Bulldogs back on track
- Updated: October 13, 2018
Piedmont bounces back, dominates Glencoe from start to snap two-game losing streak; Randolph County keeps pace
Randolph County’s Atario Hester (8) scored three touchdowns Friday night against Wellborn. On the cover, Wellborn’s Chase Carroll (22) and Calvin Spinks bring down Tigers back Donte Jordan (10). (Photos by Jeremy Wortham)
By East Alabama Sports Today
GLENCOE – Piedmont showed no hangover from its first region loss in four years, bouncing back Friday night to shut out Glencoe 37-0.
The Bulldogs (5-2, 4-1) jumped on their hosts early and dominated the entire first half en route to snapping a two-game losing streak, their longest in-season slump since 2014.
They had three long scoring plays in the first quarter to open a 21-0 lead. Jack Hayes threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Delo Foster, Mason Mohon threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Kaedon Jenkins and Jenkins ran 25 yards for a score on the final play of the quarter.
They extended their lead to 34-0 at halftime on T.J. Fairs’ 55-yard touchdown run and a 15-yard run by Elijah Johnson.
Bryce Walter wrapped up the scoring with his first career field goal, a 31-yarder with 6:11 left in the third quarter.
Jenkins led all Piedmont rushers with 96 yards on four carries – all in the first quarter. Fairs had 64 yards rushing on two carries and Johnson had 31 yards on six carries. The Bulldogs rushed for 222 yards as a team.
Mohon was 6-of-9 passing for 64 yards, while Hayes completed two of four passes for 56 yards.
It was Piedmont’s first shutout since a 33-0 blanking of Glencoe in the third game of its undefeated 2016 state championship season.
Glencoe (0-7) has been shut out each of its last two games and four times this season. The Yellow Jackets have lost 15 in a row and have scored just 34 points in their last 12 games.
Piedmont 37, Glencoe 0
Team stats Pied Glen
First downs 11 9
Rushing yds 222 157
Passes 8-13-0 3-4-0
Fumbles lost 0 3
Punts-avg 2-36.0 3-28.0
Penalties-yds 3-30 5-42
Scoring summary
Piedmont 21 13 3 0 – 37
Glencoe 0 0 0 0 – 0
P – Delo Foster 51 pass from Jack Hayes (Brant Deerman kick), 7:32 1Q
P – Kaedon Jenkins 31 pass from Mason Mohon (Brant Deerman kick), 1:59 1Q
P – Kaedon Jenkins 25 run (Brant Deerman kick), 0:00 1Q
P – T.J. Fairs 55 run (kick failed), 4:22 2Q
P – Elijah Johnson 15 run (Brant Deerman kick), 1:22 2Q
P – Bryce Walter 31 FG, 6:11 3Q
Randolph County 53, Wellborn 13
WEDOWEE – The Tigers used a big first half surge to propel themselves over Wellborn, racking up 317 yards of total offense before coach Pat Prestridge took to the benches to start the second half.
Offensively, the Tigers benefited from a corps of running backs in what was a balanced, team effort.
Donte Jordan scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and Atario Hester scored two of his three in the first half. For the game, Hester rushed for 149 yards on 12 carries and Jordan ran for 97 yards on six carries.
Jordan scored the first points of the game on a 27-yard run up the middle. The Tigers were back in business after a blocked punt and T.J. Sims capped that possession with a 69-yard touchdown run.
Wellborn went on a 70-yard drive to score its first touchdown, a 30-yard run by Calvin Spinks. But Randolph County answered with Jordan’s second touchdown, a 42-yard run, to make it 20-7.
“That’s what experience does for you,” Prestridge said. “We’ve got some offensive linemen that love the game, they’re becoming great leaders and they understand what we want from them. It all starts with them, so hats off to them.”
Hester scored two of his three touchdowns of the game in the second quarter at 9:00 remaining (15 yard run) and 00:51 remaining (5 yard run) to push the lead to 32-7 at the half.
Wellborn found little success on both sides of the ball. They were held to just 105 yards of total offense and 3 first downs in the first half.
Before Prestridge could take to the benches, Hester found his third touchdown (70 yard run) to start the second half.
“Hats off to our offensive line,” Prestridge said. “Anybody can run they the holes they are opening.”
The defense also got their hands in on some of the pay dirt after Joshua Holloway scooped up a Panthers fumble and returned it back for a 37 yard score and a 46-7 advantage with 9:45 remaining in the third.
Buck Heard put up the final touchdown for the Tigers before Prestridge called off the dogs.
“You want your second team to do something’s and get some experience. But we are one of those teams that won’t show anybody up. Never have, never will.”, said Prestridge.
Wellborn’s Kentrez Hunt scored the game’s final touchdown on an 81-yard burst with two minutes left in the third.
“Coming off Weaver, we had to burst (the players’) bubble a little bit this week,” Prestridge said. “There was too much happiness and not a lot of focus. We talked about it before we came out here tonight. Hats off to all our guys.”
The Tigers have one more test in their region gauntlet – No. 1 Saks on the road next week – but their victory over Wellborn keeps them in the hunt for the region title and a first round playoff hosting. The loss for Wellborn puts it on the outside needing a lot to go its way for the slightest chance at making it into the post season. – Jeremy Wortham
Randolph County 53, Wellborn 13
Team stats Well RC
First downs 5 21
Rushes-yds 28-305 40-491
Passes 2-5-0 1-1-0
Passing yds 5 20
Fumbles lost 2 0
Penalties-yds 5-30 3-25
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