Cougars Fall Just Short of Win
Last Friday night’s game between Piedmont Academy and Brentwood was a classic example of every yard counts.
The Cougars had chances for victory but in the end came up two points, and a few yards shy, in an 8-6 road setback in Sandersville. That game wraps up the non-region portion of Piedmont’s 2016 schedule. The region slate will begin Oct. 7 for the Cougars after a bye week.
“Last Friday night was disappointing and encouraging at the same time,” said coach Wes Tanner. “ To finish a little short was disappointing, but we really battled. There was no quit in us. There was no doubt that we were going to go into the game to put our best foot forward. The only disappointment was on the scoreboard. We took a ton of positives away from the game.”
Piedmont’s lone score last Friday came on a pass from Chris McClain to J.T. Webb. The two-point conversion attempt was about a yard short.
The Cougars also missed a possible scoring chance on the last play of the first half as they were stopped at the Brentwood two-yard line.
McClain finished the game 4-of-6 passing for 76 yards. Webb was the leading receiver with three catches for 56 yards and a score. Michael Edwards caught one pass for 40 yards while Wyatt Galloway had one reception for 10 yards.
Defensively, Ben Smith had a strong night with eight tackles and eight assists. McClain had four tackles and an assist while Edwards made three tackles and two assists.
Galloway (three tackles, eight assists), Logan Conner (two tackles, 11 assists), Dylan Coe (one tackle, four assists), Parker Clark (two tackles, one assist) and Tanner Coppock (two tackles) also stood out defensively against Brentwood. Dalton Whitley finished with a tackle and one assist while Jay Sheets had one stop and two assists.
“Our defense was a positive,” Tanner said. “We are banged up and we had some young guys who haven’t played much have to step in and they ended up doing a solid job for us.”
Piedmont will return to action against Windsor Academy on Friday, Oct. 7, in the Region 4-AA opener for the Cougars. Region games against Bethlehem Temple and Flint River will follow in coming weeks on the road.
Getting healthy will be the number one priority during the bye week.
“We will take time to catch our breath,” Tanner said. “We need an off week to take the non-region positives and correct the negatives. We have two weeks to get ready for our first region game and that is a plus.”
Stats vs. Brentwood <./b>
•Chris McClain: 4-of-6 passing, 66 yards, 1 TD
•Mack Brady: 1-of-3 passing, 40 yards; 13 carries for 31 yards
•Owen Brady: 3 carries for 27 yards
•Wyatt Galloway: 3 carries for 8 yards, 1 catch for 10 yards
•J.T. Webb: 3 catches for 56 yards, 1 TD
•Michael Edwards: 1 catch for 40 yards