Cougars Fall in Dublin
The trip last Friday to face Trinity in Dublin turned out to be a rough outing for the Piedmont Academy football team.
The host Crusaders proved to be the best team the Cougars have faced this season, just as Piedmont coach Danny Camp had predicted prior to the game. The end result was a 34-0 win for Trinity as Piedmont went back to work this week in preparation for its region schedule.
“Trinity was simply better,” Camp said. “We also didn’t show up to play, but I can’t take anything away from them. We got down 10-0 in the first quarter and could not recover. They beat us in every aspect of the game. You have to tip your hat to them.”
The Crusader defense was able to hold Piedmont’s offense in check. Lance Richardson was the top rusher for Piedmont with 62 yards on 17 attempts. Whit Morgan and Justin Atkins both had two receptions.
Camp said one area that has likely hurt his team is the fact that injuries have made him scale back on full-contact work in practice.
“With all of our injuries, we haven’t done as much tackling in practice,” the coach said. “We are already banged up and you hate to lose anyone else to an injury in practice. However, we are going to have to get back in the right frame of mind when it comes to practice.”
Piedmont, who is 3-3 overall, will begin Region 4-AA play this Friday against Mt. Vernon of Alpharetta. Kickoff at Cougar Field is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Mustangs are a first-year program and as is usually the case in these situations, have struggled this season. Mt. Vernon was crushed by Windsor last Friday and enter this Friday’s game at 1-4 overall.
“If we are ready physically and mentally, we should be OK this week,” Camp said. “We have some players who will step up and get things fixed. Our first goal has always been to win the region and that starts this week.”
Camp said he does expect his players to work harder in practice and to get better going into the 4-AA schedule. With the exception of a non-region game with Valwood Oct. 20, the remaining games on the slate are against region foes.
“At this point, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done,” the Piedmont coach said. “The region games are the most important ones on the schedule.”
Camp said while Mt. Vernon is struggling this season, he expects the program will steadily make improvements in the future. The school is located near St. Pius and Marist and therefore has a strong area in which to draw talent from. Camp compared Mt. Vernon to Mt. Pisgah and Eagles Landing, former GISA schools who in recent years have begun competing in the GHSA with successful results.
The Piedmont Academy junior varsity football team played much better this past week despite a 20-0 loss to Gatewood.
The JV Cougars were coming off a 44-0 loss to John Milledge, a team which had been defeated by Gatewood.
“We went back to the drawing board and the kids worked hard and got afer it,” Camp said of the JV. “The game was scoreless after the first quarter and Gatewood scored its last touchdown late in the game. It was a big turnaround for us from the previous week. We showed a lot of character in bouncing back like we did.”
The Piedmont Academy pee wee football team posted a 14-8 win against Trinity last Friday in Dublin prior to the varsity contest.
VARSITY STATS VS. TRINITY
P 0 0 0 0 — 0
T 10 10 14 0 — 34
Rushing:
Lance Richardson, 17 carries for 62 yards
Kale Blackshear, 5 for 30 yards
Justin Atkins, 8 for 23 yards
Passing:
Zac Hauther, 4-of-6 for 64 yards
Receiving:
Whit Morgan, 2 for 54 yards
Justin Atkins, 2 for 10 yards
Defense:
D.J. Allen, 8.5 tackles
Whit Morgan, 5.5 tackles
Randy Reagin, 4 tackles
Christopher Hornibrook, fumble recovery
Penalties:
Piedmont: 3 for 30 yards
Trinity: 1 for 5
Record:
Piedmont: 3-3 overall (0-0 in Region 4-AA)