By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

PIEDMONT – The Jacksonville Golden Eagles scored touchdowns in all three facets of the game Friday night in a dominating performance at Piedmont’s Field of Champions.

Kelvin Hughley took the opening kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown. Following a Piedmont fumble recovered by Marquavious McNeal, Jacksonville quarterback Cross Land connected with McNeal on an 80-yard score. Then in the second quarter, Aiden Elston picked off Piedmont quarterback Cole Austin and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown in the Golden Eagles’ 34-8 season-opening rout.

The eight points by the Bulldogs (0-1) are the least scored since Miller’s first two games as Piedmont’s head coach in the 2023 season. That year, Piedmont fell to Cherokee County 26-7 and at Sylvania 23-7.

The Bulldogs avoided being shutout for the first time since 2008 when Jaxson Howard scored on an 11-yard run against Golden Eagle reserves with 2:55 remaining in the game. After a miscue on the extra point attempt, Carson Cleveland ran in for the 2-point conversion for the final.

“We didn’t do ourselves any favors giving up a special teams touchdown and throwing a pick-6. Those were two big mistakes that played a big part in the game,” Miller said. “At the same time in the first half, we had two pretty good drives going that we didn’t finish. That’s the difference in the game. It could’ve been a little bit closer, but we made too many mistakes tonight to stay with them.”

Second-year Jacksonville coach Jeremy Sullivan had plenty to be proud of with his team on Friday night, but he was particularly impressed with his defense.

“They really ran to the football,” Sullivan said. “Offensively, we put the defense in a bind a few times but they were able to hold them to no points. I thought when it got tough they played better.”

Up 20-0 at halftime, the Golden Eagles kept pouring it on in the second half.

Following a Piedmont punt to open the third quarter, Jacksonville put together a 15-play, 59-yard drive. Land threw his second touchdown of the game to McNeal to cap the drive. This one went for five yards, and it put the Golden Eagles up 27-0.

The duo later connected for a third score – an 18-yard touchdown – with 7:56 remaining in the game.

Land completed 12-of-21 pass attempts for 225 yards. McNeal caught five passes for 116 yards and three scores.

Howard led the Bulldogs with 101 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. Austin completed 8-of-19 passes for 66 yards and two interceptions.

Jacksonville travels to Class 5A Oxford next Friday. Piedmont is at Class 4A Cherokee County.

“We’ve got another big game next week before we get into region play. We can’t let this one beat us twice,” Miller said. “We’ve got to shake this one off, learn from it, grow from it and move on.”