Cougars Fall to AAA Foe on Road

The Piedmont Academy football team played up in classification last week dropping a 21-7 contest to Class AAA Pinecrest on the road.

The Paladians, who moved to 4-1 with the win, took advantage of two big plays in the first half to hold off the pesky Cougars. Pinecrest had a fumble recovery deep in Piedmont territory for its first score and a blocked punt to set up its second score late in the first half.
“We moved the football at times, but we can’t seem to get the big play,” said Cougar coach Rhett Farmer, whose team is now 2-2 overall.

Piedmont had 150 yards passing and Farmer noted his receivers played well in the contest. Quarterback Alex Hall was the team’s Player of the Week as he also rushed for the lone score.
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“Our running game struggled,” the coach said. “They put eight men in the box and if we can’t run the football then we aren’t accomplishing what we need to.”

The turnovers were also costly to the Cougars’ chances.
“When you are trying to keep the game low scoring, you can’t turn it over,” Farmer said.

The special teams miscue disappointed the Piedmont coach since he said it is a point of emphasis in practice each week.

The Cougars will hope to rebound this week at Homecoming against Griffin Christian in a 7:30 p.m. start. The Crusaders are 3-1 coming into this week’s contest with impressive victories on their resume against Strong Rock and Nathanael Greene.

“They are a young program getting better,” Farmer said. “They have some weapons on offense. They will spread us out. We are going to have our work cut out for us. This is not going to be a cake walk.”

This week’s opponent is known to operate out of the I-formation as well as use a one-back set and shotgun formation.

Defensively, Griffin Christian runs a 5-2 look, similar to Piedmont in many aspects, Farmer said.
Other than normal bumps and bruises, the Piedmont coach said the team is healthy but noted even early this week the entire school continues to battle a flu strain which has caused many players and students to be out. The school was even closed a few days last week.

“It makes it hard to practice when it comes to working on consistency,” Farmer said. “We hope to get everyone well and get something consistent going.”

STATS VS. PINECREST
OFFENSE:
Peter Lawson: 2 carries for 4 yards
Alex Hall: 8-of-16 passing for 148 yards; 5 carries for 21 yards, 1 TD
Blake Hammock: 15 carries for 53 yards, 2 receptions for18 yards
Zach Benjamin: 2 receptions for 49 yards
Dylan Collins: 1 reception for 27 yards
Rhett Roberts: 2 receptions for 35 yards
Dakota Collins: 6 carries for 18 yards, 1 reception for 19 yards
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Bryce Kinard: 1-for-1 PAT
DEFENSE:
Peter Lawson: 2 solos and 3 assists
Austin Mitcham: 3 solos (1 for loss), 16 assists
Buddy Morrison: 1 solo and 11 assists
Zach Benjamin: 1 assist and 1 interception
Dylan Collins: 1 solo and 5 assists
Rhett Roberts: 2 solos and 4 assists
Dakota Collins: 2 solos and 8 sssists
Daniel Leinweber: 1 solo and 1 assist
Jakey Dunagan: 1 solo and 2 assists
Luke Harvey: 3 solos and 6 assists
Matt Wilson: 3 solos and 5 assists
Dane Adams: 1 assist
Drew Odegard: 1 assist
PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Alex Hall