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Cornerstone made up for its cancelled homecoming game with a night of fun games and events on its football field for the players, their families and CCS alumni. (Contributed)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – The Cornerstone Christian Chargers made the most of an unfortunate situation with a fun night of games and events on Friday, Oct. 4 to cap off homecoming week.

The night replaced Cornerstone’s homecoming game, which was cancelled after the Coosa Valley Rebels forfeited the game earlier in the week. The game also doubled as the Chargers’ final home game of the regular season.

Cornerstone athletic director and head football coach James Lee attempted to schedule another opponent on short notice, but he said nobody was available.

“We couldn’t find a game,” Lee said. “We called around, and I really believe that we just weren’t supposed to play. I hate that (Coosa Valley has) kids hurt and hope they get them back and they’re able to finish out the season, but it was good for us going through that process of trying to figure out what to do.”

With the big finale of homecoming week off the table, Lee decided to invite families and alumni to a family fun night at the school’s football field on Friday night.

For Lee, the night was rooted in a desire to give the players a night to remember and a special way to cap off homecoming, especially for the seniors who lost their final homecoming game.

“We were just like, ‘How can we let our kids make memories for homecoming?’ Because the homecoming game is special. Doesn’t matter who you’re playing, it’s just a special game,” Lee said. “And you always remember your homecoming, your senior year, and we wanted these kids to be able to remember, have some kind of fun memory on a Friday night hanging out together and being together.”

One of the highlights of the night came when the players’ mothers suited up in jerseys, pads and helmets to tackle their own sons on a stack of mats, which was an idea the Lee and the coaches saw online from another team that did it.

“We found out some of the moms, we need to have some of the moms playing for us because they can really hit too,” Lee said.

The players did get to take the field for some game action as they teamed up with the Cornerstone alumni who had returned to their alma mater for the night in a flag football game.

Not only did alumni from Lee’s past teams at CCS return, but even multiple players from his time coaching at Kingwood Christian came back. That made the game a full circle moment for the longtime coach as he saw his current and former players share the field.

“Seeing them all play together, it really meant a lot because those guys are the reason we’re having the success now that we’ve had the past year and even this year because of what those guys laid the foundation for us and just having them come back, it means a lot to all of us,” Lee said.

The team, their families and the alumni wrapped up the night with a movie night as they gathered on the field to watch “Woodlawn,” the 2015 movie based on the true story of the integration of local Woodlawn High School and its football team.

The Chargers improved to 7-0 as a result of the forfeit by Coosa Valley and will return to action on the road against at the Lakeside Chiefs on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. The team has three games remaining in the regular season before beginning its defense of the AISA 8-man state title.

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