As she stood outside the CSU dressing room following Saturday’s game, Rochele Burnette recalled the memory from her own Marauder days over three decades ago.
“I was sitting in what we used to call the Breezeway, where all the students would gather,” she said with a grin as she looked over her shoulder at her husband, Corey Burnette Sr., who was talking to some of his college friends who had come in from as far away as California for the Homecoming festivities.
“He was walking past with his laundry that day and I just said, ‘Hey Cutie!’”
Reliving that moment made her laugh and then nod in approval:
“The story goes on from there. Here we are 33 years together; 26 years married; and we have two wonderful young adult children – our daughter Breanna and our son, Corey Jr."
The latter – just as his dad did for CSU’s powerful 1992 NAIA national championship team – plays for the current Marauders’ team and Saturday he had one of the best games in his long, often arduous football journey that took him from Xenia High to Centerville High, then the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Wittenberg University and finally to his parents’ alma mater.
Against Morehouse, Corey Jr. had four catches for 37 yards and an 11-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
“This was my best game ever since I’m here, but I’m hurt that we lost,” he said. “What I did would mean something if it came with a dub.”
The dub – the W, the win – eluded the Marauders because of several miscues.
“We did it to ourselves,” said CSU head coach Tony Carter. “We had two bad snaps on field goals, that’s six points. We had a strip sack of our quarterback and that fumble was returned for a touchdown. We lost three fumbles today and we had double digit penalties (13 for 126 yards).
“We got down 17-0 and that’s tough to come back from. We lost by what, 4 or 5? We hurt ourselves.”
The Marauders played Saturday without the services of 11 players – including some offensive line starters – who were suspended by the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for their part in a post-game fight last Saturday, Oct. 4 after a come-from-behind 18-14 victory at Fort Valley State’s Homecoming game.
The situation had been exacerbated when an inadvertently locked gate prevented the Marauders from exiting the field as they normally would and ended up bringing both teams walking back through each other after the emotional game.
Words were exchanged, shoving began, a few players tumbled to the ground and punches were thrown.
The scene was captured on video and hit the internet, where it was termed a “nasty brawl.”
Both head coaches also received a one-game suspension to be served before the end of the season. Carter said he’s taking his exit next Saturday when CSU hosts Kentucky Christian University, an NAIA school.
CSU’s assistant athletic director, Brad Kocher, said the incident was unfortunate but doesn’t frame the program. He said Carter – a former NFL player as are a few of his assistant coaches – has brought an uplifting and positive culture to Marauders’ football in his first season at the school.
“Oh yeah, our coaches definitely told us that’s the last time something like that will happen,” Corey Jr. said. “They were sticklers on the point that we don’t fight after games.
“We’re not sore losers and we’re not big-headed winners who trash talk.
“Coach T.C. has started a new era here and we’re building something. People will see this is the place to be.”
‘I grabbed the opportunity right away’
That’s especially the case – every year – when it’s Homecoming at CSU.
Saturday concluded a week of activities with a prayer breakfast; a parade through campus; a street fair in the Beacom/Lewis parking lot; an alumni party and a student Homecoming dance.
At halftime, along with the much-anticipated performance by the Invincible Marching Marauders band, the homecoming court was brought onto the field, as were the latest inductees into the CSU Hall of Fame: Kesha Adams (volleyball); three-time Olympian Neil de Silva (track); Wayne Lawrence (track); Allan Smith (men’s basketball ); the 2001-02 women’s basketball team; and Barbara Brooks (special recognition of the 2022 inductee.)
“We’d come back for Homecoming every single year and our children would come with us,” Rochele said. “We’d go to all the activities. Corey has been a part of it since he was a little boy.”
She is now a noted mental health consultant who speaks nationally on the subject. Corey Sr. is the assistant principal at Warner Middle School in Xenia. He was an assistant football coach at Xenia High and Centerville High when his son played there.
Daughter Breanna just got married on a cruise last Saturday (Oct 4) to Myles Johnson, an Ingham County commissioner in Lansing, Michigan.
Corey Jr. skipped the wedding because of his commitment to CSU football, a program he had wanted to be a part of since he graduated high school in 2019.
“Coming out of high school I definitely wanted to come here, but they didn’t recruit me,” he said. “I went to Saint Francis in Fort Wayne but tore my left labrum. After two seasons I transferred to Wittenberg, played behind Jake Saus, one of their top receivers, and then tore my other labrum.
On his birthday last year, he said then Marauders assistant coach Michael Ervin called and offered him a chance to play at CSU:
“I couldn’t have been more ecstatic. I grabbed the opportunity right away.
He had played in five of the Marauders’ six games before Saturday and had seven catches for 38 yards and no scores.
Saturday he was one of four CSU receivers with a TD catch.
Marauders’ quarterback Qeanu Campbell-Caldwell connected with him as well as Khamari Adams for a 11-yard TD in the third quarter and tight end Stephen Hoganon a 17-yard score late in the game.
Back-up quarterback Chris Cotton also completed a 75-yard TD scoring play to receiver Teryon Holt.
‘I never regretted it’
Corey Jr. said he felt some pressure with his family and friends in the stands as well as Xenia coaches and even those from his peewee days: “It was pretty emotional.”
Corey Sr felt the same: “It was emotional seeing him follow in both his parents’ footsteps going to Central State. And the extra icing on the cake is that he’s playing ball there. I’m just a proud father.
“I’m also a coach at heart, so I look at the whole team and what they did. But to have him make some catches makes my heart warm. This is a special place for both his mom and me.”
Corey Sr. came to CSU from Chicago and Rochele was from Brooklyn.
“I was supposed to go to FAMU (Florida A&M), but my mother didn’t want me going that far from Brooklyn, so I went to another HBCU in Ohio.
“And I never regretted it. I’ve loved it here”
Corey Sr. agreed.
“We never left. We made our home in Xenia, raised our kids here and have had a good life.”
As Rochele explained: “Our son, from being here, now feels it in his heart, too. He understands why we love Central State so much.”
And to think, it all began with those flirtatious two words: “Hey Cutie!”
“So, after that, he never looked at another girl again?” Rochele was asked.
“That’s right,” she laughed. “And it was because of this.”
She balled up her right hand and held up a fist:
“He knew not to look …and the other girls knew, too.”
Nearby Corey Sr. overheard some of that claim and nodded as he began to laugh: “Yep, true story.”
His parents’ banter made Corey Jr. laugh as well and he realized that surrounded there by his family and friends, there can be some other ways besides the scoreboard to feel Homecoming victory, too.
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