Turbeville – The great run the East Clarendon High School football team made at the end of the regular season to clinch second place in Region 5-Class A carried over to the first round of the state playoffs on November 3.
The Wolverines came out of the gate fast against Military Magnet, leading 29-0 after one quarter. ECHS went on to a 42-0 victory at Shad Hall Field.
It was the first time East Clarendon had hosted a playoff game since 1998. It was the Wolverines’ first playoff victory since 2006.
“I’m very happy for these young men,” said ECHS head coach Larry Cornelius, who has led the Wolverines to a 5-5 record in his first season after it went 1-9 last season. “I’m already working on the next game plan, but this is a great win for these kids, a great win for this community. These boys are not satisficed.”
ECHS has a tall task in the second round on November 10 when it travels to Bamberg-Ehrhardt, the second-ranked team in the High School Sports Report Class A Sweet 16 poll. East Clarendon, which moved into the poll this week at No. 16, lost to Bamberg-Ehrhardt 69-0 in its fifth game of the season.
“For me personally, that was my most embarrassing loss as far as point discrepancy,” Cornelius said. “We were beat before we were started that night. Bamberg’s a great team. They have some dudes. I believe our team is now pretty good too. Since that loss, we’ve gone 4-1 and we’re vastly improved. We’re challenging our young men, and we’re trying to give them every chance to win.”
The Wolverines couldn’t have got off to a much better start against Military Magnet. Cornelius’ son, freshman quarterback Takoda Cornelius, broke off a 50-yard touchdown run for their first score. ECHS then forced a turnover on the kickoff, and running back Rod Shaw scored on a 38-yard run.
Jyre Fulton later scored on a 16-yard run as East Clarendon rushed out to the 4-touchdown lead after one quarter.
“We started off on the right note,” Coach Cornelius said. “We had great play from all three areas to get that lead. We had a great start. You can’t ask for anything better.”
Shaw rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries to go over 1,000 yards for the season. Shaw now has 1,052 yards and 12 touchdowns on 168 carries.
Takoda Cornelius ran for 69 yards on four carries, while Tyquan Wilson had 48 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
The Wolverine defense was in shutdown mode the entire game. They allowed just 75 yards of total offense – 77 rushing yards and minus-2 passing yards.
Linebacker Hunter Mixon led the ECHS defense with nine tackles. Fellow linebacker Tucker Owens had eight, and defensive end Jaylon Barron had seven.
Coach Cornelius said he is proud of how his team has adapted to his coaching style throughout the year.
“For the most part, it’s about how the kids respond,” he said. “I’m definitely a different style coach than what they’re used to, especially when it comes to criticism. I tell them I’ll be the first one to offer criticism to myself.
“It’s just been a case of putting their best effort forward. That’s the biggest thing, getting that out of them, changing the attitude. I think we’ve improved on both of those from game to game.”
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