Cougars Fall on Road to Brentwood, Regular Season Finale on Friday

Coach Will Johnson predicted his Piedmont Academy football team would face a tall challenge last Friday when the Cougars ventured to Sandersville to face Brentwood.

The coach’s forecast turned true as Piedmont fell 47-7 to the War Eagles, who are the favorite of many to win the Class AA state title this fall. Brentwood was able to apply defensive pressure throughout the game to keep the Cougars in check offensively.

“They are the best team in Class AA in my opinion,” Johnson said. “They are very well coached and very disciplined. They had a good plan for us defensively mixing man coverage with some zone looks. We allowed four sacks as Chris (Pittman) was under pressure all night.”

Despite Brentwood’s defensive effort, Piedmont did move the football and had only one three-and-out possession.

“We hurt ourselves on several drives,” Johnson said. “On our first possession we moved the football into their territory but our alignment was wrong on a play and they were able to get an interception.”

Another mistake put the offense from a fourth and four into a fourth and nine.

“We ran several routes the wrong way and against a team like Brentwood you have to play perfect,” Johnson said. “That’s how you have to play if you are outmatched physically and talent-wise. To compete with the upper level teams, we cannot have the mistakes we did last week.”

The Cougars trailed 22-7 at halftime but another turnover inside Brentwood territory once again proved costly.

“In the second half they just wore us down with their run game,” Johnson said. “Their fullback probably had 200 yards.”

While Pittman was 19-of-42 for 174 yards, the offense had very little yardage after a catch was made.

Joe Clark rushed seven times for 40 yards while Pittman added 35 yards on the ground.

Brody Anderson had seven receptions for 53 yards and Bradley Greenwood had four catches for 50 yards and a score. Ryan Holder had four catches for 35 yards and Luke Welch caught two passes for 18 yards. Tanner Locklear and Gavin Mask both had receptions.

Piedmont continues its long-time rivalry with Gatewood this week on the road in Eatonton. The two programs have clashed for decades with the Gators holding an overall series edge 25-18-1.

The 2020 Gators are currently 7-1 and have another strong team for coach Jeff Ratliff. Gatewood’s lone loss was against John Milledge Academy, the top team in Class AA. The team recorded a 52-7 win last week against King’s Way.

“It will be a similar challenge to Brentwood,” Johnson said. “They are an upper level, elite program. If we want to take that next step, we have to be able to compete with teams like this and not go in and lose in a one-sided game. We need to correct our mistakes. If we do then we have a chance to shock some people Friday night.”

Kickoff in Eatonton is set for 7:30 p.m.