Cougars Are Region Champs
One of the goals each season for the Piedmont Academy football team is to win a region championship.
That goal can now be checked off the “to do” list.
The Cougars won a 48-28 offensive shootout last Friday against visiting Flint River Academy to claim the GISA Region 1-AA championship and will be a No. 1 seed for the state playoffs.
As a result of winning region, Piedmont has a bye in the opening round of the state playoffs, which begin this week, and will await the winner of the First Presbyterian Christian Academy-Windsor Academy match-up.
For Cougar head coach Wes Tanner, the victory against Flint River last week was the result of a solid overall team effort.
“We took their best effort,” Tanner said. “There’s no doubt about that. Coach (Josh) Daher had them ready to play. We adjusted when we needed to and got the stops when we had to. Every time Flint River had the football, they tried to pull out all the stops. They did a good job. In turn, we responded and bounced back each time we were challenged.”
Daher is a former Piedmont assistant coach.
It was a huge offensive night for the Cougars as Piedmont grinded out almost 500 rushing yards on 42 attempts. Mack Brady rushed for 300 yards and five touchdowns while Ben Davis added another 181 yards on the ground on 19 carries with two scores.
It was also a strong performance by the offensive line anchored by Clay Kirkpatrick, Mikey Weatherly, Nolan Cleary, Jaron Autrey and Chris Cain.
The offense also had another 77 yards through the air.
“Winning region is something you always look to accomplish at the beginning of a season,” Tanner said.
“It’s not something you take lightly and it’s certainly not something you take for granted. We aren’t going to the let the smaller number of teams in the region put a damper on anything. It’s still an accomplishment. We have more hardware for the trophy case and that’s something we will always take pride in.”
Piedmont held a 28-14 lead at halftime.
With the Cougars off this Friday, Tanner said the coaches would use the bye week to allow the players to heal. While the opponent for the quarterfinals is not known yet, Windsor Academy, on paper, is the favorite to advance. The Knights are 7-3 while First Presbyterian Christian Academy has managed just one win this season.
Piedmont and Windsor met back on September 25 with the Cougars managing a 48-42 win. Regardless of which team Piedmont plays next week, the game will be at Cougar Field.
Players of the Week
Offense: Ben Davis
Defense: Michael Edwards
Special Teams: Zach Wilson