PIEDMONT – The Piedmont Bulldogs never feel out of a football game, even when the odds are against them, and especially playing at the Field of Champions.
On a rainy Friday night in the regular-season finale against Class 5A, No. 3 Alexandria, the Valley Cubs were able to build an 18-point fourth-quarter advantage.
But that’s when the Bulldogs dug in their heels and gave the fans a finish.
Junior quarterback Jack Hayes scored on a 6-yard run with a little over four minutes remaining. The Bulldog defense then forced a Valley Cub punt from deep in their own territory. The rush produced a high snap that Grayson Forrest couldn’t handle, and the ball squirted around the end zone, which was ultimately recovered by the Bulldogs’ Trent Young for a touchdown.
All of a sudden, Alexandria’s once three-score lead had evaporated to less than a touchdown at 25-20.
After a failed 2-point conversion, the Bulldogs attempted an onside kick which they just missed recovering with 2:55 left in the game. Alexandria was able to pick up a couple of first downs and run out the clock to escape with the 25-20 win to finish the regular season at 10-0.
“The thing you’ve got to realize about our kids is we’re never out of a game,” Piedmont coach Steve Smith said. “That’s something we kept preaching to them. We got a stop on the defensive end. We wanted to pressure the punt right there. Fortunately we got a high snap that was kind of hard to handle and got another quick score. We get a hand on the onside kick, but we just weren’t able to possess it.”
Alexandria senior quarterback Javais McGhee was the constant thorn in the Bulldogs’ paws. He finished with 221 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 22 carries. He also threw a pair of touchdown passes – a 48-yarder to Jake Upton in the first quarter and a 47-yarder to Antonio Ross just before halftime – and also caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Austin West near the end of the third quarter.
“McGhee is such a versatile player, whether he’s in the backfield or out wide receiving,” Smith said. “They do a good job of mixing it up and moving him around. You’ve got him and Ross on the field trying to defend and you can’t double team everybody. They’ve got some other capable guys there that give them an inside running threat there in the backfield. They’ve got a really good, diverse offense.”
McGhee put Alexandria on top 7-0 on the Valley Cubs’ first possession of the game with his touchdown strike to Upton.
Meanwhile, Piedmont’s offense struggled to get anything going early. The Class 3A, No. 2 Bulldogs (8-2) were forced to punt on their first three possessions. On their fourth, they failed to pick up the two yards they needed on a fourth-down play inside their own 40.
With good field position, the Valley Cubs were looking to go up two scores, but McGhee was intercepted near the goal line by the Bulldogs’ Omarion Foster.
However, Piedmont’s offense continued to sputter. Three incomplete Hayes pass attempts forced another punt.
The Bulldog defense came up big again by picking off McGhee a second time. This time, Hayes ended Piedmont’s offensive struggles by connecting on a 77-yard touchdown toss to Austin Estes. Sloan Smith’s extra point tied the game at 7 with 4:04 remaining in the first half.
Hayes finished the game completing 6-of-17 pass attempts for 127 yards and the touchdown to Estes. Estes had two catches for 85 yards and the score.
The Valley Cubs countered with McGhee’s 47-yard scoring strike to Ross. The Bulldogs blocked the point after, keeping the score at 13-7 at halftime.
The two teams traded punts to open the third quarter, but then McGhee got his running game going. He scored on a 59-yard run following three consecutive Valley Cub penalties to put Alexandria in front 19-7. The Valley Cubs went for two, but Ross was stopped short of the end zone on a run.
McGhee opened the fourth-quarter scoring by catching a 32-yard touchdown pass from West. His rushing attempt on the 2-point try fell short, keeping the score at 25-7 and setting the stage for Piedmont’s late-game comeback attempt.
“It was a valiant effort by our bunch, but hat’s off to Alexandria. They’ve got a great team,” Smith said. “They’ve obviously got some big play makers. The big play kind of victimized us a little bit tonight, but I’m extremely proud of the way our guys battled and hung in there and gave ourselves a chance at the end.
“It was a good game for us to play. I love playing in games like this. This will make us better. It was a good playoff atmosphere. We just come up a little short.”
The Bulldogs needed the win to break a three-way tie atop Region 5 with Saks and Ohatchee to earn their seventh straight region title and a home first-round playoff game. The loss helped Saks earn the title, with Ohatchee second and the Bulldogs third.
Piedmont will travel to Sylvania to open the state playoffs next Friday. Alexandria, which won the 5A, Region 6 title last week with its win over Leeds, will host Ardmore.
“We’ve played on the road in the playoffs before. It’s just we haven’t played on the road in the first round in a while,” Smith said. “I like this team a whole lot. I feel very, very comfortable with our team playing anybody anywhere in Class 3A. We’ve just got to come back and regroup. It’s no different than going on the road in the second round or the third round. We’re just going on the road in the first round this time.”