PIEDMONT – Just call Piedmont senior defensive back Omarion Foster the drive killer.
The Bulldogs were on their heels a bit on the Cherokee County Warriors’ first drive of the game. From their own 2-yard line, the Warriors marched down inside the red zone behind the bullish running of Damien Ramsey in 10 plays, but then penalties backed them up to force a third-and-long passing situation.
That’s when Foster came up with his first big play of the night. He intercepted a Cade Hopper pass in the end zone and returned it back to the 38-yard line. Piedmont’s offense put together a touchdown drive from there to take the lead.
But Foster wasn’t content with making just one interception. He picked off another Hopper pass on the Warriors’ second drive of the night, returning it all the way down to the Warrior 2-yard line, which resulted in another Piedmont score.
Foster’s interceptions were the catalysts that led the Class 3A, No. 2 Bulldogs to a 27-0 season-opening win. It was the 10th straight victory Piedmont has posted over its Highway 9 rival, and it also broke the all-time series tie. The Bulldogs now lead the series 38-37-3.
“I was just playing my position,” he said. “I was just there when he threw it, and I broke on the ball. If I know my receiver is on his route, then I try to scan the quarterback a little, then I go back on the ball wherever he throws it.
“I was glad to get a turnover. That’s what we needed.”
“Obviously those (interceptions) were big,” Piedmont coach Steve Smith said. “They had taken that opening drive when they misplayed the kickoff. We had them pinned back at their own 2-yard line, and then they had driven that thing to about our 20. They got a penalty that put them in a long-yardage situation. We got some pretty good pressure on the quarterback and the ball just kind of hung up down the middle. He made that first one in our end zone.
“The second one, he intercepted it and ran it back to their 2, and we scored on the next play. That was all the points in the first half, and that was pretty much our offense. I think we only had four possessions in the first half.”
A game that started out with promise for the Warriors (0-1) quickly turned sour.
“They were drive killers,” Cherokee County coach Jacob Kelley said of Foster’s picks. “Cade knows better. The thing about it is we had other guys wide open. The first one, the corner on the one-receiver side went all the way over to make an interception. There was nobody on the one receiver. He was running down the field on a go-route. Cade’s got to make better decisions, especially when you’ve got CJ (Gresham) out there basically one-on-one. Those (interceptions) definitely set them up with a short field.
“Right now, our inconsistencies on offense are making it hard for us to be competitive. It’s really that simple.”
After Foster’s first interception, Piedmont (1-0) scored its first touchdown on a 7-yard Brayden Morgan run. Sloan Smith’s extra point made it 7-0 Bulldogs with 2:54 remaining in the first quarter.
Following Foster’s second pick, Piedmont quarterback Jack Hayes scored on a 2-yard run 1:10 after the Bulldogs’ first score to take a 14-0 lead.
Piedmont was driving again early in the second quarter, but Mother Nature stalled that one with an hour-and-16-minute weather delay.
After the rain and lightning left the Field of Champions, the two teams finished the final 6:25 of the second quarter, with the Bulldogs still maintaining their two-touchdown advantage.
Piedmont received the second-half kickoff and marched 82 yards in just five plays, with the end result a 61-yard Hayes-to-Morgan touchdown toss. Sloan Smith’s third extra point pushed Piedmont out to a 21-0 lead.
Parker Thornton scored on a 5-yard run with just under two minutes remaining in the game for the final.
Morgan led the Bulldog ground attack with 75 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. Hayes had 72 yards and a score on 13 totes. He was also 5-of-7 passing for 120 yards and a touchdown.
Ramsey topped the Warrior ground game with 111 yards on 19 carries. Lamycal Mitchell added 50 yards on 11 attempts.
Hopper completed 12-of-27 pass attempts for 116 yards and three interceptions.
“We let it get away from us,” Kelley said. “It’s just the inconsistencies, the penalties, the things that get us in third-and-long situations. The defense can key in on what we’re about to do. If we don’t make good decisions, then obviously bad things happen.
“I’m proud of Damien and proud of Lamycal getting in there. It was his first varsity snaps, and I thought he did a great job. We’ve just got to use this, watch the film and get better. We’ve got a lot of young guys. They’re learning on the fly, but I thought they did a whole lot better tonight than they did against Trion (in a scrimmage on Aug. 13). We tackled better tonight for three quarters. We’ve just got to stay in it for 48 minutes. We’ve got to use this to get better.”
Cherokee County travels to Springville next Friday, while Piedmont opens Class 3A, Region 5 play at Saks.
