Football Cougars Win,47-14

Piedmont Academy’s football team overcame several unusual events last week but when all was said and done, the Cougars were able to begin their Region 1-AA schedule with a convincing victory against Bethlehem Temple.

At the beginning of the week, Piedmont did not think it was going to be playing but a mix up with the schedule by the GISA caused the Cougars to, in fact, be on the field last Friday. The Cougars made the journey to West Georgia for the contest and came home with a 47-14 win.

“We started region with a win and that’s the main positive we took away from it,” said coach Wes Tanner. “We actually didn’t play very well at all. We played down to the level of our opponent. We remembered what we did to them last year.”

The environment of the game (not played on the campus Bethlehem Temple) was also somewhat of a factor, the coach said.

“The stands were all on one side so our fans weren’t on our side of the field,” Tanner said. “It was a very quiet game. It was a very unemotional performance for a lack of a better term. It probably goes back to the first of the week when we didn’t even know we would be playing.”

Regardless, Piedmont’s coach said his team has to be able to overcome whatever obstacles are thrown its way.

“If you are going to be a championship caliber team, you are going to have to deal with that,” Tanner said. “I think it mainly goes back to us playing down to the competition.”

Bethlehem Temple falls to 2-5 overall with the loss and 0-2 in region play, having already fallen to 1-AA foe Flint River.

There were some strong individual performances by the Cougars last Friday. Senior Ben Davis rushed for an impressive 240 yards on 23 carries with four touchdowns. Davis now has 1,209 yards for the season with 19 scores.

Mack Brady was 9-of-12 passing against Bethlehem Temple for 183 yards and two scores. Chris McClain caught four passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns while Wyatt Galloway had three receptions for 34 yards.

Several Piedmont players have already compiled big numbers with one regular season game remaining for 2015. In addition to the rushing stats from Davis, Brady has 550 yards on the ground and 1,271 passing. Brady has thrown for 14 scores and rushed for 10 more.

Noah Quick has 61 rushes for 386 yards and seven touchdowns. McClain has 517 receiving yards on 24 catches with seven touchdowns followed by Michael Edwards with 385 yards on 15 catches with three scores. Galloway has 14 catches for 188 yards and two scores while Chandler Burrell has eight receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cougars are off this Friday and will host Flint River Academy on Friday, Oct. 30, in a game, which will determine the region champion. The winner will also be a No. 1 seed for the state playoffs. See next week’s edition for a preview of the match-up between the Cougars and the Wildcats.

Players of the Week:

•Offense: Mikey Weatherly

•Defense: Parker Clark

•Special Teams: Chris McClain

Stats:

•Ben Davis: 23 carries for 240 yards, four TDs

•Mack Brady: 9-of-12 passing, 183 yards, two TDs

•Chris McClain: four catches for 91 yards, two TDs

•Wyatt Galloway: 3 catches for 34 yards