Piedmont, AL – Piedmont pulls away from Geraldine to clinch another region championship; also, Cherkoee County beats Etowah behind Frampton’s FG, Amos
By Kurt Duryea
Quarterback Jack Hayes, who already owns all-time state records for touchdown passes and touchdown responsibility, adding three more touchdowns to his ledger, leading the Bulldogs to a 42-16 Homecoming victory over Geraldine to seal their 18th region championship and move within one win of their first undefeated region season since 2017.
Hayes, making his 53rd career start at quarterback, ran for two scores and threw for another. He rushed for more than 100 yards for the eighth time in his career.
The Geraldine Bulldogs got the ball first and drove to the Piedmont 2 where a goal-line stand turned them away without points.
Piedmont then went on a 12-play, 98-yard drive that culminated with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hayes to Ish Bethel with 25.3 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Sloan Smith converted his first of five extra points.
Geraldine tied it early in the second quarter when quarterback Jaxon Colvin hooked up with Cody Satterfield for an 81-yard score. Moses Garcia made it 7-7 with his extra point. All three of Colvin’s completions in the game went to Satterfield, for 110 total yards.
Hayes engineered a 10-play, 72-yard scoring drive in a little less than three minutes that sent Piedmont into the locker room with a 14-7 advantage. Hayes covered the last seven yards on his own.
Hayes ripped off a 57-yard run on the first play from scrimmage in the second half and Parker Thornton went the last 18-yards to put Piedmont up 21-7.
Geraldine cut it to 21-13 on a nine-play, 69-yard drive capped by Caleb Hall’s one-yard plunge. Hall was its leading rusher with 36 yards on seven carries.
After recovering a Piedmont fumble inside the 10, Garcia kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 21-16.
Piedmont pulled away with three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth. Hayes had a 34-yard touchdown run, Cody Holloway converted from the 3 and Rhett Alford tacked on the final score with a 1-yard burst. Chase Cardelli hit the final extra point for Piedmont.
“I thought we took over the game in the fourth quarter by controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides,” Piedmont coach Steve Smith said. “We rushed for, I think, over 300 yards tonight so I was really proud of their effort.”
Twenty seniors were playing in their final Homecoming game for Piedmont.
“The thing that sets these seniors apart is that they still have the hunger to go out and play every week as if their trying to get their first win,” Smith said. “That’s special and it speaks to their competitive nature.”
Warriors ride Famous Amos
By Shannon Fagan
CENTRE – Jack Amos scored five touchdowns and Will Frampton kicked a tie-breaking 28-yard field goal with 1:51 left to lift Cherokee County over Etowah 45-42 to clinch a playoff spot and inch closer to a Class 4A Region 6 title.
Amos, a diminutive 5-foot-5, 145-pound senior, ran for 193 yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries and brought back one of his two first-quarter interceptions for a touchdown. He also had two interceptions on defense.
“I like being the smallest kid on the field. Everybody’s always like ‘There that little No. 1 goes,’” Amos said. “It hurts sometimes when you get hit, but you’ve just got to get right back up.”
“You talk about size this and size that, he took the game into his hands,” Warriors coach Jacob Kelley said. “You’re just in amazement of the things he did tonight. I ride him really, really hard, but I love the heck out of that kid. He was super-big for us tonight.”
Neither team led by more than a touchdown at any point in the game. The game was tied six times.
The Blue Devils (6-2, 5-1) tied it for the last time at 42 on Trace Thompson’s 47-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Scissum with 7:33 to play. Thompson was 20-of-35 for 378 yards passing and four touchdowns.
It appeared as if the Warriors (7-1, 4-1) may go back up another touchdown after marching down to the Blue Devil 1, but a bad snap to Jacob Cornejo on third down resulted in a 10-yard loss. Kelley brought on Frampton, whose field goal put them up for good.
“I just looked at the ball and kicked the ball,” Frampton said. “I never thought I’d actually be put in a situation like that. It’s surreal. It was nothing out of the ordinary. We do PAT and go field goal and special teams all week. This week it went really well.
“Last week I didn’t have a great game (against Fultondale), so I’m glad I got to come back this week and show what I could do.”
The Warriors needed one last stop to secure the win, and the defense came through. The unit prevented the Blue Devils from reaching midfield and Thompson’s fourth-down pass from the 41 fell incomplete with 9.4 seconds to go.
Cornejo finished with 127 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown for the Warriors.
Shannon Fagan is sports director for WEIS Radio.
| ETOW (42) | CHER (45) | |
| 22 | 1st Downs | 22 |
| 21-109 | Rushes-yds | 53-317 |
| 24-38-2 | Comp-Att-Int | 3-5-0 |
| 375 | Passing yds | 56 |
| 0-0 | Fumbles-lost | 0-0 |
| 1-46.0 | Punts-avg | 3-26.3 |
| 10-80 | Penalties-yds | 5-50 |
| Etowah (6-2, 5-1) | 0 | 21 | 7 | 14 – | 42 |
| Cherokee County (7-1, 4-1) | 7 | 14 | 14 | 10 – | 45 |
C – Jack Amos interception return (Will Frampton kick)
E – Trace Thompson 6 run (Julian Corona kick)
C – Jack Amos 2 run (Will Frampton kick)
E – Omareon Finch 58 pass from Trace Thompson (Julian Corona kick)
E – Andrew Pierce 43 pass from Trace Thompson (Julian Corona kick)
C – Jack Amos 7 run (Will Frampton kick)
E – Omareon Finch 8 pass from Trace Thompson (Julian Corona kick)
C – Jack Amos 11 run (Will Frampton kick)
C – Jack Amos 20 run (Will Frampton kick)
E – Briggs Freeman 15 run (Julian Corona kick)
C – Jack Amos 53 run (Will Frampton kick)
E – James Scissum 47 pass from Trace Thompson (Julia Corona kick)
C – Will Frampton 28 FG
