Cougars Fall to Briarwood

The tough regular season schedule continued for the Piedmont Academy varsity football team last week at home against Briarwood Academy.

The Cougars fell 39-17 but coach Wes Tanner likes the progress his team is showing each week.

“The biggest positive for us is that we are continuing to see effort and improvement,” Tanner said. “We strive to be a better football team each day. I feel like progress is being made. I know I can see it.”

Last week’s game saw several quality performances for Piedmont. Senior Noah Faubli rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Logan Conner continued his strong 2017 season with 91 yards on the ground on 19 carries with a score. Tate Marks was 7-of-14 passing for 83 yards.

J.T. Webb had two catches for 35 yards while Patrick Wallace had two receptions for 27 yards. Webb also hauled in two passes for 16 yards.

Ezra King’s 30-yard field in the first quarter gave the Cougars a 3-0 advantage before Briarwood responded with four touchdowns to lead 27-3 at halftime.

The Buccaneers added two more scores in the third quarter before Piedmont had two scoring drives in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, Caleb Faircloth had five tackles and an assist for the Cougars while Conner had two tackles and four assists. Freshman Cameron Mobley had two tackles and a tackle for a loss. Webb finished with two tackles, four assists and a tackle for a loss.

Piedmont will be on the road this week as it travels to Trinity Christian School in Dublin for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday. The Crusaders are 2-1 after defeating Brentwood 39-7 last week. Trinity also defeated Thomas Jefferson 45-12. The lone loss in 2017 for the Crusaders came against John Milledge Academy (24-0).

“They are a team that sticks to the course,” Tanner said. “They are well coached and go out and do what they do well. It will be key for us to have a good start and have some success with our ground attack and shorten the game. We need to make them go the distance when they have the football. It’s key for us to make teams work hard to reach the end zone.”

Piedmont defensive coordinator Michael Wilson said the Crusaders have a sound offensive football team.

“Trinity has a big offensive line and it will be a challenge for our inside linebackers to stop the trap plays they like to run,” Wilson said. “They are a Wing-T team and in the past we have done well against these types of offenses because we have played our assignments well.”

With a young defensive squad, a quality week of practice will be key for the Cougars.

“As a coaching staff we need to emphasize and make sure we have a very focused week of preparation and do so with a very high level of intensity,” Wilson said. “When Trinity does throw the football they like to throw it down the field, especially on the backside. Our secondary must not allow receivers to get behind them. It’s just like our defenders up front. Everyone needs to play their responsibility on every snap.”

The Cougars have been younger and smaller than its opponents in 2017 and that will be the case again this week.

“That should motivate us to work hard and get better,” Wilson said. “We may have played the best team in AAA and AA the past two weeks and we don’t need to hang our heads based on those results but in order to get back to where Piedmont football belongs we must all self-reflect and use the lessons we’ve learned in order to improve. We are quickly approaching the region portion of our schedule and our goal of winning region remains on our top goal.”

Players of the Week

Vs. Briarwood

Overall: Noah Faubli

Offense: Logan Conner

Defense: Caleb Faircloth

Special Teams: Ezra King

STATS vs BRIARWOOD

OFFENSE

Tate Marks, 7-of-14 passing, 83 yards

Noah Faubli, 16 carries for 126 yards, 18-yard TD run

Logan Conner, 19 carries for 91 yards, 9-yard TD run, 2 catches for 16 yards

J.T. Webb, 3 carries for 7 yards, 2 catches for 35 yards

Patrick Wallace, 2 carries for 27 yards

Caleb Faircloth, 1 catch for 5 yards

DEFENSE

Caleb Faircloth, 5 tackles, 1 assist

Logan Conner, 2 tackles, 4 assists

Cameron Mobley, 2 tackles, 1 tackle for loss

J.T. Webb, 2 tackles, 4 assists, 1 tackle for loss

Tanner Locklear, 1 tackle, 4 assists

Trent Coots, 1 tackle

Tanner Coppock, 1 tackle

Brett Bush, 1 tackle, 2 assists

Parker Clark, 1 tackle, 2 assists

Zach Spivey, 1 assist

SPECIAL TEAMS

Ezra King, 30-yard field goal, 2-of-2 point after kicks, one touchback