Piedmont Cougars Fall to Southwest Georgia

The Piedmont Academy football team faced one of its toughest opponents of the 2019 season last Friday and at times battled competitively.

In the end the Southwest Georgia Academy Warriors were just too strong overall and earned a 62-30 win at Cougar Field. Piedmont compiled approximately 400 yards of total offense and had a standout night from several players including Chris Pittman and Owen Brady.

“When you have that much offensive production then it is a bright spot,” said Cougar coach Will Johnson. “We had to handle some adversity early.”

Piedmont standout Tate Marks suffered a dislocated shoulder in the game. A good portion of the offensive game plan was centered around Marks.

The injury occurred during the third possession of the contest for the Cougars.

With Marks out of the game Pittman stepped up and had 330 yards of offense. He was 14-of-30 passing for 240 yards and a score and also rushed the football 12 times for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

“Chris has steadily improved with each game,” Johnson said.

Brady had six catches for 144 yards and also threw for a score on a trick play. Defensively Brady was also a standout with 10 tackles.

After playing running back a season ago, Brady has moved to receiver and is averaging 100 yards per game.

Payton Wallace made six catches for 65 yards and had two touchdowns receiving.

“It is a learning experience when you play teams like Southwest Georgia,” Johnson said. “They are one of the top teams in Class AA and we went toe-to-toe with them offensively.”

Piedmont’s offensive line had a strong performance and protected Pittman well allowing just three sacks. Ryan Reeves, Mark Hicks, Gray Morgan, Jacob Ferguson and Zach Spivey helped clear the way for the big offensive output.

“Defensively we were just overmatched,” Johnson said. “They have one of the top backs in the state and he had four touchdowns. We just weren’t able to get off the field. On three of their possessions they converted two fourth downs and a long third. We have to be able to stop them when we get them in those positions.”

The Cougars pulled to within 22-14 late in the first half but the Warriors quickly marched back down the field for another score.

“Their strength and numbers and speed wore us down in the second half,” Johnson said. “I am proud of how we fought and how we kept fighting. We had a nice 14-play drive in the second quarter. We still have a lot of work to do. We are still having too many penalties.”

Piedmont is off this week before returning to action Oct. 11 at Terrell Academy in Dawson. The off week will benefit the Cougars, their coach said, as several players are battling injuries.

The coach said the team hopes to have Marks back by that game.

“We are close but we are tired of hearing that,” Johnson said. “We have to be there and not just close. We will keep working every day. The toughest part of our schedule is behind us now. We are starting to click offensively so we believe we can still accomplish a good bit before the season is complete.”

NOTES: The Junior Pro football game against Flint River on Sept. 26 was not played. The young Cougars were scheduled to return to the field today against John Milledge but that game has also been cancelled.