Piedmont-Westwood Contest Ends in Tie

Last season’s football contest between Piedmont Academy and Westwood had more pre-game hype, but the matchup between the two schools this past Friday turned out to be a better one to watch.

Trailing 20-6 in the second half, the Cougars rallied to put two touchdowns on the board in the fourth quarter and converted a two-point conversion to force a tie.

Westwood’s final offensive possession was stopped on a fourth down pass incompletion with just under 10 seconds to play. The throw almost ended in an interception, which could have possibly been returned all the way for the Cougars.

Since the game was not a region contest, overtime was not played.

“Our coaching staff is very proud of the effort,” said coach Rhett Farmer. “I am proud of the character that our guys showed. I am proud of our intensity. We had told our players that the number one thing we would be looking for was effort. We were hot and tired and those things don’t always make for the best technique or best blocks, but we wanted them to show effort and they did just that.”

Junior quarterback Hunter Knox seemed to put the team on his shoulders in the second half. Knox scored a 3-yard touchdown with 10:10 left in the contest to pull Piedmont within eight points after the extra point attempt failed.

That series was set up by Westwood having to punt out of its own end zone. Hank Strickland returned the football to the Wildcat 15 to give the Cougars excellent field position.

Chris Cain and Mills Smith combined for a sack on the next defensive series for the Cougars and the offense took over following a punt and promptly marched 80 yards in seven plays. The key came on a 67-yard pass from Knox to Strickland to the Westwood 25-yard line.

Knox fought in for the score from a yard out and then just got across the goal line for the two-point conversion despite the protests of the Westwood coaching staff.

{{more}}“Coach Farmer had been telling me he wanted me to be a leader in our ground game,” Knox said. “I just kept working and eventually we were able to make some things happen.”

Farmer credited his quarterback for such a standout performance.

“Our quarterback kept us in the game when we were struggling offensively,” Farmer said. “I am very proud of how he did. Even though he didn’t throw the football very well, he kept us in the game with some gritty runs off of play-action passes. Hunter is such a tough runner for a kid his size.”

Piedmont took the game’s opening possession but was forced to go three and out. Westwood then moved 60 yards for the first score of the night on a 16-yard quarterback keeper with 8:37 left in the opening quarter.

Another three and out by the Cougars set the Wildcats up deep inside Piedmont territory, but the Piedmont defense forced Westwood to turn the football over on downs.

The Cougars got on the board with 5:26 left before halftime on a 69-yard run by Gaven Edge. It was the lone play of the possession. Piedmont continued to trail, however, 7-6 after the missed extra point.

Westwood added its second score on the first series of the second half, capped by a 2-yard run by J.T. Edore. This time it was the Wildcats who missed their extra point attempt.

On its second series of the third quarter, Westwood appeared set to possibly put the game out of reach on an 8-yard quarterback keeper with 3:01 left in the third and a 20-6 advantage.

Two touchdowns in the game’s final quarter by Piedmont, however, had the teams ending in a tie.

“Defensively, we made some mistakes but we were great in the hustle department,” Farmer said. “Our secondary needs to play better. We missed a couple of coverages. Our secondary did tackle better than they have in the past.”

Britton Bailey was credited by Farmer for making “good open-field tackles.

Strickland was also praised for his defensive effort.

“We never like to give up 20 points but those were 20 points Westwood had to earn,” Farmer said. “We never gave up the home run play.”

Piedmont players also seemed to have more energy late in the game despite the warm and humid evening.

“Both teams were tired, but we did seem to have a little more left by the end of the contest,” Farmer said. “I do know we’ve never been so banged up this early in the season. That was a very physical game between two old-fashioned teams.”

“It was a very physical game,” said sophomore lineman Mike Weatherly. “It was one of the better games I’ve been involved with. We never gave up and while we wanted to win, a tie is certainly better than a loss.”

Playing well against a solid opponent was also something the Piedmont players wanted to accomplish.

“Westwood always has a good team,” Bailey said. “The game shows you can never give up, regardless of how much time is left or how much the other team is in front by.”

First-year defensive coordinator Jeff Kent said he liked how his players looked at times on the field.

“We have a ways to go, but we put a lot of hats on the football and that’s something we are looking for,” Kent said. “We had three big fourth down stops. In the second half, we gave up more points but I think we played better. When it got to be crunch time we took advantage of the mistakes Westwood made.

“We’ll continue to work on some things in our secondary. It’s a journey but we are getting there. We are only going to improve from here.”

Mills Smith had seven tackles, including one for a loss and two sacks. Malik Reid had nine total tackles, six of which were solo.

“Our defensive line played well overall,” Kent said. “We made some big stops and big plays. Our defensive front kept their linemen off our linebackers which allowed the players at that position to make several tackles.”

Piedmont is preparing this week for Friday’s road trip to Trinity in Dublin.

“They are scary because of their big play capability,” Farmer said. “We will have our work cut out for us. They have a big quarterback (Gunnar Dixon) who can throw it. Our secondary will have to do a better job coverage wise.”

Kent said the Crusaders will spread the field and run their offense from the Pistol formation.

“This will give us a chance to do some different things defensively,” Kent said.

“They did show some double tight end, wishbone sets in the second half against Sherwood (a 44-0 win). They have some good athletes with good size. It will be a completely different look from what Westwood did. It’s simply a different style.”

Trinity is now coached by Sam Barrs, who has well over 100 career victories.

 STATS VS WESTWOOD

Offense:

•Gaven Edge, 7 carries for 82 yards, 1 TD

•Hunter Knox, 19 carries for 51 yards, 2 TDs, one 2-point conversion, 1-of-8 for 67 yards

•Dylan Efird, 2 carries for 3 yards

•Hank Strickland, 1 catch for 67 yards, 1 punt return for 24 yards

Defense:

•Malik Reid: six solo tackles, nine total

•Mills Smith, seven tackles, one for loss, two sacks