Cornerstone Christian celebrated homecoming Friday night, scoring early and often, en route to a 41-6 victory over South Montgomery Christian Academy. With the win, the Chargers secured a spot in the AISA 1A playoffs.

Cornerstone wasted little time in getting on the board Friday night as quarterback Lance Benton faked a handoff and followed his blockers for a 69-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage. KaDarius King added the extra point to give Cornerstone an early 7-0 lead.

After holding SMCA to a three-and-out, Cornerstone got back to work in a hurry. Benton hooked up with J.V. McKinney on a 17-yard touchdown strike to cap a five-play, 66 –yard drive.

The quick lead was something McKinney and his teammates were hoping for.

“It was the seniors’ last homecoming,” McKinney said. “We just said in the locker room we were going to come out and put them away in the first half.”

Cornerstone’s next possession played out much like their previous drive as Lance Benton found Patrick Shaw on a crossing route for a 19-yard touchdown to cap off a five-play, 77-yard drive. KaDarius King’s extra point was good, giving Cornerstone a 20-0 lead to end the first quarter.

Cornerstone’s defense came up big again as they stuffed SMCA on a fourth-and-3 on Cornerstone’s 22-yard line to start the second quarter. Cornerstone took over and had their most impressive drive of the night as they went 78 yards on 11 plays. The drive was highlighted when Benton found McKinney open in the end zone from 12 yards out to put Cornerstone up 27-0.

Cornerstone’s next two touchdowns came as a result of SMCA fumbles. Patrick Shaw recovered a fumble on the SMCA 34-yard line. Adrian Young connected with J.V. McKinney two plays later on a 32-yard touchdown pass to put the Chargers up 34-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Lee Parsons recovered another SMCA fumble to give the Chargers a short field on the 24-yard line. Two plays later, LaDarius King ran it in from eight yards out and KaDarius King’s fifth extra point of the night gave Cornerstone a 41-0 halftime lead.

Cornerstone rolled up 376 yards of total offense in the first half. They had 212 yards on the ground and 164 yards passing.

Lance Benton completed all seven of his first-half attempts for 133 yards with three touchdowns and rushed for a 69-yard touchdown.

“We practice hard all week and what we do in practice carries over to the game,” Benton said of his performance.

Cornerstone coach Tim Smith liked what he saw from his senior quarterback.

“Lance threw the ball well,” Smith said. “He is 12-for-13 the last two weeks and is playing really good right now for us.”

The second half saw a lot of players get in on the action with Cornerstone having a big lead. The only SMCA score on the night came in the fourth quarter when they picked up a Charger fumble and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. The point-after-touchdown attempt was blocked giving Cornerstone a 41-6 victory.

Cornerstone was led on defense by Josh Anderson with 12 tackles and LaDarius King with 10 tackles.

With the win, Cornerstone improves their overall and region record to 5-0. Cornerstone is back in action next Friday night as they host Sumter Academy.