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Cornerstone won its second-straight AISA 8-man state championship, dominating Macon-East in a game that showcased the Chargers’ impactful senior class. (For the Reporter/Mandy Sanders)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTGOMERY – With just under eight minutes remaining in the AISA Class A Championship game, Cornerstone Christian Chargers senior quarterback Zeke Adams sprinted down the Cramton Bowl sideline with whatever energy he had left, fighting through cramps to score a 96-yard touchdown, his seventh of the game.

With the Chargers up 52-12 over the Macon-East Montgomery Academy Knights, their second-straight state championship was well in hand thanks to the last of 30 unanswered points in the second half.

However, the touchdown served as a fitting capstone for the program’s long, hard journey: not just the 12-0 season in 2024, but the hard work over the offseason, the 2023 8-man state championship season and many years before that as the 12 seniors in the Class of 2025 toiled away in 11-man losses as middle schoolers.

Now, on Thursday, Nov. 21, those seniors can call themselves state champions once again in a game that showcased their collective effort to reach the finish line.

“I sure am proud of all my seniors, these two especially (Adams and Drake Dunning), how they’ve been leaders really for the past two years for us, and they’re the reason that we were here,” Cornerstone coach James Lee said. “Their leadership, how they gathered this team, kept it together. There are some hard times every now and then. We have some struggles, but they’re the reason that we’re sitting here back-to-back.”

Cornerstone wasted little time finding the end zone as Adams took the ball 51 yards through a hole on the left side and in for a touchdown just 1:07 into the game.

However, that 6-0 lead held through the entire first quarter as neither side scored in their next two drives.

After the two sides traded turnovers on downs, the Chargers brought the pressure on third down and forced a punt. The Knights derailed the ensuing drive by punching the ball out at their own 29.

Macon-East then struck on a throw to the left sideline that, after the receiver turned into open field, went for 56 yards to the Cornerstone 14.

Two plays later, the Knights ran it in for a 14-yard touchdown to tie the game at 6-6 on the opening play of the second quarter.

Things then got worse for the Chargers after a promising drive ended with an interception in the red zone.

Malachi Adams responded with a sack to drive the Knights back, and a bad snap sent the ball all the way back to the 1-yard line. Macon-East then had to punt from its own 13, and that flipped the momentum.

Zeke took the opening carry of the drive 42 yards to the end zone to increase the lead to 14-6 with 8:32 left in the second.

The Knights suffered another bad snap on their next drive that forced them to cover it at the 1-yard line.

This time though, they had to kick the ball away from the 1, and Cornerstone blocked the punt to recover the ball at the 8-yard line.

Three plays later, Adams punched the ball in from the 1-yard line to increase the lead to 22-6 with 5:35 remaining until halftime.

Macon-East responded with a lengthy drive that included multiple first-down plays, including off a fake punt to keep the series alive.

After getting backed up to the 22-yard line by a late hit, the Knights made a difficult touchdown catch in the end zone to cut the deficit to 22-12 with 53 seconds left, and that score line held until halftime.

The Chargers brushed off the touchdown and didn’t allow any more points the rest of the way en route to victory.

After forcing a punt with strong third-down coverage, Zeke made his way through the blockers and hit open field for a 68-yard scoring run, making the score 28-12 with 9:12 left in the third.

Macon-East then embarked on a nearly five-minute drive that saw the offense threaten in Cornerstone territory. However, Schober jumped a route in the red zone and picked off the Knights to end the threat.

Schober then came up big on offense as the senior receiver caught a pass from Zeke, going for over 30 yards to the 13-yard line. Zeke then ran up the middle from 11 yards out for the score and just got to the goal line for the 2-point conversion.

That left the lead at 36-12 with three minutes to go in the third, and the defense forced another quick turnover on downs to get right back to work.

After a Dunning first-down run to kick it off, Zeke scored a 24-yard touchdown run. Jackson Moore’s ensuing 2-point conversion made the lead 44-12 with 11:09 remaining in the game.

Macon-East threatened to cut into the lead with a kick return to the Chargers 18, but Cornerstone’s defense put up a strong resistance with goal to go. Back-to-back stops inside the 4-yard line on third and fourth down forced another turnover on downs.

Then, Zeke put an emphatic stamp on the win, running 96 yards down the right sideline with a cramping calf to score his seventh touchdown of the game with 7:28 left. Moore’s 2-point conversion capped off the 52-12 win and the Chargers’ second-straight championship.

After the game, Lee said the difference makers between this 40-point win and the 88-62 win over the Knights in the regular season were the momentum they regained down the stretch and their motivation.

He pointed out the regular season games against Evangel-Montgomery and Macon-East came after back-to-back bye weeks, one of which was unplanned due to a forfeit. After recovering from those last two games, they regained momentum by wearing the same chip on their shoulders that they’ve carried for years.

“These guys are just motivated,” Lee said. “They’ve always felt like they’ve been disrespected. They’ve had to start for us since they were seventh, eighth graders.  these guys have always put in the work to be there, but this last game, I really feel like it was just motivation of wanting to prove that they were the best team.”

For Dunning, that motivation has been there since the offseason as he worked with his fellow seniors to improve and continue building chemistry in pursuit of another run for glory.

“It is awesome because last year it was sweet, we put in work, but this year, man, we worked insanely hard,” Dunning said. “I’ve never worked harder in my life than I did this summer. This offseason, I was at (Zeke’s) house every night until like 1 just working out, eating, working out, eating. And for all of it to come to this, it is awesome. This is just a dream come true.”

Zeke agreed with his fellow senior and said the win felt sweet because of the work it took to get to the prize.

“Honestly, it’s a top-tier moment in my life right now,” Zeke said. “We worked so hard just to do this. Me and my brothers, it took everything we had to come through.”

Lee got emotional talking about the impact of the seniors on him. It wasn’t just because of how they made him a state champion coach, but because of their impact beyond the football field. He pointed to their actions in everyday life at school to show the true mark they will leave on CCS.

“I don’t know if I’ve been this close to a group before,” Lee said. “Not just their athletic ability, but their character as young men, what they’ve done for our school, spiritually, in the chapels praying with each other, changing the lives of the kids with how they honor the Lord, they talk to them, and it’s not just these two, it’s all of them, it’s just an unbelievably special class. When they leave the halls of Cornerstone for that last time, they’re going to be greatly missed, just because what they do at school.”

While the seniors will soon run on to their goals the same way Zeke reached the end zone on his final play, Lee said the group has laid the foundation for those kids who looked up to them to now follow in their footsteps and write their own story.

“These little guys look up to them so much,” Lee said. “When they’re on the field, these guys are cheering them on, they’re like, ‘I’m not going to let them down. I’m not going to let them score.’”

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