Boys football heads to Ferndale for semis
The Piedmont High School boys football pulled away in the second half from visiting Fortuna for a 42-26 win at Witter Field on Nov. 15 in the first round of the North Coast Section Division 7 playoffs.
The third-seeded Highlanders now will head off on a long drive up to No. 2 Ferndale for the semifinal on Nov. 23. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. The winner will face the winner of the Del Norte-Moreau Catholic game on the weekend of Nov. 29-30 at a site to be determined.
“It was a pretty typical playoff game,” Piedmont coach Jordan Seiden said. “Kind of feeling each other out (in the first half). We haven’t played too many teams that have played that kind of offense. Then putting some drives together. We exploded for 29 points in the second half.”
The Highlanders led just 13-12 at halftime. Tommy Ashton rushed for 76 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries with all three touchdowns in the second half.
Piedmont got the ball to start the second half and went on a six-play, 67-yard drive with Ashton running the ball in from the 3. Quarterback Markos Lagios ran in the two-point conversion to make it 21-12.
The Highlanders defense stuffed Fortuna running back Scott Sederberg on a fourth-and-1 at the Huskies 47 to force a turnover on downs. Piedmont then went 47 yards in six plays with Lagios hitting Xavier Henderson on a 14-yard touchdown pass.
Fortuna wasn’t done, getting a 35-yard touchdown run from Sederberg to make it 28-20. But Henderson returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to put the Highlanders back in control.
Lagios finished 14 of 17 for 245 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 69 yards and a score on six rushes. Sam Shelby caught eight passes on eight targets for 191 yards.
Ashton also had seven solo and five assisted tackles to lead the defense. Cash Elmquist had six solo and one assisted tackle while Henderson had five solo and nine assisted tackles including a tackle for loss. Miguel Long had an interception.
Marko Limon led the Huskies with 109 yards and a touchdown on 16 rushes. Kameron Elam completed just six of 14 passes for 82 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
The win was the first playoff win for Piedmont since Nov. 10, 2017 when the Highlanders beat Lower Lake, 24-19 in the first round of the NCS Division IV playoffs. Piedmont last won two playoff games in 2016 when the Highlanders defeated Lower Lake and Kennedy-Fremont before losing to eventual champion Cardinal Newman in the Division IV semifinals.
Piedmont now has to make the 260-mile drive for the semifinals. Not only that, with the expected rain, the grass field at Ferndale is expected to be muddy.
“They’re hoping they have a slick, muddy field which is to their benefit,” Seiden said. “It slows us down. At the end of the day it comes down to blocking and tackling.”
Ferndale beat Vallejo on that field last week, 35-20. The Wildcats run the Wing-T, according to Seiden, and don’t throw the ball very much. Quarterback Tanner Pidgeon completed four of his five passes against Vallejo for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Garyn McClurg ran 20 times for 93 yards and a touchdown, Prescott Langer carried 16 times for 89 yards and Pidgeon rushed 11 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
Seiden mentioned the field would be an issue but also said playoff teams have to overcome those things.
“We’ll have to make the adjustments on the fly,” he said. “We’ll have to see what the field is. They have to play on it too. They may have a little more accumen, may be more used to it. There’s no magical potion to deal with that.”
From the Highlander’s Facebook page:
Come help send of your 2024 Highlander Football as they travel to Ferndale, CA for their CIF NCS Semi-Final Game. The Piedmont Gridiron Club will be serving donuts and coffee for all those who come out.