By Al Muskewitz, East Alabama Sports Today
PIEDMONT — Post-season experience won’t make any plays on the field, but it can make all the difference when it comes to feeling comfortable in a big game.
Piedmont put its substantial postseason experience to good use Friday night, riding its comfort wave to a 43-14 win over previously unbeaten Winfield in the Class 3A playoffs that coach Steve Smith called one of its most complete games of the year.
The Bulldogs (11-2) advance to play region rival Saks (12-1) on the road Friday for a spot in the state championship game at Birmingham’s new Protective Stadium. Piedmont beat the Wildcats in their regular-season meeting.
It’s the seventh year in a row Calhoun County has had at least one team make the state semifinals and the fourth time since 2016 two county teams are playing each other for a berth in the title game.
This will be Piedmont’s seventh straight year making it to at least the semifinals. Its current seniors are now 15-2 in postseason play, having played more games quarterfinal round or later coming in than their opponent had played in the playoffs period. Winfield’s seniors came into the game 4-3 in the playoffs.
“That has to play in to account for something, that experience,” Smith said. “The experience itself didn’t make any plays on the field tonight, but for our guys, I don’t think the moment was too big for them because they’ve been there in plenty of games like this before.”
The Bulldogs weren’t intimidated by the gaudy numbers Winfield had posted this season. The Pirates, now 12-1, had scored 40 points or more in each of their last 10 games — 50-plus six times – and outscored their first 12 opponents 549-84.
But Piedmont torched them for more points than they had given up in their previous five games combined and held their offense to two long touchdown runs.
With less than three minutes left in the third quarter the Pirates had only 173 net yards and 116 of them came on the two touchdown runs.
“We played a complete game tonight,” Smith said. “That’s probably as well as we played all year long and I’m very proud of our guys for that.
“You’re in the quarterfinals, playing a team that’s 12-0, ranked No. 3 in the state, you need to play your best game. I thought we really played well tonight. For the most part I thought 95 percent of the night I thought we played extremely well … I had a feeling we were going to come out and play well.”
It almost was a case of the first team to 40 wins. Before Friday, Winfield was 82-1 since 2000 when scoring 40 points or more and Piedmont was 92-1. The Bulldogs had 40 Friday by the end of the third quarter.
Piedmont moved the ball with ease on its first possession. The Bulldogs’ first four plays to gain in the game went for 15, 12, 14 and 21 yards. They had a 14-0 lead before Winfield had a first down and were driving for another score when they turned it over inside the Winfield 25.
The Pirates’ first first down was a big one, though. Drew Cook went 55 yards on the first play after Piedmont’s second touchdown and it looked like the shootout was on.
Piedmont quarterback Jack Hayes continued to climb on AHSAA scoring lists. He accounted for all six of the Bulldogs’ touchdowns in his 43rd career start — three rushing and three passing (all in the third quarter). He finished with 173 yards rushing and 141 passing.
The junior now has 112 career touchdown passes and has accounted for 152 touchdowns in his career. He remains fifth on the “accounted for” list – one behind Alexandria’s Mac Campbell – and fourth on the TD passes list.