Cougars Fall in First Round of Playoffs

The Piedmont Academy football team learned two old lessons last week.

The first lesson was that nothing is ever guaranteed in the playoffs. The second lesson was that injuries can be a devastating part of the sport and cost you at the worst possible time.

When the game was over last Friday night at Cougar Field, Piedmont found itself on the short end of a 35-27 score against visiting Edmund Burke, whose powerful running game proved too much for coach Danny Camp’s team to handle.

“It was disappointing,” Camp said. “We just couldn’t stop them. We couldn’t get it done defensively.”
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Ironically, going into the game Piedmont probably wondered how much offense it could generate. The Cougars lost starting quarterback Zac Hauther with a knee injury late in last Wednesday’s practice session.

Hauther, who had been the starting quarterback all season, did not play any last Friday night. That left the coaching staff scrambling 48 hours before kickoff to made some adjustments.
The Piedmont coaching staff moved running back Lance Richardson under center and the move actually worked pretty well.

Trailing 35-20 with five minutes to play, the Cougars, who held leads during the game, pulled to within a score, but could not regain possession with time running out. Piedmont actually recovered its on-side kick attempt, but the officials ruled a Cougar had touched the football before it went 10 yards.

“I couldn’t be any prouder of these kids,” Camp said. “It was tough for them to lose and it showed. I liked the emotion because it showed they cared. We went from 3-8 last year to 6-5 this season. We would have liked to have won this game. However, we showed a great deal of heart by competing without one of our leaders.”

The extent of Hauther’s injury was still not known Sunday night, but Camp said his team rallied even though it did not have one of its best players.

“It’s tough to use a new quarterback when your usual starter has taken 99 percent of the snaps,” the coach said. “We made the most of the situation. Despite the focus on losing Zac, what hurt us was not being able to stop Edmund Burke. They are a good team. Their record was very deceiving.”

It was a strong final game for Piedmont senior J.J. Tweedell who rushed for 132 yards on 16 attempts. Tweedell became the primary running back after Richardson was moved to quarterback. The senior rushed for one score, caught one and threw for another.

“He had quite a game,” his coach said. “It was a great way to complete his senior season.”
Richardson rushed five times for 43 yards at quarterback while Justin Atkins added 47 yards on 11 attempts. Patrick Simoes added a 4-yard rushing touchdown.

Tweedell threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Atkins in the fourth quarter. Overall, Piedmont had 238 yards on the ground and 41 yards passing.
Despite the season ending last week, Camp said the 2005 campaign was positive in many ways for the Cougars.

“This team learned how to win some games,” the coach said. “We put in a completely new offense this year and we will only get better running it in the offseason.”

Piedmont Academy has announced its fall sports banquet will be Monday, Nov. 28, at 6 p.m. at the school. All student-athletes involved in fall sports will be honored.