Whenever the Cornerstone Christian Chargers and the Coosa Valley Rebels get together, it&8217;s a battle of rivals in every sense of the word. Last Thursday night&8217;s 35-26 decision that went to Cornerstone was no exception.

Like two boxers whose tales of the tape were almost perfectly matched, the 1A, AISA foes entered the contest separated by one game in region play. Coosa Valley was 3-3,3-2 while Cornerstone was 3-3,3-3. A win by the Rebels would have tied them in region standings.

The first half was clearly won by Cornerstone 21-6 while the second half went to Coosa Valley 20-14.

Chargers&8217; head football coach Tim Smith said the Rebels of Coosa Valley played his team hard the whole game and the reason Cornerstone won was that they just held on to the lead.

The Chargers also managed to pick off at least two Rebels passes and lost no fumbles of their own.

More reasons for the Chargers&8217; victory were the hard running of Avery Alexander, 157 yards and two touchdowns and Kirk Johnson, 78 yards and three touchdowns respectively.

The Chargers&8217; Kirk Robinson had a 65-yard kickoff return that gave Cornerstone excellent field position. And free safety Zac Ray snagged two errant Rebels&8217; passes.

Defensive standouts for the Chargers were Josh Dunnaway, who had two sacks and forced several hurries, and linebackers Casey Perryman, Jesse Silvers and Johnson.

The Rebels&8217; Eli Freeman completed six of 10 passes for 76 yards and one touchdown. Coosa Valley Academy Steven Clinkscales led in rushing with 99 yards and one touchdown on 10 runs.

Rebels&8217; head football coach Steven Mackin said the first half did not go well for his team, since the Chargers scored twice in the first quarter.

Johnson scored on a 4 yard run and Alexander scored on a 6 yard run in the first stanza of the game. Jake Horton made one of the first two point after attempts to put the Chargers up 13-0.

Chase Ward answered for the Rebels on a 4-yard run and Alexander returned a kickoff 65 yards for two TD. Johnson scored the 2-point conversion to make it a 21-6 lead at the half.

Mackin said halftime adjustments worked well

and that his kids played hard, never giving up.

A 16-yard run by Johnson and PAT put the Chargers up 28-6. Clinkscales answered for the Rebels with a 15-yard TD run, and with the PAT the score stood 28-13.

The final points of the game came on a 4-yard Johnson run for Cornerstone, a PAT by Horton and a 21 yard touchdown run for Coosa Valley&8217;s Clinkscales and PAT.

The Chargers out-rushed the Rebels 264-138 yards, but the Rebels out-passed the Chargers 76-32 yards.

The Chargers fumbled once but retained possession ,while the Rebels lost one fumble.

The Rebels will go on the road next Friday to play Sumter Academy while Cornerstone will travel to play Warrior Academy