Calhoun County roundup
- Updated: September 9, 2016
Alexandria scores first victory with shutout; No. 1 Piedmont remains undefeated; Jacksonville goes to 4-0; Ohatchee off to best start in years; Anniston shut out
Piedmont quarterback Taylor Hayes gets in the end zone for one of the five touchdowns he scored against Randolph County Friday night. (Photo by Jeremy Wortham/Tiger Den Photography)
By East Alabama Sports Today
BOAZ – Freshman Joseph Tucker was inserted into the lineup following the dismissal of Jamal Tucker and answered the call like a veteran.
The son of Alexandria head coach Frank Tucker thwarted Boaz’ opening possession with an interception he returned 85 yards for a touchdown and caught three two-point conversion passes as the Valley Cubs rose up from a tough week to grab their first win of the season, a 45-0 rout of Boaz.
Six different players scored touchdowns for the Valley Cubs (1-2), who avoided their first 0-3 start since 2010. Their defense, meanwhile, held Boaz to 114 net yards.
The Valley Cubs were without two of their top offensive weapons, Jamal Tucker and injured Keenan Woodruff, but they still rolled up 255 yards rushing and 284 yards of net offense. Grayson Chaffin was their leading rusher with 60 yards on 10 carries. Quarterback Quentin Bowie rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
The Pirates (0-3) have lost 10 in a row going back to last season. They have been shutout in their last two games and five of their last seven.
ALEXANDRIA 45, BOAZ 0
Alexandria 16 23 6 0 — 45
Boaz 0 0 0 0 — 0
A — Joseph Tucker 85 interception return (Quentin Bowie run), 6:01 1Q
A – Quentin Bowie 19 run (Joseph Tucker pass from Quentin Bowie), 1:02 1Q
A — Brandon Terrance 24 run (Joseph Tucker pass from Quentin Bowie), 8:07 2Q
A – Chase Smitherman 13 run (Joseph Tucker pass from Quentin Bowie), 7:15 2Q
A – Romeo Dye 5 run (Grayson Chaffin kick), 0:18 2Q
A — Nate McCallum 8 run (kick blocked) 2:27 3Q
Team stats Alex Boaz
First downs 14 12
Rushes-yds 40-255 46-93
Passing 1-1-0 2-7-2
Passing yds 29 21
Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-0
Punts-avg 1-41.0 NA
Penalties-yds 5-35 7-50
PIEDMONT 42, RANDOLPH COUUNTY 14
PIEDMONT – Senior quarterback Taylor Hayes rushed for 127 yards and five touchdowns while a patchwork defense held its opponent to 154 yards and scoreless in the second half as top-ranked 3A Piedmont rolled over region newcomer Randolph County.
It was the Bulldogs’ 14th straight win dating back to last season.
Hayes scored the Bulldogs’ first five touchdowns on runs of 11, 1, 1, 4 and 38 yards. The fifth one came on a fourth-down call after penalties pushed them from inside the 5 to out near the 40.
He now has 442 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns this season. He has 36 rushing touchdowns in his career and been responsible for 70 as a rusher or passer.
Lee Stanley was the Bulldogs’ leading rusher in the game with 137 yards. Layton New, who scored Piedmont’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter, had 31 yards on eight carries.
The Bulldogs changed up some of their defensive personnel this week due to injury, but that didn’t impact their effectiveness. They held the Tigers to 68 yards rushing and 86 yards passing.
“I thought Seth Gardner and Evan Cooper both came in and gave us some big plays,” Piedmont coach Steve Smith said. “The defensive line is one of our strengths but our depth has taken a hit there … but hats off to Gavin Kircus and Matthew Thornton for doing what they’ve been doing all year long and then excellent effort from Seth Gardner and Evan Cooper giving us some excellent minutes there.
“We’ve played four football against and against four really good quarterbacks. I think the pass rush as well as good coverage on the back end complemented each other really well.”
PIEDMONT 42, RANDOLPH COUNTY 14
Randolph County 6 8 0 0 — 14
Piedmont 21 7 0 14 — 42
P – Taylor Hayes 11 run (Easton Kirk kick), 8:34 1Q
R – Trent Lane 1 run (kick blocked), 4:22 1Q
P – Taylor Hayes 1 run (Easton Kirk kick), 3:19 1Q
P – Taylor Hayes 1 run (Easton Kirk kick), 1:36 1Q
R – Andrew Prestridge 4 run (conversion pass), 9:20 2Q
P – Taylor Hayes 4 run (Easton Kirk kick), 0:27 2Q
P – Taylor Hayes 38 run (Easton Kirk kick), 11:41 4Q
P – Layton New 6 run (Easton Kirk kick), 4:38 4Q
Team stats RC Pied
First downs 9 20
Rushing yds 68 361
Passing 7-11-1 3-6-0
Passing yds 86 27
Fumbles lost 2 2
Piedmont’s Carl Myers latches onto the leg of Trent Lane in hopes of bringing down the Randolph County ballcarrier before he gets to the end zone. (Photo by Jeremy Wortham/Tiger Den Photography)
JACKSONVILLE 31, HOKES BLUFF 27
HOKES BLUFF – Colton Clark threw the go-ahead touchdown pass to Taye Ackles with 1:34 left in the game and Josh Glass made it stand with a red-zone interception with eight seconds to play.
The touchdown, Ackles’ third of the game, covered 46 yards and capped a wild fourth quarter in which each team scored twice and Hokes Bluff took its first lead of the game with 3:45 to play on Landon Johnson’s third touchdown of the second half.
Ackles rushed for 143 yards on 13 carries, caught five passes for 88 yards and scored the first two touchdowns of the game on runs of 2 and 31 yards. He had a 69-yard dash that didn’t find the end zone.
Backfield mate Nico Richmond didn’t find the end zone, but he had 142 yards on 19 carries. Clark was 13 of 21 passing for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
In addition to his game-sealing interception, Glass made 12 tackles, two for loss.
JACKSONVILLE 31, HOKES BLUFF 27
Jacksonville 7 7 3 14 — 31
Hokes Bluff 0 7 7 13 — 27
J – Taye Ackles 2 run (Preston Harvey kick), 8:50 1Q
J – Taye Ackles 31 run (Preston Harvey kick), 8:14 2Q
HB – Zachary Allen 4 run (PAT kick), 3:57 2Q
J – Preston Harvey 30 FG, 6:03 3Q
HB – Landon Johnson 3 run (PAT kick), 5:13 3Q
J – Tommy Carr 13 pass from Colton Clark (Preston Harvey kick), 10:08 4Q
HB – Landon Johnson 3 run (PAT failed), 7:19 4Q
HB – Landon Johnson 1 run (PAT kick), 3:45 4Q
J – Taye Ackles 46 pass from Colton Clark (Preston Harvey kick), 1:34 4Q
OHATCHEE 47, PLEASANT VALLEY 7
OHATCHEE – The Ohatchee Indians find themselves in a place they haven’t been in very often, and they’re starting to like the view.
The Indians won their fourth game of the season, matching their win total of all last season. They haven’t started 4-0 since 2000, when they won their first eight, and they haven’t won four in a row in a season since the last four games of the 2003 regular season. Their carryover winning streak from 2015 is five.
They’ve outscored their opponents 201-46. They’ve been so impressive in their start, they might even find themselves in the statewide rankings for the first time in 160 polls this week if the voters are paying attention.
Against the Raiders they racked up 523 yards of offense – all on the ground. Austin Tucker rushed for 232 yards and three touchdowns. Jessie Sellers rushed for 136 yards and one score. And Taylor Eubanks rushed for 132 yards and two scores.
PV gained a respectable 209 total yards, but it couldn’t match the speed and the fury of the Indians. Both teams ran the ball 43 times, but Ohatchee averaged 12.2 yards per rush.
Dakota Jones scored Pleasant Valley’s touchdown on a 9-yard run, but the Indians immediately negated it when Chase Widgeon returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for another Ohatchee score.
OHATCHEE 47, PLEASANT VALLEY 7
Pleasant Valley 0 7 0 0 — 7
Ohatchee 20 7 20 0 — 47
O – Austin Tucker 1 run (kick failed), 11:52 1Q
O – Taylor Eubanks 43 run (run failed), 5:58 1Q
O – Austin Tucker 20 run (Taylor Eubanks run), 3:37 1Q
PV – Dakota Jones 9 run (Nick Howard kick), 1:37 2Q
O – Chase Widgeon 90 kickoff return (Christian Fitch kick), 0:42 2Q
O – Taylor Eubanks 38 run (Christian Fitch kick), 10:14 3Q
O – Austin Tucker 2 run (kick failed), 9:04 3Q
O – Jessie Sellers 2 run (Gage Harrell kick), 4:04 3Q
Team stats PV Ohat
First downs 11 17
Rushes-yds 43-139 43-523
Passing 8-15-3 0-2-0
Passing yds 70 0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Punts-avg 4-35.8 2-32.5
Penalties-yds 4-35 5-60
CHEROKEE COUNTY 36, ANNISTON 0
Tyren Dupree rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns and the Cherokee County defense scored a safety while holding Anniston off the board.
After giving up 89 points in their first two games, the Warriors (2-2) allowed only seven points the last two weeks. They held Anniston (0-3) to 108 net yards, 34 rushing.
It was actually the defense that opened the scoring when Zachary Fife tackled Anniston quarterback Marrio Dobbins in the end zone for a first-quarter safety. Dupree tacked on a pair of three-yard touchdown runs before halftime.
Riley Russell, Sidney Perry and Caden Hubbard ran for touchdowns in the second half. Jacob Graves rushed for 100 yards on 10 carries but did not score.
In addition to his rushing yards, Dupree threw for 112 yards on 6-of-12 passing.
L.J. Heard was Anniston’s leading rusher with 21 yards on seven carries. Jamaree West had all 74 of the Bulldogs’ receiving yards.
CHEROKEE COUNTY 36, ANNISTON 0
Cherokee County 2 15 6 13 — 36
Anniston 0 0 0 0 — 0
C – Safety, Zachary Fife tackles Marrio Dobbins in end zone
C – Tyren Dupree 3 run (James Sewell kick)
C – Tyren Dupree 3 run (Tyren Dupree run)
C – Riley Russell 1 run (kick failed)
C – Sidney Perry 1 run (James Sewell kick)
C – Caden Hubbard 5 run (kick failed)
Team stats Cher Ann
First downs 18 5
Rushes-yds 44-287 20-34
Passing 7-14-0 7-14-1
Passing yds 125 74
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Punts-avg 2-42.0 4-38.3
Penalties-yds 9-55 8-40
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