PIEDMONT – All it took for Piedmont senior running back Jamaal Johnson to get fired up Saturday night was getting his bell rung by Hokes Bluff defender Dakota Hallmark late in the second quarter.

From that point on, it was Johnson who started ringing loud and clear for the Bulldogs.

Johnson rushed for 125 yards on 12 carries and scored a pair of second-half touchdowns to lead Class 3A, No. 4 Piedmont to a 29-6 victory over the Eagles.

The contest was the season-opener for both teams, which was played a day later than scheduled due to thunderstorms that swept through the Piedmont area on Friday. Those storms forced a postponement with 5:55 left in the first quarter.

“It just made me mad and made me play harder,” Johnson said of the hit. “I just did what I had to do in the second half. Coach (Steve Smith) gave us a speech (at halftime) and told us we had to come together as a team, and we started playing as a team.”

Smith called Johnson “as tough as a pine knot.”

“A lot of people think Jamaal’s flashy, but he’s not flashy. Jamaal’s tough and physical and hard-nosed, and I think he showed that tonight coming back from that lick and making some plays.”

The hit – and what transpired after it – was a microcosm of how the game went.

Piedmont (1-0, 1-0 Class 3A, Region 6) had taken Hokes Bluff’s best punch in the mouth in the first half. A 7-yard Cole Frederick touchdown with 4:19 to go in the first quarter gave the Eagles (0-1, 0-1) a 6-0 lead.

The score was a costly one for the Eagles, who lost Frederick for the rest of the game with a left knee injury.

Frederick finished the game with 56 yards on eight carries.

“Once he went down, I think that affected us mentally as much as physically,” Hokes Bluff coach Mike Robertson said. “Piedmont’s got a good team, and we knew physically they were pretty tough. I thought we challenged them pretty good, but it looked like they wore us down in the fourth quarter.”

The Bulldogs managed to block Evan Farabee’s extra point to keep it at a 6-0 margin heading to the locker room at the half.

But when both teams came back out in the third quarter, it was the Bulldogs who were doing most of the swinging in the form of a power running game.

Piedmont took the third-quarter kickoff and marched 55 yards in 10 plays, resulting in Johnson’s first touchdown of the night – a 1-yard burst up the middle with 7:02 to go in the quarter. Chris Strott added the extra point to make it 7-6 Bulldogs.

However, Hokes Bluff didn’t back down. After Johnson fumbled the football, which was recovered by the Eagles’ Colton Shaw, Hokes Bluff managed to drive down to the Piedmont 9.

But, on 4th-and-goal, a 26-yard field goal by Justin Blanton sailed wide of the mark to begin the fourth quarter.

From there, Piedmont drove 80 yards in just seven plays, with Johnson scoring his second touchdown on a 42-yard blast to the right side after bouncing off a would-be tackler. Strott’s point after was good, giving the Bulldogs a 14-6 lead with 8:10 to go in the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, Hallmark fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Piedmont’s Coltin Allison. The recovery set the Bulldogs up at the Hokes Bluff 15. Two plays later, Jamie Major punched it in from 15 yards.

After Hokes Bluff was flagged for being off sides, the Bulldogs went for two. Major lined up behind center in the Wild Bulldog formation and rushed in for the conversion, putting Piedmont in front 22-6 with 7:47 to go in the game.

“Having fresh legs was what really helped us at the end,” said Major, who rushed for 53 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. “We really weren’t getting anything going on passes, so we just lined up and drove it down their throat.

“Like Coach Smith said, if we could dodge their best punch and be down only 6-0, we’ve just got to get ourselves rolling. The second half, we came out and did what he said. The O-line started blocking and everybody just came through. Everybody started clicking.”

The Bulldog defense, led by senior nose tackle Mickey Jackson, stuffed the Eagles on their next offensive series, forcing a punt.

Piedmont then went on a 6 play, 42-yard drive in which Mookie Jackson scored on a 1-yard run. Jackson’s touchdown put the game out of reach with 2:49 to play, and gave Piedmont the 29-6 victory. Jackson ended the game with 65 yards on eight carries with a score.

“We came out in the second half, and I won’t say we had a role-reversal, but we went under center which doesn’t happen a lot for us,” Smith said. “We started playing power football, and really that’s kind of our strength right now on our team.

“We’ve got a good stable of backs, and we were able to keep fresh backs in and out right there. I think that was a big thing, but the difference in the game was our offensive and defensive lines took over in the second half. Those are the guys the credit should go to for the turnaround in this game. Our backs just had some nice holes to run in.”

Farabee led the Eagle passing game by completing 6 of 10 passes for 108 yards. Hallmark finished with four catches for 68 yards.