By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
BLANCHARD – Piedmont coach Jeff Hall has seen it happen before.
Friday night at Blanchard, Piedmont’s flexbone rushing attack wore down the Lions’ defense a few yards at a time, then in the fourth quarter the Wildcats delivered a big haymaker to pull away for a 28-13 win.
“When you look historically at what we do, you’re going to see that trend in every game,” Hall said. “Three-yard gains turn into six and more.”
Israel Robles broke four tackles on his way to a highlight reel, 25-yard touchdown run with 2:23 remaining to put the finishing touches on Piedmont’s second straight win.
“That was pretty special. I’ll probably remember that run my entire coaching career,” Hall said. “I thought he was tackled about four times.”
Junior Cannon Wood added two touchdown runs as PHS raced out to a 21-0 lead after Josh Mars dived into the end zone with 6:27 left in the second quarter.
After Blanchard pulled to within 21-13, Wood helped punctuate the win on the Wildcats’ final drive, with a punishing 16-yard run that set the table for Robles’ finisher. Running behind a suddenly surging offensive line that owned the line of scrimmage, Piedmont controlled time of possession.
“We really, really challenged our guys up front. We felt like that was an area where we needed to make improvement,” Hall said. “I feel like our guys up front played really well.”
Blanchard’s final pass of the night should’ve been caught for a touchdown, but it was dropped in the end zone on one of the rare occasions a Lion receiver was open.
The Wildcats have now allowed 13 points or less in all three games this season and are limiting big plays, even against Blanchard’s impressive passing game, which totaled 27 points at Noble a week ago.
“Blanchard, I feel like, is the best team we’ve played all year. They execute at a very high level,” Hall said, “so I’m definitely very proud of what we did defensively. I feel like we had another good outing.”
Piedmont’s improved athleticism on that side of the ball continues to pay dividends. The ‘Cats have playmakers with speed and quickness at all three levels of their defense.
“As far as a team as a whole, this is our most athletic group,” Hall said. “And not just in the back end, from linebacker play to both the offensive and defensive lines, I feel like we got more athletic.”
Blanchard had its chances in the second half, particularly after a fumble in the Blanchard red zone cost Piedmont a chance to put the game away sooner.
PHS opened the second half with a 13-play drive that took 8:53 off the clock and reached the Blanchard 16-yard line, but a mismanaged hand-off wasted it all. The turnover shifted momentum to the home sideline, too, but only momentarily. The ‘Cats defense forced a punt and then the PHS offense went on the game-sealing drive.
“It’s a by-product of the culture inside our locker room. We just have a bunch of kids that are really, really tough,” Hall said of his team’s resolve.
The Wildcats (2-1) will close out their non-district schedule at Duncan next week.
“I think we are really close to being a good football team,” Hall said.
