Cougars Fall To Trinity, Sharpsburg
Injuries continue to take a toll on the Piedmont Academy football team.
The Cougars fell 27-7 to Trinity, Sharpsburg on the road Friday and will look to piece a lineup together this week when they travel to Windsor Academy in Macon.
With front line players Gaven Edge, Cameron Hammock and Britton Bailey out of Friday’s contest, coach Rhett Farmer shuffled the offensive backfield once the game began. Quarterback Hunter Knox moved to tailback and was having an effective night before he was sidelined with a concussion.
Knox’s status is not clear for this week, but it is probable he will miss action. He finished with 113 yards on 13 carries, all in the first half. He also passed for 47 yards during his time at quarterback.
“Our first drive of the game we made some plays,” Farmer said. “We threw it well early on some play action. We kept the football for a while. At the end of the day, Trinity’s depth, combined with our injuries, equaled not being able to finish the job. It wasn’t because of our effort.”
The defense played well as a whole in the setback to Trinity, Sharpburg.
“Our defense played a great, great game against a talented team,” Farmer said. “We didn’t tackle well at times, especially their quarterback. He made a couple of throws while we were taking him to the ground. We had actually seen him do that on film.”
The Piedmont coach said he does not like to find too many positives in a loss, but he was pleased with how his younger players performed.
“Our kids are frustrated, but they are giving good effort,” Farmer said.
Dylan Efird played quarterback once Knox was moved to tailback. Hank Strickland started the game in the backfield but was dealing with shoulder issues, prompting the decision to move Knox.
“We are as banged up and depleted as I’ve ever seen,” Farmer said.
Several players registered carries for the Piedmont offense. In addition to Knox and Strickland, Austin Taylor, Ben Davis, Malik Reid and Chris McClain all rushed for yardage.
Piedmont will travel to Windsor this Friday. The Knights are 0-5 overall and 0-1 in Region 1-AA. Piedmont enters the game 0-5-1 overall but Farmer noted his team has not begun its region schedule yet.
“We have run the gauntlet now with our schedule even though we don’t have much to show for it,” Farmer said. “No one has played a non-region schedule like we have. The tie against Westwood shows what we are capable of. We are battled tested. Every game has been a war and it’s taken a toll on us physically.”
It was a big night defensively for several players including Reid (22 tackles), Evan Harvey (18 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles), Chris Cain (13 tackles, one sack), Efird (11 tackles), Zach Whitwell (eight tackles) and Mills Smith (six tackles).
The Windsor Knights have used a Wing-T offense with some I formation. Defensively, Windsor will play a 3-5 look.
Piedmont defensive coordinator Jeff Kent said his players will have to be ready for numerous formations.
“They are trying numerous things,” Kent said. “I think they are still trying to find their offensive identity.”
The Cougars continue to improve each week defensively, their coordinator said.
“We are getting better each week,” said Kent. “We are about on track of where we need to be. It was good to see some of our young players compete last week. It’s good to get them experience at the varsity level. We expect them to contribute against Windsor this Friday.”
STATS vs. Trinity, Sharpsburg
Offense
•Hunter Knox: 13 rushes for 113 yards, 1 TD, 2-of-6 passing for 47 yards
•Dylan Efird: 6 carries for 2 yards
•Hank Strickland: 8 carries for 13 yards
•Austin Taylor: 1 catch for 34 yards, 2 carries for 2 yards
•Ben Davis: 1 catch for 13 yards, 2 carries for 5 yards
•Malik Reid: 4 carries for 5 yards
•Chris McClain: 3 carries for 18 yards
Defense
•Malik Reid: 22 tackles
•Evan Harvey: 18 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles
•Chris Cain: 13 tackles, one sack
•Dylan Efird: 11 tackles
•Zach Whitwell: 8 tackles
•Mills Smith: 6 tackles
•Ben Davis: 3 tackles, fumble recovery
•Austin Taylor: 5 tackles, two pass deflections
•Wyatt Galloway: 3 tackles
•McKenzie Brittain: 2 tackles, two fumble recoveries
•Hank Strickland: 1 tackle, one pass deflection