Cougars Win Region Title
The 2014 Piedmont Academy football team added another region championship to its program’s history Friday night defeating rival Flint River 42-20 in Woodbury.
In addition to the region championship, the Cougars are a No. 1 seed for the GISA Class AA state playoffs and have earned a bye this week. Piedmont finishes the regular season 8-1 overall (one game was cancelled in the second quarter due to weather conditions and was not considered an official contest.)
For coach Wes Tanner, Friday’s win by his team helped earn him his first region title as a head football coach. Tanner, who was defensive coordinator for several seasons at Piedmont before being the head coach at Covenant Academy in 2013, returned to Cougar program as head coach this past summer.
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“We did what we had to do,” Tanner said. “The atmosphere was not great and we played down to that. For the first two and a half quarters, we did not play our best.”
The Cougars led just 7-6 at halftime and Flint River took a 12-7 lead midway through the third quarter. It was a run by fullback Jeremiah Dave who helped spark Piedmont. Dave finished the contest with 114 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries.
“He broke a fullback dive for about 30 yards and it got us going,” Tanner said. “He broke several tackles and that play got us going in the right direction. We scored 28 points in about a 10-minute span. That one play changed our mind set offensively and defensively.”
The Cougar defense limited Flint River to one first down during that stretch in which the game’s momentum completely flipped.
“Zach Beggs actually told me we needed to put Jeremiah in at fullback,” Tanner said. “It was a great decision but he helped turn the game and give us a much-needed spark.”
It was another strong performance by the players in the trenches for Piedmont as the offensive line cleared the way for 400 yards on the ground. Hunter Knox continued his standout season, once again rushing for 276 yards on 26 attempts with two scores.
As a No. 1 seed, Piedmont will have a bye this Friday as the state playoffs begin. Tanner said the team would treat this bye week the same as the one earlier in the year. The Cougars won’t concentrate on a single opponent, rather work on things to improve their own play.
“It also gives us some rest and healing time for some players,” Tanner said. “At this point in the season, you are always going to have some players banged up who will benefit from having a Friday night off.”
Players of the Week:
•Offense: Offensive line (Clay Kirkpatrick, Payden Cantera, Nolan Cleary, Hunter Burson, Chris Cain and Michael Edwards)
•Defense: Gaven Edge
•Special Teams: Chase Young
•Overall: Hunter Knox
STATS VS. FLINT RIVER
•Hunter Knox: 26 carries for 276 yards, 4 TDs
•Jeremiah Dave: 7 carries for 114 yards, 2 TDs
•Zach Beggs: 5 carries for 6 yards; 1-of-2 passing for 5 yards
•Hank Strickland: 1 carry for 3 yards
•Michael Edwards: 1 catch for 5 yards