County roundup

Ackles, Richmond keep Jacksonville undefeated, top-ranked Piedmont pulls away from PV, Oxford dominates, Alexandria falls

CALHOUN COUNTY GAMES
Etowah 24, Alexandria 16
Jacksonville 37, Anniston 14
Coosa Christian 21, Jacksonville Christian 7
Ohatchee 41, Weaver 21
Oxford 44, Albertville 0
Piedmont 48, Pleasant Valley 18
Saks 39, Ashville 6
Hokes Bluff 41, White Plains 0

By East Alabama Sports Today

JACKSONVILLE — The two-headed dragon that is Jacksonville’s rushing attack of Taye Ackles and Nico Richmond combined 339 yards and five touchdowns Friday as the Golden Eagles remained undefeated with a 37-14 win over Anniston.

Richmond ran for 233 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries – and he had two carries that lost 20 yards. His first carry of the game lost eight yards, but he made up for it the next time he touched it by going 31 yards. He had 176 yards and both of his touchdowns in the second half. He now has 738 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns for the season.

Ackles rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns. He opened the scoring less than a minute into the game after a quick three-and-out by the Bulldogs (0-4, 0-3). He has 578 yards and 10 touchdowns for the season.

Ben Patterson led the defensive effort with seven tackles, four for loss and two sacks.

Combined with Cherokee County’s convincing win over Oneonta, the Golden Eagles (5-0, 3-0) and the Warriors are the only undefeated teams left in Class 4A Region 5. They meet Oct. 21.

Jacksonville 37, Anniston 14

Anniston 7 0 7 0 — 14
Jacksonville 7 7 13 10 — 37

J – Taye Ackles 28 run (Preston Harvey kick), 11:10 1Q
A – L.J. Heard 80 run (PAT kick), 2:20 1Q
J – Taye Ackles 7 run (Preston Harvey kick), 4:39 2Q
J – Nico Richmond 1 run (kick failed), 11:16 3Q
J – Taye Ackles 1 run (Preston Harvey kick), 5:53 3Q
A – L.J. Heard 39 run (PAT kick), 3:40 3Q
J – Preston Harvey 37 FG, 6:01 4Q
J – Nico Richmond 62 run (Preston Harvey kick), 4:26

PIEDMONT 48, PLEASANT VALLEY 18

JACKSONVILLE — Last week, Taylor Hayes led Piedmont to another victory on the strength of his legs. Friday night, he did it with his arm.

The senior quarterback completed 18 of 24 passes for 210 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score as the top-ranked Bulldogs pulled away from Pleasant Valley 48-18.

Hayes, who ran for five touchdowns a week ago, threw two touchdown passes to Austin Brazier and one each to Darrien Bossie and T.J. Fairs. He also had a 6-yard touchdown run among his 72 rushing yards.

Hayes has thrown nine touchdown passes in five games this season and has accounted for 20 total touchdowns.

Lee Stanley scored Piedmont’s other two touchdowns on runs of 16 and 37 yards in the first quarter. He finished with 104 yards rushing on seven carries and has 518 yards rushing this season. The Bulldogs (5-0, 3-0) had 511 yards of offense as a team.

The game started out as a shootout as Stanley and Hayes wrapped touchdowns around scoring strikes of 67 and 69 yards between PV’s Nick Howard and Dakota Jones in the first quarter. The teams scored three touchdowns in the final 2:02 of the quarter.

Stanley’s 37-yard touchdown run on the final play of the quarter sent the Bulldogs on their way. Hayes threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter to give Piedmont a 41-12 halftime lead and his final one in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs collected 17 of their 21 first downs in the first half, 10 in the second half. They held the Raiders (2-3, 0-3) to three first downs in the first half.

The win, combined with Ohatchee’s dominating victory over Weaver, leaves the Bulldogs and Indians as the only undefeated teams left in Class 3A Region 5, which was the only completed undefeated region in the state after two weeks. The teams play at Ohatchee on Oct. 14.

Piedmont has won 15 games in a row going back to last season.

Piedmont 48, Pleasant Valley 18

Piedmont 21 20 7 0 — 48
Pleasant Valley 12 0 0 6 — 18

P – Lee Stanley 16 run (Easton Kirk kick), 8:00 1Q
PV – Dakota Jones 67 pass from Nick Howard (kick failed), 6:09 1Q
P – Taylor Hayes 6 run (Easton Kirk kick), 2:02 1Q
PV – Dakota Jones 69 pass from Nick Howard (PAT failed), 0:56 1Q
P – Lee Stanley 37 run (Easton Kirk kick), 0:00 1Q
P – Darrien Bossie 9 pass from Taylor Hayes (Easton Kirk kick), 8:23 2Q
P – Austin Brazier 8 pass from Taylor Hayes (Easton Kirk kick), 5:36 2Q
P – Austin Brazier 16 pass from Taylor Hayes (kick failed), 0:20 2Q
P – T.J. Fairs 43 pass from Taylor Hayes (Easton Kirk kick), 7:42 3Q
PV – Ethan Borders 15 run (PAT failed), 7:47 4Q

OXFORD 44, ALBERTVILLE 0

OXFORD – The sixth-ranked Yellow Jackets took an early upper hand in Class 6A Region 7 with a completely dominating performance over the previously unbeaten Aggies.

The Jackets (5-0, 3-0) racked up 424 yards of offense while holding the Aggies (4-1, 2-1) to only 97 yards.

Tyetus Smith-Lindsey followed up his big game last week with 193 yards rushing on 19 carries and two touchdowns. He scored on runs of 55 and 30 yards.

Quarterback Abe Peoples completed 13 of 19 passes for 115 yards and a 30-yard touchdown pass to Hareem Averitte.

On the defensive side of the ball, top prospect Kenney Britt Jr. had eight tackles, Cross Davis had two sacks and Blake Carter recovered two fumbles. The Jackets also scored a safety.

Oxford is 5-0 for the first time since 2008. The Jackets have already scored more points in five games this season (189) than they scored in 10 last year (174). They have scored at least 44 points in each of their last three games.

With the win, combined with Pell City’s lopsided shutout of Brewer, the Jackets and Pell City are the last two undefeated teams in the region. They play each other Oct. 14 in Pell City.

ETOWAH 24, ALEXANDRIA 16

Arkansas commitment Daulton Hyatt threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Noles on fourth down with less than five minutes to play to help the sixth-ranked 5A Blue Devils keep pace at the top of the region and drop the Valley Cubs into a three-way tie for the fourth playoff spot.

The Cubs (1-3, 1-2) never led in the game, but they had several chances – especially late. They got within 17-16 on Chase Smitherman’s second touchdown early in the fourth quarter and had two chances to take the lead after Hyatt’s touchdown pass, but with their main weapons either out or missing they were limited in what they could get done.

The first potential go-ahead drive ended with a fourth-down sack with 2:30 to play and the second ended with an interception.

Hyatt threw only four passes in the second half, but completed all of them. He finished 10 of 16 in the game for 150 yards.

Harrison Thomas was Etowah’s leading rusher with 134 yards on 14 carries. He rushed for 118 yards in the second half.

Grayson Chaffin was Alexandria’s leading rusher with 40 yards on 15 carries. The Cubs tried to get Keenan Woodruff into the game, but he’s still limited by injury and gained only one net yard in his three carries.

Etowah 24, Alexandria 16

Etowah 0 3 14 7 — 24
Alexandria 0 0 8 8 — 16

E – Raul Hernandez-Flores 20 FG, 0:02 2Q
E – Jamin Graham 17 pass from Cyrus Smith (Raul Hernandez-Flores kick), 5:22 3Q
A – Chase Smitherman 10 pass from Quentin Bowie (Joseph Tucker pass from Quentin Bowie), 1:30 3Q
E – Harrison Thomas 39 run (Raul Hernandez-Flores kick), 0:20 3Q
A – Chase Smitherman 9 run (Grayson Chaffin run), 9:14 4Q
E – Andrew Noles 38 pass from Daulton Hyatt (Raul Hernandez-Flores kick), 4:47 4Q

Team stats Etow Alex
First downs 15 12
Rushes-yds 34-320 45-149
Passing 11-17-1 4-9-2
Passing yds 167 80
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Punts-avg NA 3-44.0
Penalties 7-65 3-15

Friday’s Games
Leeds at Piedmont
Cleburne County at Alexandria
Anniston at Pell City
Spring Garden at Donoho
JCA at ASD
Ashville at Ohatchee
Benjamin Russell at Oxford
Pleasant Valley at West End
St. Clair County at Saks
Talladega at Wellborn
Weaver at Locust Fork
White Plains at Westbrook Christian

On the cover: Alexandria quarterback Quentin Bowie leaves a couple Etowah defenders in his wake. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

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