Steve Smith certainly has Sand Rock’s number of late.

The former Cedar Bluff head coach and current Piedmont skipper recorded his fourth straight win over the Wildcats last Friday, as his Bulldogs jumped all over Sand Rock for a 43-0 shutout and the Class 2A, Region 7 second seed.

Against a Wildcat defense that only once had allowed the opposition more than seven points, Piedmont hung six six-pointers on the Russell Jacoway Stadium scoreboard.

The loss dropped Sand Rock (7-2, 5-2) to third place in the region, while the Bulldogs (7-2, 6-1) earned a home playoff game for the first time since the early 1990’s.

The Wildcats will have to hit the road in Week 11 for the third consecutive season.

The bottom quickly dropped out for the hosts after coming out of the first quarter trailing only 7-0.

Piedmont scored touchdowns off its first three possessions of the second frame, including 14 points in the space of 56 seconds.

Halftime arrived with Sand Rock trailing 26-0, and matters didn’t improve over the contest’s final 24 minutes.

Out of their five completed second-half possessions, the ‘Cats went three-and-out three times and came up short on a fourth down conversion attempt while gaining a combined 16 yards.

 

Sand Rock’s only sustained series came early in the fourth quarter, when an 11-play, 43-yard drive ended on a failed fourth and 10 attempt at the ‘Dog 33-yard line.

The Calhoun County squad dominated on both sides of the ball, racking up 490 total yards while limiting the hosts to 113.

As evidenced by a 19-5 advantage in first downs, Piedmont moved the chains all night, despite bring flagged for 12 penalties for 105 yards.

The most telling statistic, however, was Sand Rock’s performance on third and fourth down conversions - a dismal 0-for-12.

“It definitely was a steamroll effect tonight,” said Sand Rock head coach Russell Jacoway. “We knew coming in how fast they were and we were hoping that it wouldn’t turn into a track meet. When it did, we got our heads down and things got ugly in a hurry. [Piedmont sophomore quarterback] Chase Childers has been running the ball real well lately, and he hurt us with some big gains. The best thing that we can do is forget about this and get ready for Spring Garden next week.”

Childers wound up rushing 14 times for 139 yards and a touchdown. He also completed 11-of-18 passes for 151 yards and a score.

D’Eric Jackson ran twice for 62 yards and a touchdown, while Marquis Diamond caught five passes for 59 yards.

A.J. Young caught three passes for 65 yards and a touchdown.

“This was by far the best game that we’ve played on both sides of the ball,” said Smith. “[Defensive coordinator] James Blanchard does a great job in preparing a game plan and exploiting weaknesses. Our other coaches (Tommy Lewis, Frankie Bramblett, Fred Taylor, Matt Glover and Everett Kelly) also do a great job in getting the kids ready to execute. Sand Rock has a better team than then the score indicated. We got a few turnovers and scored a few touchdowns and got some momentum and kept up the intensity.

“I’m very proud of the kids for their effort tonight. It’s been a long time since we hosted a playoff game, so this is a big win for the program.”

“These kids really stepped it up tonight and flew to the ball on every play,” added Blanchard. “The defense has improved so much since the beginning of the season.”

Logan Pearson led Sand Rock in rushing with eight carries for 30 yards.

Justin Mackey completed 11-of-28 passes for 55 yards.

Jake Thompson and Dex Vines each caught three passes.

Piedmont took the lead for good on the Bulldogs’ second possession of the game on Jackson’s 61-yard touchdown run and Diamond’s extra point at 3:23 of the first quarter.

The visitors struck again following the Wildcats’ third straight punt.

On a second down and 16 from the Piedmont 24, Childers found Jackson in stride on the left sideline for the 76-yard score.

Diamond tacked on the PAT, and Piedmont had a 14-0 lead at 8:48 of the second period.

Sand Rock’s misfortune continued on the next play from scrimmage, when Chris Griffie picked off his third pass of the season.

The ‘Dogs took over at the Sand Rock 27, and the game’s biggest play occurred on a first and 17 from the Piedmont 35.

Childers threw short to Griffie with what looked like a screen pass, but the latter lofted a bomb that Young gathered in at the ‘Cat 11-yard line.

Diamond took it in on the next play, and with 7:52 left in the half the visitors went ahead 20-0.

“I thought that was the turning point in the game,” said Smith. “It’s a play that we’ve been practicing all year but hadn’t used yet. It was a good opportunity to use it, and it was a good throw and a good catch.”

“That interception and quick touchdown really hurt us,” said Jacoway. “We need to have something good happen at that point, and all of a sudden we were down by 20 points.”

Thompson’s 50-yard return on the ensuing kickoff provided hosts with good field position at the Bulldog 45, but three straight pass incompletions forced yet another punt.

Piedmont was in business at the Wildcat 13, but Childers’ 25-yard run got the visitors out of trouble.

Young’s 30-yard reception got the ‘Dogs inside Sand Rock territory, and Kirk Pope’s 17-yard catch put the ball at the Sand Rock 3.

Childers cashed in on the next play, and with 3:57 remaining in the half the hosts were down by 26 points.

Daniel Hammett’s interception nine seconds later sent the teams into the locker room at 26-0.

After the teams exchanged punts early in the third quarter, the Bulldogs effectively put the game out of reach with a 61-yard, 11 play series that took almost seven minutes off the clock.

The drive featured nine straight running plays before Childers’s six-yard pass to Young set up Diamond’s 26-yard field goal with 3:17 left in the period, extending Piedmont’s advantage to 29-0.

The Bulldogs added two touchdowns in the final frame.

Christian Cantrell’s two-yard scoring run and Diamond’s PAT at 10:04 made it 36-0 in favor of the visitors, while Childers’ 30-yard touchdown and Diamond’s extra point capped the scoring with 5:48 left in the contest.

Chris McMahan led Sand Rock with eight tackles, including four for a loss. He also had two sacks.

Corey Adams had seven stops, followed by Matt Lee and Jared Anderson with six each. Andrew Humphrey had a sack.

Sand Rock hosts Spring Garden on Friday, while Piedmont closes out the regular season with a home game against Ranburne