Piedmont perfect
- Updated: October 28, 2016
Bulldogs complete perfect regular season, tie record streak; Hayes extends past 3,000 career yards rushing
Piedmont quarterback Taylor Hayes (11) went over 3,000 career rushing yards with his first touchdown Friday. On the cover, Cardavion Myers (10) follows Lee Stanley on his long TD run replacing Hayes in the second half. (All photos by Kirk Keener)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
PIEDMONT — The top-ranked Piedmont Bulldogs completed an undefeated regular season and tied the school record with their 20th consecutive victory in a 45-9 rout of Oneonta Friday night.
At 10-0 it is the seventh undefeated regular season in Piedmont history and third in the last six years. The 20-game winning streak matches a run they enjoyed at a time the current team’s grandfathers were playing — from October 1934 to November 1936 — and is the longest active winning streak in the state.
The Bulldogs went undefeated in 1935, 1945, 1965, 1990, 2011, 2012 and 2016.
“I love everybody who wins them all,” Piedmont coach Steve Smith said. “It’s a goal every year; you want to try to win every game.
“I’m very proud of our guys, thought we had great effort tonight. Coming off the bye week I was kind of worried about how we were going to be as far as being sharp, but we didn’t turn the ball over any. We had a few mistakes here and there, but I thought for the most part we played a pretty good game.”
The Piedmont regulars played the first half and completely dominated on the way to a 32-0 lead. They held the Redskins (3-7) to minus-3 yards rushing and five yards total in the first half.
Quarterback Taylor Hayes rushed for 60 yards, threw for 112 on 10-of-17 passing and was responsible for three touchdowns in the first half. He extended past 3,000 career rushing yards with 60 in the game.
It was believed he passed the 3,000 mark with his first touchdown, a 7-yard run in the second quarter, but recent records uncovered 41 yards as a seventh-grader. He actually hit the milestone in the Bulldogs’ region-clinching win at Ohatchee.
“That’s a good thing, I’m proud I’ve achieved that, but I don’t really look at that kind of stuff,” Hayes said. “We’ve got the longest winning streak in the state. We’re going to keep this thing rolling. Five more games and we’ll be back-to-back state champs.”
That road starts next week in their playoff opener against Holly Pond (6-4), the No. 4 team from Region 6, at the Field of Champions. The Bulldogs are 23-8 in the playoffs under Smith.
Lee Stanley scored Piedmont’s first two touchdowns on runs of 4 and 2 yards. He had 98 yards rushing.
Cardavion Myers replaced Hayes at quarterback to start the second half. He broke off a 57-yard touchdown run on the Bulldogs’ first possession and later returned the kickoff after an Oneonta field goal 83 yards for another score.
“He did a great job when he had a chance with the ball in his hand,” Smith said. “Very fortunate to have somebody there, a capable guy, who can come in and get some reps.”
Oneonta had minus-11 yards rushing and 2 yards total and only two first downs (both by penalty) before Colton Walker broke off a 51-yard run on the first play of its second possession of the third quarter. And even on that play Kaedon Jenkins ran the runner down from behind to prevent a touchdown.
The Redskins scored their only touchdown in the fourth quarter when Sincere Baker went 99 yards against the Piedmont reserves. They finished the season with a five-game losing streak.
Lee Stanley rushed for 98 yards and scored Piedmont’s first two touchdowns.
Piedmont 45, Oneonta 9
Oneonta 0 0 3 6 — 9
Piedmont 13 19 13 0 — 45
P – Lee Stanley 4 run (Easton Kirk kick), 10:13 1Q
P – Lee Stanley 2 run (kick failed), 5:33 1Q
P – Taylor Hayes 7 run (kick failed), 11:05 2Q
P – Taylor Hayes 25 run (Easton Kirk kick), 6:59 2Q
P – Darien Bossie 16 pass from Taylor Hayes (kick failed), 0:12 2Q
P – Cardavion Myers 57 run (kick failed), 6:20 3Q
O – Tyler Thomas 37 FG, 3:25 3Q
P – Cardavion Myers 83 kickoff return (Derrick Baer kick), 2:55 3Q
O – Sincere Baker 99 run (run failed), 8:49 4Q
Team stats Oneo Pied
First downs 6 18
Rushes-yds 28-176 35-291
Passing 3-6-1 10-17-0
Passing yds 13 112
Fumbles-lost 3-2 0-0
Punts-avg 4-35.5 1-50.0
Penalties-yds 4-30 1-15
Chase Bobbitt (9) and Gavin Kircus (51) were part of a Piedmont defense that held Oneonta to negative rushing yardage and five yards total in the first half.
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