The Highlanders could not connect the dots Nov. 2. Mt. Eden’s relentless offense put up 31 points to the Highlander’s 0.
Piedmont started out strong, forcing a Mt. Eden punt on their first drive, but the Monarchs rebounded, running one in to go up 7-0.
At the end of the first half, Piedmont put together a solid drive to set themselves up for a 36-yard field goal, but junior Ale Chiodo’s kick was blocked. Until halftime, the White and Gold held off the Highlanders.
The Highlanders came out in the 2nd half with a 25-yard pass to senior Charles Tuan, but the drive was not productive.
Mt. Eden then turned up the heat, scoring 10 more unanswered points.
Piedmont showed signs of life, but Mt. Eden’s defense forced a turnover on downs at their own 28.
On the next play, the Mt. Eden running back broke loose to the outside for a 72-yard run, but was taken down by a Piedmont defender at the 1/2 yard line. Mt. Eden scored on the next play.
Piedmont’s run defense was sub-par, and Mt. Eden took advantage. Mt. Eden stuck to the run in the second half, and scored another 3 TDs.
Seven players sustained injuries during the game.
“The injuries caused people to play out of position which led to more injuries, and led to a lot of confusion in our offense, defense, and special teams,” running back junior Michael Tam said.
Piedmont never got within the red zone.
“We weren’t together,” linebacker senior Gavin Moscone said. “We lost hope. We just got down on ourselves and couldn’t pick it back up.”
The final score was 31-0. The Highlanders are entering NCS playoffs next week. Their opponent and the location of the game are to be decided.
“It’s depressing [to lose], but if you look back at our season we have good things to think about,” running back senior Kyle Dalton said. “We’re not getting down on ourselves just because of one game.”
The team will have to bounce back from this shutout loss.
“We’ll be moving a lot of sophomores up to varsity which will give us more depth, and that will help us a lot,” Tam said.
Seniors Andy Slabaugh, Ryan Sullivan, Leland Howard, Jake Pacheco, Kyle Dalton, Ryan Ellis, William Meredith, Aaron Fahey, Charles Tuan, Milo Davis, Gavin Moscone, Teddy Heafey, and Steven Tulley were honored before the game as part of the senior night celebration.
The student section’s chants never caught on, except for a “daddy long legs!” chant referencing 6’4’’ senior Leland Howard, one of the tallest players on team.
