Wild Rally Gives Cougars Fifth Straight Region Title
The Piedmont Academy football team has won some exciting games throughout its history.
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However, Friday night’s victory against Flint River for the Region 4-AA title will likely be talked about for years to come. The Cougars, who trailed by three touchdowns at halftime, capped a furious rally for a 30-27 overtime win on the road in Woodbury.
Josh Hempel’s 37-yard field goal proved to be the difference.
“It’s a game I’ve already watched several times again,” said Piedmont coach Rhett Farmer. “It hasn’t been so much for breaking the game down, but simply because it was such a remarkable comeback. It was a special win and as crazy a game as I’ve ever seen.”
Host Flint River jumped out to a 21-0 advantage in the first half and appeared well on its way to the region title. However, some halftime adjustments by the Cougar coaching staff helped turn the tide.
Farmer credited his coaching staff of Wes Tanner, Bubba Nelson, Keith Mason, Josh Daher, and Alvin Hawkes for their work in the victory.
“Our kids also deserve so much credit,” Farmer said. “Our defense played with its back against the wall all night. Our offense put the defense in some holes at times. We challenged our players at half time. It was a message of what do you do when you face adversity.”
In the second half, Piedmont slowly began climbing back into the contest. The first offensive play from scrimmage was a 54-yard pass play for the Cougars. Farmer said Coach Daher had noticed something in the Flint River defensive alignment that the team could take advantage of and it worked.
A quick score cut the lead to 21-6 and the Piedmont defense then forced a three-and-out. The Cougars then trimmed the deficit to 21-13 and then 21-19. Piedmont missed a possible tying two-point conversion to continue to trail by two points.
The defense then made another play as Hempel caused a fumble after reaching the Flint River quarterback. Farmer said Hempel has been a standout in the two region games this season.
Gaven Edge then rushed 28 yards for a score, which put the Cougars on top by six points after a successful two-point conversion. That two-point play turned out to be huge as Flint River would score on the final play of regulation to tie the game. All the Wildcats needed then was to kick the extra point for the win.
Piedmont, however, went with its “all out block” package on the extra point attempt and Hank Strickland was credited with the block which forced overtime.
“I thought I was going to be sick when they scored that touchdown,” Farmer said. “We saved ourselves with a great special teams play.”
In overtime, Flint River took the first possession but Austin Taylor forced a fumble and the Cougars took over needing simply to put any points on the board to win.
Farmer said the plan was not to let Flint River have another possession.
“We were very basic in our play calling,” the coach said.
The plan worked as Hempel drilled the game-winning field goal to set off the championship celebration.
While the victory was huge for the program, the one downside from the game resulted in senior Peter Lawson now out for the season after suffering a broken collarbone. Lawson rushed for 146 yards on 36 carries Friday night.
Edge moved to tailback during the overtime and will likely get plenty of work at the position this week as the Cougars begin the playoffs.
The GISA Class AA playoffs have been changed to a four-round format for 2012. Piedmont will host Brentwood this week in an opening round game at 7:30 p.m.
The Cougars and Eagles have met several times in recent years both in the regular season and the playoffs. Brentwood defeated Piedmont 14-6 in a game from early this season.
Farmer said the teams have both been through a great deal since that meeting. Brentwood standout Garrett Riggs did not play in the first meeting this season but will be ready to go this Friday. Piedmont will be without its top rusher in Lawson.
“We will have our hands full,” Farmer said. “Defensively, we have people in different spots now. Brentwood is a quality team from a tougher region.
The Eagles have run the Wing-T offense for years and will use a 4-4 and 5-3 defensive look.
“We struggled blocking them in the first game,” Farmer said. “I think we have improved defensively and offensively. We have gone a step back with Peter being out. We’ve also improved in our special teams play after struggling in that area early. Special teams helped us win last Friday.”
The Piedmont coaches were back to work following Friday’s thrilling win to begin preparing for Brentwood.
“It’s always fun to play an old rival,” said Cougar defensive coordinator Wes Tanner. “ As always, they are extremely well coached and we will have to perform and execute at a high level. They have some very talented skill players and are definitely not your normal No. 4 seed. We will have a good game plan in place and the guys will have to play at the same intensity level we did last week.”
STATS vs. FLINT RIVER
Offense:
•Peter Lawson: 36 carries for 146 yards and 2 TDs
•Hunter Knox: 9 carries for 24 yards and 1 TD, 4 for 9 passing for 112 yards and 2 INTs
•Nick Dimsdale: 3 carries for 5 yards, 2 receptions for 40 yards
•Gaven Edge: 2 carries for 6 yards, one 57 yd reception
•Hank Strickland: 15 yd. reception
Defense:
•Peter Lawson: 6 solos, 5 assists.
•Malik Reid: 5 solos, 10 assists
•Hunter Clark: 6 solos, 5 assists
•Austin Taylor: 3 solos, 5 assists, 1 pass break-up, forced fumble and fumble recovery in overtime
•Mills Smith: 1 solo, 1 assist
•Nick Dimsdale: 2 solos, 3 assists
•Hank Strickland: 1 solo, 3 assists, 1 pass-break up
•Hunter Knox: 2 solos, 4 assists and 1 pass break up
•Gaven Edge: 1 QB sack, 4 solos, 3 assists, fumble recovery returned 28 yards for touchdown
•Payden Cantera: 1 solo, 2 assists
•Justin Autry: 1 solo
•Josh Hempel: 2 solos, 6 assists, 1 QB sack and 1 forced fumble
•Kenzie Brittain: 2 solos, 2 assists
•Christopher Cain: 1 assist
Special teams:
•Josh Hempel: 1-of-2 on PATs, 37-yard game winning field goal in overtime
•Hank Strickland: blocked PAT to send game into overtime