Cornelius Ingram's state championship win with Hawthorne football isn't by accident

TALLAHASSEE – Hawthorne football head coach Cornelius Ingram still has the text on his phone.

It was Dec. 11, 2021 and the Hornets had just lost their second consecutive state title game – this time in the most heartbreaking fashion: a one-point loss to the Madison County Cowboys, who capitalized on a Hawthorne turnover late in the game to mount the comeback.

Ingram was consoled by his mother during his postgame interview, which continued through sobs as he’d lift his head off her shoulder.

Despite the countless congratulations on the Hornets’ second straight trip to the championship bout, there was little that could be said or done to comfort Ingram in that moment.

Until his phone chimed.

It was Kent Johnson, who coached Ingram during his high school career at Hawthorne before serving coaching stints at Eastside and P.K. Yonge.

“He helped put a lot of things into perspective last year,” Ingram said Saturday night after he piloted the Hornets to their first state championship with a 13-2 win over Northview.

“Maybe God wants you to do it when CJ’s the quarterback,” Johnson’s text read, referring to Ingram’s son.

But this time last year, the Hornets had their quarterback. And it wasn’t CJ Ingram.

It was then-junior Tyler Jefferson, who committed to Central Michigan after leading Hawthorne to the title game.

However, in the offseason, Jefferson made the decision to transfer and spend his senior season at Columbia, reuniting with his former coach, Demetric Jackson.

Jefferson left Hawthorne on good terms. Since Columbia’s season ended in the state semifinal, Jefferson has attended Hawthorne’s practices and was present for Saturday’s championship tilt.

There are no hard feelings, but it certainly didn’t happen by accident.

The same qualities Johnson saw in Ingram as a “skinny ol' freshman,” he saw in CJ as a lanky sophomore.

“He gave me the keys to the offense and named me the starter when he had a couple of other athletes who could probably be the starter,” the younger Ingram recalled. “And he went with me early.”

And while the Hornets could never secure a state championship with the elder Ingram at quarterback, Johnson’s early belief in him was undoubtedly what ignited a long football career for Cornelius Ingram, who added his third football championship to his resume Saturday.

After walking across Hawthorne Middle/High School’s graduation stage in 2004, Ingram went on to have a playing career at the University of Florida, where he helped the Gators win a pair of national championships in 2006 and 2008.

He went on to be drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009, but Ingram tore his ACL for the second time in just over a year during training camp. Despite his best efforts, Ingram’s professional career ended in 2012 after bouncing from Philadelphia to Detroit to Denver.

Though Ingram likely struggled to make sense of his injuries at the time, Saturday’s win proved they weren’t an accident.

"It was meant to be," Ingram said, clutching the Class 1R state championship trophy against his chest Saturday night.

"I never really questioned God. Even with my path, through injuries and not playing in the NFL as long as I wanted to, my purpose was to come back here. I truly believe that."

Ingram returned to his microscopic high school in 2014 as the head football coach. He’d yet to eclipse 30 years old and he’d never coached before when he took the reins.

Needless to say, he sought guys to lean on.

And while Johnson was one of those guys, so was Sonny McGraw, who Ingram made sure to recognize after Saturday’s win in Tallahassee.

“When I first got into coaching, he would come by the school and just mentor me,” Ingram said of McGraw. “Kinda show me the ropes and give me advice.”

McGraw died last May at the age of 84 after a long career of coaching that saw him coach at Hawthorne in the late 80s, as well as coaching at Auburn and under Charlie Pell at Florida.

“Those two guys have a lot to do with my coaching career,” Ingram said of Johnson and McGraw. “Them, along with my brother.”

When the play clock struck zero on Saturday night, finalizing Hawthorne’s first state championship win, Ingram immediately looked for his older brother Greg Bowie, who serves as the Hornets’ offensive coordinator.

The pair shared a leaping chest bump, like they do at the start of each football game, followed by a long embrace.

“I told you, baby,” Ingram repeated to his brother. “I told you.”

“My brother is the reason why I kinda fell in love with the game of football and basketball,” Ingram said postgame. “He taught me how to play it at an early age. And I’ve always went to him for advice… When I got into coaching, he had so much success at that point in time.”

The moment shared between Ingram and Bowie was like one seen in movie endings.

“Let’s go celebrate,” Bowie told Ingram.

But there was still one person Ingram had to see before he could celebrate.

“Where’s CJ?,” Ingram asked.

CJ Ingram wasn’t far from his father and uncle. It was almost as if he was waiting for the same moment his dad was.

Cue up another long embrace.

“I told you,” Ingram told his son, whose eyes welled. “I told you.”

The week leading into Saturday’s championship bout, CJ Ingram wasn’t sure he’d see the field against Northview.

In the state semifinal game against Blountstown on Dec. 2, CJ Ingram suffered an ankle injury, reaggravating one he’d been dealing with all season. Cornelius Ingram said his son played at 50% health against the Chiefs Saturday.

But at the end of the day, CJ Ingram just needed one person to believe in him. He needed his own Kent Johnson.

“At the beginning of the season, nobody believed in me. But he did,” CJ Ingram said, referring to his father.

Nothing about Saturday night’s win at Gene Cox Stadium happened by accident.

It wasn’t by accident that Kent Johnson tossed the keys of the Hawthorne offense to a slender freshman in the early 2000s.

Nor was it by accident that Cornelius Ingram’s professional career was cut short, which paved the way for his return to Hawthorne.

The unexpected transfer of quarterback Tyler Jefferson was no mistake either. As wasn’t CJ Ingram being just healthy enough to play on Saturday night.

Just like Cornelius Ingram received a message from Johnson following last year’s state championship, Johnson sent me one on Saturday night.

“Now you’ve got a story to tell,” Johnson told me.

But some stories write themselves. And this is one of them.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Cornelius Ingram, Hawthorne Hornets football win state high school title