On Thursday night, the Cornersville Middle School Bulldogs capped a stellar season on the gridiron by defeating county rival Forrest 24-14 on Homecoming to finish the 2013 campaign with a 6-1 record.

The Rockets (4-5) gave Cornersville fits early on and held a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Bulldogs eventually righted the ship and scored touchdowns on two straight possessions to take a 16-6 advantage into the break.

CMS then tallied another TD on their opening drive of the second half to forge a 24-6 lead before withstanding a late Forrest comeback attempt to claim their fifth straight victory.

'Huge' win

"This win was huge for us. Anytime we can win against Chapel Hill it's great because they have a good program and have had a lot of success. We use them as a measuring stick," said Cornersville coach Ray Stocstill. "It's a good way to cap off the season. The kids were excited to play this game and played hard all night, but Chapel Hill did too so you have to give them credit."

Forrest actually outgained the Bulldogs 195-170, but scored on just two of their six possessions while Cornersville reached the end zone on three of their five drives.

"We kept fighting. That hasn't been a problem all year. We fought back, but just ran out of time," said FMS coach Bart Joyce. "Cornersville is a hardnosed football team and sometimes we couldn't get them blocked. They've got a well coached team."

QB steps up

The Rockets held the Bulldogs usually potent running attack in check and limited CMS to 58 yards rushing on 24 carries, but Cornersville quarterback Eli Woodard burned Forrest through the air by completing 3-of-5 passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

"We expected to be able to run the ball more effectively, but our tailback was banged up and Eli did a great job of throwing the ball. It was the difference in the game," said Stocstill.

Bulldog tailback Kolbe McMahon rushed for 42 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries to pace the Bulldogs ground game while also catching two passes for 63 yards and a TD. Woodard toted the ball eight times for 21 yards as well and Zach Blackwell hauled in a 49-yard touchdown pass.

Dylan Pendley led Forrest's defense with seven tackles, while Deron Osborne notched six tackles. Bryton Spitzley also recorded five tackles and a sack for FMS.

Rockets run it

The Rockets, conversely, finished with 177 yards rushing on 34 carries, but quarterback Lane Laporte completed only one-of-six passes for 18 yards.

Troy Turner led Forrest's ground attack with 57 yards on six carries, while Wesley McCoy added 48 yards and a touchdown on eight attempts. Spitzley toted the ball 12 times for 44 yards and a TD as well, and Dakota Hartley chipped in 27 yards on six carries.

Trenton Warren and Adam Qualls both registered eight tackles to lead the Bulldog defense, while Woodard, McMahon, and Peyton Finch each had five tackles.

The Rockets got off to a fast start and put together a seven-play, 74-yard scoring drive on their opening possession that was capped by a McCoy 35-yard touchdown jaunt to grab a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Forrest failed on the two-point conversion attempt to keep the margin at six.

FMS then stopped the Bulldogs on downs near midfield with the help of a sack from Spitzley, but the Rockets failed to pick up a first down on their ensuing possession and lost the ball on downs at the CMS 48.

Bulldogs bite

Woodward got Cornersville on the board a few moments later when he hit Blackwell in stride for a 49-yard touchdown strike before finding McMahon in the end zone on the two-point conversion attempt to give the Bulldogs an 8-6 advantage early in the second quarter.

"I knew their quarterback had a good arm, but I was surprised how well they executed in the passing game. They ran good routes and their quarterback threw accurate passes," said Joyce.

Following a three and out by Forrest, the Bulldogs picked up two first downs on four straight runs to advance to the Rocket 37. After being penalized twice for illegal motion, Cornersville faced a 3rd and 17 situation, but McMahon hauled in a 44-yard touchdown pass from Woodard before running in the two-point conversion to give CMS a 16-6 advantage with :23 left in half.

On Cornersville's opening possession of the second half, Forrest appeared they might force the Bulldogs to punt after CMS found themselves in a 3rd and 21 predicament. McMahon, however, came through with two more big plays to help Cornersville move the chains, as he caught a slant pass for a 19-yard gain before picking up 11 yards on a 4th and 2 run to move the ball down to the Rocket 18.

Pulling away, but...

After scoring on a five-yard touchdown run five plays later, McMahon hauled in the two-point conversion pass from Woodard to extend the Bulldogs lead to 24-6 late in the third quarter.

The Rockets would not go away quietly and marched 58 yards to pay dirt in seven plays, highlighted by a Spitzley 21-yard touchdown run. Spitzley then ran in the two-point conversion to slice the deficit to 24-14 with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter.

Following a Cornersville punt, the Rockets advanced to the CMS 13 on their final possession with the help of an 18-yard catch by Pendley and a Turner 12-yard run, but picked up just two yards on their next three plays before time expired.