by CA on Friday and was limited to 37 yards on 19 carries.

CA took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 22-yard TD catch by Thornton, but the Bulldogs tied the game at 7-7 a few moments later when Riner returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a TD while Ivan Gutierrez tacked on the extra point.

Staying close

After Devante Spencer picked off a Cary pass deep in CHS territory to snuff out a Columbia Academy scoring threat, Thornton intercepted a pass by Riner to set up CA at the Bulldog 19. Heflin then scored on a five-yard touchdown run three plays later to put Columbia Academy up 14-7 with 7:37 left in the second quarter.

Cornersville mounted an immediate response and put together a 15-play, 82-yard scoring drive that was punctuated by a 32-yard touchdown catch by Lowery to narrow the gap to 14-13 late in the first half.

Although CHS failed on the extra point attempt, Spencer picked off another pass by Cary and returned it 35 yards to set up the Bulldogs at the CA 19 with :38 left in the half. Lowery then caught a 10-yard TD pass from Riner two plays later to stake Cornersville to a 19-14 lead at the break.

Columbia Academy pulled back ahead early in the second half when Cary hit Taylor Thompson for a 30-yard touchdown strike with 7:00 minutes left in the third quarter to give CA a 20-19 advantage.

Following an exchange of punts, Columbia Academy recovered a Bulldog fumble at the CHS 29 before Thornton scored on a 14-yard touchdown jaunt to make it 27-19 late in the third quarter.

Cornersville quickly counterpunched and whittled the deficit to 27-25 thanks to a two-yard TD scamper by Lowery early in the fourth quarter after Riner broke loose for a 73-yard run four plays earlier.

CA fired right back and stretched their lead to 34-25 when Thompson caught a 14-yard TD pass with 7:10 left to cap an 11-play, 73-yard scoring drive.

The game then began to get away from the Bulldogs after that point, as Heflin picked off a Riner pass on Cornersville's ensuing possession and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown to stake Columbia Academy to a 41-25 lead.

The turnover bug bit the Bulldogs again a few moments later when CA recovered a Cornersville fumble at the CHS six-yard line before Thornton plowed into the end zone from four yards out to push Columbia Academy's lead to 48-25 with 5:24 left.

Riner then weaved his way for a 92-yard touchdown return on the kickoff to close the gap to 48-31, but Adkins broke loose for a 58-yard TD run on CA's next offensive series to cap Columbia Academy's 55-31 victory.