&uot;This is definitely one of the biggest wins of my career,&uot; Coach Tim Smith of Cornerstone said after his team’s 17-16 over Evangel Christian Academy.

With 27 seconds left in the game, the Chargers were down 16-14 and sitting on Evangel’s five yard line.

The field goal unit came onto the field and booted a 22-yard field goal to put the Chargers ahead 17-16 with 22 seconds left in the game. There was a penalty on the play, but it was against ECA, so the field goal stood and the Chargers held on for the victory.

As well as the game ended for Smith’s Chargers, it started out sloppy with no score until near the end of the first half and eight turnovers in all (5 by CCS and 3 by ECA).

Penalties plagued Cornerstone, even costing them a touchdown at one point in the game.

ECA scored first on a seven yard run up the middle to take the lead 7-0.

The Chargers scored next on a 25 yard pass from Jamal Prentice to Beau Biggs in the corner of the endzone.

On the ensuing kickoff, Evangel returned Cornerstone’s squib kick for a touchdown after breaking four tackles. Prentice came up big for the Chargers, breaking through the line to block the extra point. The play proved critical at the end of the game.

The half ended with ECA leading 13-7.

Evangel continued to pad their lead with a 27-yard field goal after recovering Jeremy Walden’s fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half.

But the Chargers answered with a 65-yard drive capped off by a six-yard score by Heath Smith. The PAT made it a one-possession game with the Chargers down 16-14.

Both teams got the ball back and both turned it over on downs.

Evangel was forced to punt on their next possession and the Chargers were left with one more chance to take the lead.

Walden carried the ball three consecutive times on the same play to set up a play-action bootleg by Prentice to put the Chargers within field goal range.

On fourth down, Matt Kennedy came in and nailed the 22-yarder to give Cornerstone the win.

&uot;This victory was huge for us,&uot; Smith said. &uot;Because if we lose this one, our whole season probably goes down the drain. Since we won, though, we have something to build on.&uot;

The Chargers had 328 yards of total offense against ECA. Prentice led the Chargers with more than 260 all-purpose yards and one touchdown pass. Prentice also threw three interceptions.

The defense was led by Ben Lee (6 tackles, 3 assists) and Jeremy Walden (6 tackles, 2 assists). Ty Youngblood and Jamal Prentice recorded 2 interceptions and Cody Fontaine recovered a fumble for the Chargers.

Cornerstone begins a four-game home stand next week, hosting the Shelby Academy Raiders, a team they have never defeated. Smith said it will take a team effort to topple the unbeaten Raiders