Cougars Football Season To Begin September 4

The Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA) has followed the actions of the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) in delaying the start of the 2020 football season until September 4.

Piedmont Academy coach Will Johnson said since some larger GISA schools, such as John Milledge Academy, play against some GHSA opponents, the league decided to have a similar delay to the start of its new season.

The Cougars will now open the 2020 campaign on Friday, Sept. 4 at Central Christian followed by games at Rock Springs and Memorial Day.

Piedmont does not have any GHSA schools on its schedule. Johnson said Monday the slate of games will remain the same for his Cougars, just delayed two weeks.

Coaches and players have continued to work in recent days and weeks for the new season which still has something of a cloud over it due to the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis. The team held a two-hour workout on Monday.

“We are viewing this as a good thing because we have longer to prepare,” Johnson said. “That is something all football coaches want. Plus, it will give our younger players more time to learn and gives our team more time to work on our schemes.”

The coach said Jackson Welch, who was a standout for the Cougars in last season’s state championship game, is still recovering from knee surgery. The delay to the start of the season will give Welch more of a realistic chance to be ready for that first game.

The Cougars are scheduled to host Briarwood Academy on August 28 for a preseason scrimmage. Johnson said Monday that his team will not take part in the John Hancock Academy Classic in August. The first day for GISA teams to practice in full pads is now August 17.

Piedmont’s home opener is now scheduled for September 25 against Robert Toombs followed by an open date.

The Cougars were the GISA Class A state runner-up in 2019.