Cougars Defeat Windsor, 48-42

The scoreboard operator was kept on his toes last Friday night as Piedmont Academy and Windsor Academy generated plenty of offense and plenty of points in a non-region game played in Macon.

When all was said and done and all the points counted, the Cougars emerged with a 48-42 victory against a program which may be the most improved in the GISA during the last two seasons. The win improved Piedmont to 4-2 overall with two non-region games remaining prior to the adventure into Region 1-AA.

“We got up 41-21 and then let our guard down a little bit and let off the gas,” coach Wes Tanner said. “It ended up quite a fight at the end.”

Mack Brady rushed for four touchdowns and threw for another as Piedmont’s offense was effective throughout the game despite less than desirable playing conditions. Brady finished the night with 184 yards rushing on 35 attempts while throwing for another 116 yards.

Ben Davis added 164 yards on the ground on 28 carries as the teams went back and forth exchanging touchdowns.

“It was a great offensive performance,” Tanner said. “We were able to establish the running game.

We blocked well up front. With the conditions, we weren’t able to throw it as much as we wanted. We did run in between the tackles successfully and that was a positive.”

Windsor, which led 14-7, after the first quarter eventually found it could not quite keep pace with the Cougars. The Knights finished with 186 yards on the ground compared to 357 for Piedmont. Windsor did outgain the Cougars 170-116 through the air.

The teams combined for 18 penalties, seven against Piedmont and 11 against Windsor.

It was another strong performance by the Cougar offensive line led by Clay Kirkpatrick, Mikey Weatherly, Nolan Cleary, Jared Autry and Chris Cain.

Tanner said Brady, who had perhaps his best performance of the season last Friday, at least statistically, has done well in his first year as the starting quarter.

“He is progressing well,” the coach said. “He is grasping the offensive concept and making it his own. He definitely gives us a different wrinkle being a dual threat quarterback. That’s something we haven’t had for a few seasons.”

On the other side of the football, the Piedmont defense played well in areas but the weather elements may have hurt in others.

“Our front seven handled their run game for the most part,” Tanner said. “Our secondary didn’t do as well as they have in previous weeks and they may have let the conditions affect them.”

Up next for the Cougars will be a home contest this Friday against Briarwood.

The Buccaneers, coached by Bo Fleming, enter this week’s game with an impressive 5-1 record. Briarwood competes in Region 4-AA. The team has already registered wins against Edmund Burke, First Presbyterian Christian, Westminster-Augusta, Flint River and David Emanuel. The sole setback was against Augusta Prep on Sept. 11.

“They are going to line up and come right at us,” Tanner said. “They are going to run the football most of the time. The key for us will be to stop their running game as much as we can. Briarwood is basically a hard hat and lunch pail team. It will be a question if we can roll up our sleeves and win in the trenches.”

Friday’s game will be senior night for the Piedmont football program.

Players of the Week

Offense: Mack Brady and Ben Davis

Defense: Tyler Mills

Special Teams: Wyatt Galloway