Mt. Pleasant was a cause of irritation to the Cornersville Bulldogs with some braggadocio leading up to Friday night’s Region 5-A showdown in the Sundrop Bowl in Maury County.

The Tigers should have bit their tongues as the Bulldogs rolled in and then rolled over Mt. Pleasant 48-0 to record their fourth shutout in a row.

“This defense has a bunch of upperclassmen and everybody is flying around to the ball and making heads pop when they get there,” Cornersville senior linebacker C. J. Coble said. “They had very good athletes, but every time our ‘D’ line squeezed, they got the holes shut down and we were able to fill the hole and run the alleys to make the tackles.”

Third-ranked Cornersville (5-0, 3-0) has destroyed their last four opponents 178-0 with an overall season scoring differential at 43.8 points per game to 4.

“Our offense has been clicking and it’s nice to put up 40 points every game, but the spotlight I want to put on our team is our defense,” senior quarterback Henlee Mitchell said. “That’s four straight shutouts and the varsity defense has not given up a point this year, it’s crazy, they are the ones leading us to where we want to go.”

Cornersville outgained the Tigers 307-102 and held standout running back Zyshon Alderson to just 60 yards on 20 rushing attempts.

Adding to Mt. Pleasant’s misery was an unbelievable performance by Cornersville’s all-purpose star Cameron Whitaker, who etched his name in the record books with a quadruple touchdown performance, scoring on a rush, a pass reception, a punt return, and a fumble recovery that accounted for half of the Bulldogs’ points.

“They wanted a show, so we gave them a show,” Whitaker said. “We didn’t let up, we pounded the ball down their throat every play.”

“We are trying to get everyone to respect us and I think we got a lot of respect tonight.”

Mitchell continued his solid play on the season, tossing a 37-yard touchdown pass to Whitaker and a 70-yard bomb to Blake Pickett, while Eli Woodard notched a 1-yard TD run and converted one 2-point conversion run.

“With our new and improved offense we have this year, it is going to be hard to stop us,” Mitchell said. “When we execute, block the right people and take care of the ball, our offense is nasty.”

The Bulldogs posted 35 first half points and the second half was limited to just six total possessions due to the running clock initiated by the TSSAA’s 35-point mercy rule.

Trenten Warren scored the Bulldogs’ first touchdown of the contest on a 16-yard run and led the defense with nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss,

Coble turned in another high-energy performance with five takedowns, 1.5 TFL, and a fumble recovery for the Cornersville defense that held Mt. Pleasant to 2-for-12 on third downs.

Ryan Prosser had four tackles, Whitaker had 3.5 with one TFL and a fumble recovery, Houston Williams recorded a sack and a TFL, and Ethan Courtemanche had an interception.

Mt. Pleasant won the coin toss and deferred, another big mistake.

They tried an onside kick and it was another blunder as Tracy Wood was Johnny-on-the-spot and jumped on the ball at the Cornersville 48-yard.

On the first play from scrimmage, Eli Woodard took the handoff and raced to the Mt. Pleasant 16-yard line where Warren took it to pay dirt on the next play.

Jackson Williams, who finished with a 4-for-6 effort on PAT’s, booted the one-pointer through the uprights.

The Tigers went three-and-out on offense, but stuffed the Bulldogs’ next possession on an over on downs with 7:10 remaining in the first quarter.

Cornersville stopped Mt. Pleasant again, but the Tigers kept the ball when Alderson ran for a first down on fake punt.

The break didn’t pay off as the Bulldogs stuffed them again on a fourth-and-two play.

The Bulldogs took over at the 43-yard line and after a Warren run on first down, Woodard scampered to the Mt. Pleasant 3-yard line out of the Wildcat formation.

Two plays later Woodard scored and the Bulldogs took a 13-0 lead to the second quarter.

The Tigers could not muster much offense and turned the ball over on downs again and with 8:37 remaining in the first half, Whitaker scored on a 37-yard catch and run.

“It all starts with the ‘O’ linemen, you can’t do nothing without them,” Whitaker said. “They made the hole, I hit it and took it from there.”

Williams’ kick was good to make it 20-0.

Cornersville did not budge, holding Mt. Pleasant’s offense in check again to force a punt.

Warren ran for a couple yards on first down before Mitchell found Pickett behind the Tigers’ defense for a 70-yard touchdown.

Mt. Pleasant had to punt from their own 3-yard line after another unsuccessful offensive possession before Whitaker rumbled 32 yards for a touchdown and Woodard added the two-point run, making it 35-0 with 1:22 remaining in the first half.

Courtemanche came up with a pick on Mt. Pleasant’s first possession of the second half and the Bulldogs punted on their first series.

The Dawgs were still hungry on defense and pushed the Tigers in to a fourth-down-and-30 that resulted in Whitaker taking the punt to the house for a TD.

“Cam played his heart out tonight in one of the biggest nights of the year,” Mitchell said. “I can’t say any more about him and how much work he puts in during the week to come out and perform on Friday nights like he does.”

The two teams exchanged fumbles before Whitaker finished off the scoring when he scooped up a loose ball and weaved through the Mt. Pleasant tacklers for a 32-yard score with 2:40 left in the ballgame.

“Trenten tried to pick it up, but he kinda kicked it,” a smiling Whitaker said. “He accidentally kicked it and I picked it up and ran it in.”

The Bulldogs’ quest for the undefeated season is real as the next four teams they face have a combined 5-14 overall record, beginning with winless Perry County Friday night at Linden.

“They were worried about the Sundrop Bowl and we are focusing on the BlueCross Bowl, that’s the one at the end of the year that it all comes down to,” Coble said.

Cornersville 13 22 0 13-48

Mt. Pleasant 0 0 0 0-0

Scoring Plays

First Quarter

Cornersville-Trenten Warren 16-yard run, Jackson Williams PAT, 11:12.

Cornersville-Eli Woodard 1-yard run, PAT Kick NG, 1:10.

Second Quarter

Cornersville-Cameron Whitaker 37-yard pass from Henlee Mitchell, Williams PAT, 8:37.

Cornersville-Blake Pickett 70-yard pass from Mitchell, Williams PAT, 4:20.

Cornersville-Whitaker 32-yard run, Woodard 2-pt. run, 1:22.

Fourth Quarter

Cornersville-Whitaker 45-yard punt return, Williams PAT, 11:13.

Cornersville-Whitaker 36-yard fumble return, PAT Kick NG, 2:40.

Total Yards: Cornersville 307, Mt. Pleasant 102

Rushing: Cornersville 200, Mt. Pleasant 49.

Passing: Cornersville 107, Mt. Pleasant 53.

First Downs: Cornersville 10, Mt. Pleasant 6.

Penalties: Cornersville 0-0, Mt. Pleasant 2-20.

Turnovers: Cornersville 1, Mt. Pleasant 3.

Cornersville Offense

Rushing: Eli Woodard 7-66-TD, Trenten Warren 7-61-TD, Brady Calahan 2-42, Cameron Whitaker 2-31-TD, Wes Calahan 1-0.

Passing: Henlee Mitchell 2-5-107-2TD.

Receiving: Blake Pickett 1-70-TD, Whitaker 1-37-TD.

Kicking

PAT: Jackson Williams 4-6.

Punting: Warren 1-29.

Returns

Punts: Whitaker 2-83-TD.

Defense

Tackles: Trenton Warren 9 (1.5TFL), C.J. Coble 5 (1.5TFL), Ryan Prosser 4, Cameron Whitaker 3.5 (TFL), Blake Pickett 2, Houston Williams 2 (SCAK, TFL), Dylan Baus 2, Devin Massengill 1, Jackson Mitchell 1, T.J. Robinson 1, Eli Woodard .5, Ethan Courtemanche .5 (INT), Devin Baus .5.