By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – In one of the stranger twists of fate this football season, Cornerstone got its first victory of the season via a forfeit from South Montgomery Academy on Oct. 22, giving the Chargers their first victory of the season, according to head coach Tim Smith.

Cornerstone was set to play South Montgomery Academy on Oct. 23, or at least so the Chargers thought. The game was supposed to be the Chargers’ homecoming matchup. However, through what Smith referred to as a “schedule mishap” on the morning of Oct. 23, South Montgomery Academy showed up to the school on Oct. 22 ready to play, under the impression the game was supposed to be on Thursday instead of Friday.

“It’s been the weirdest, probably hardest 12 hours of my career,” Smith said by phone on Oct. 23, who has been with Cornerstone since the school’s inception.

Cornerstone, which has had to adjust on the fly, will postpone its Homecoming court halftime ceremonies to next week’s regular season finale contest against Southern Academy.

What this means for Cornerstone is that the Chargers now get a postseason. Both the Chargers and the Raiders were 0-7, 0-3 in AISA A Region 2. Region 2 is just a five-team region, essentially meaning whoever won that contest was playoff-bound. With the forfeiture, Cornerstone claims the last playoff spot in the region and will make an appearance in the AISA A state playoffs.

Cornerstone will finish up the regular season next week with a home matchup against Southern Academy.