By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
Piedmont made it a point of emphasis to find balance this week.
The Cats (3-4, 2-2), who have dominated on the ground this month, turned the tables on Guymon (0-7, 0-4) Friday night at F&M Bank Stadium, torching the Tigers through the air with five touchdowns in a 56-6 win.
Quarterback Dylan Hampton (Jr.) was at ease throughout the night, going 8-for-14 for 157 yards and four scores before coming out at halftime. He searched for eight different targets in the first half and found five, including Jack Chester (Sr.) and Bryceson Henry (Sr.) who each caught two touchdown passes.
“We wanted to work all of our guys,” Hampton said after the game. “We know we have a good group of guys around me, so we wanted to let them work.”
Hampton and his receivers have been in a groove over the last two games, each victory keeping the team in the Class 5A playoff hunt.
“It’s been timing and working in practice,” he said of finding rhythm with the receiving corps. “And just knowing what to do in certain situations and working around the coverage. That’s the main thing.”
Piedmont coach Trent Worley and his staff put Hampton and the passing game in a position to succeed Friday and potentially over the team’s final three games as well.
“We believe we have to be balanced to be successful,” he said. “You don’t have to watch our offense very long to figure out we want to establish the run. But we also want to make defenses honor the whole formation and the whole field.
“That’s been a point of emphasis all year for us and we feel we gain an advantage if we can do that.”
Chester and Henry led the receivers, Chester finishing witth 68 yards and Henry with 55. However, six other receivers caught a pass in the game, including Baylor Hendren (Jr.), Bo Hardy (Jr.), Kameron West (So.), Brady Thomas (Sr.), Mason Teeter (Jr.) and Caden Hendren (So.) who caught a 66-yard touchdown pass from Bo Phelps (So.) late in the game.
The Wildcats also worked the ground-game, totaling 158 rushing yards on 22 carries with three scores.
Joey Mars (So.) led the way with 51 yards and two touchdowns while Hardy finished with 22 yards and a touchdown. Colby Matlock (Jr.) rushed four times for 43 yards.
Defensively, Piedmont nearly pitched its second straight shutout.
Guymon scored on its last drive to takeaway the goose egg, however, the Cats held the Tigers to just 78 total yards, including 48 on the ground and 30 through the air. Piedmont also forced five turnovers – fumble recoveries by Zach Zeno (Sr.), Teeter and Baylor Hendren. Caden Hendren came away with an interception late in the game.
The Cats now hit the road for two straight games, starting with Bishop McGuinness Thursday at 7 p.m. at Pribil Stadium in Oklahoma City.
