Cleveland Rams takes football conference title outright, beating Corinth Holders

Cleveland’s football team had a nearly-packed Pirate Stadium in celebration mode Friday night.

After using two 21-point scoring runs to down Corinth Holders 62-40 for the Two Rivers 3A Conference title, Scott Riley told his team: “That conference championship trophy, I want each and every one of you to kiss it before you leave tonight. You deserve it.”

The Rams (8-3, 5-0) used eight total touchdowns from junior quarterback Caiden Norman to turn back the Pirates (9-2, 4-1) in the winner-take-all battle.

Corinth Holders led 14-6 in the second quarter before the first 21-point scoring run by Cleveland gave the Rams the lead for good.

Norman sandwiched TD throws to Patrick Jesequel (13 yards) and Corey Brown (58 yards) around his own 21-yard scoring run to put the Rams up 27-14.

But the Pirates kept plugging away, finally getting within a point of the lead at 41-40 after a 4-yard TD run by Howard Watson with 7:37 to play.

It took Cleveland just four plays to answer with Norman finding a streaking Jacob Scott up the left sideline for a 58-yard TD connection and a 48-40 lead.

Corinth Holders faced a third-and-14 early on its next drive and went to the air trying to convert, but Rams’ linebacker Wanya Alford jumped a slant pass and returned it 39 yards to set up a 6-yard TD pass from Norman to Kenny White for a 55-40 lead.

The Pirates fumbled the ensuing kick off, setting up a four-play TD drive capped by a 7-yard Norman run and a 61-40 lead with 2:56 to play.

“There were 100-plus points scored in this game, but no matter how many points are scored, somebody has to make a play on defense or special teams to win the game,” Riley said. “We had two of those plays almost back-to-back tonight and it played a big role in winning this game.”

Norman finished the night with 16-of-22 passing for 274 yards, five TDs and an interception. He ran for 146 and three TDs on 20 carries.

“No idea, I had that many,” Norman said of his eight scores. “I just want to thank the O-line, because I couldn’t have done anything without them.”

Jesequel caught six balls for two TDs and 101 yards for Cleveland, while Brown had 75 rushing and 79 receiving.

Corinth Holders stayed in the game with big plays of its own. The Pirates got a 226-yard passing night from quarterback Kaelin O’Neal. Senior back Howard Watson ran for three TDs and 80 yards.

Cleveland’s ability to pick up solid yardage on first down was an advantage throughout the game.

“Obviously, against a team like Corinth Holders with their speed and athleticism, you want to stay ahead of your down-and-distance situations,” Riley said. “You don’t want to give them a lot of chances to just pin back their ears and come after you.”

Riley heaped praise on the work of offensive coordinator Joe Capps for his work orchestrating the Norman-led offense.

“We just hit our blocks, read the blocks right and hit things up right,” Norman said of the Rams’ big night.

And earned the right to kiss a trophy in the process.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 10:53 PM with the headline "Cleveland Rams takes football conference title outright, beating Corinth Holders."