By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
The secret to Israel Robles’ ability to break tackles is simple, according to him.
“Just eating more,” Robles said after Piedmont’s 63-32 win over Southeast Friday night at F&M Bank Stadium.
Robles has proven to be a battering ram for the Wildcats rushing attack and he stayed hungry and hard to tackle again Friday night in their district opener.
Robles ran for 135 yards on 14 attempts and one touchdown and sophomore Jayden Fuston added 140 yards rushing and three scores of his own as the Wildcats’ flexbone attack ran wild for the second consecutive week.
Robles shined Friday and so did junior Cannon Wood, who finished with 105 yards on 10 carries with one touchdown. The B-back combination ran for 240 yards on the night.
“We’ve got a really good one-two punch with Israel and Cannon, and if you’re going to take those guys away then our ‘A’s’ start to shine,” head coach Jeff Hall said. “That’s a really deep group for us.”
Fuston, who has accounted for four total touchdowns the last two weeks, averaged 14 yards per carry Friday night. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound sophomore continues to be a handful for opposing defenses, particularly in the open field.
“When I’m out, I know that Cannon will make a big play or Jayden or Tyson (Benford),” Robles said. “That gives me a lot of confidence.”
Quarterback Josh Mars punched in a pair of short touchdown runs on the night, the second of which put PHS ahead 21-0 with 10:15 left in the first half. Jacob Anglin scored from 17 yards out at the 4:55-mark of the third quarter as Piedmont extended its lead to 42-14.
Tyson Benford delivered on his only rushing attempt of the night, scoring on a 47-yard run with 9:28 to play to increase Piedmont’s lead to 48-14. Wood and Fuston added late touchdowns to provide the final margin.
Although Piedmont’s offense was able to move the ball at will, Southeast (3-1) scored more points (33) than the ‘Cats had allowed (32) in their four previous games combined.
“I lost sleep this week after watching film on those guys because they’re really, really good,” Hall said of Southeast. “They have some kids that are getting looked at by some major D-I’s and I honestly feel like they can make some noise in our district.”
Piedmont led 21-0 after one quarter and 28-8 at half, but struggled in the second half to contain Southeast quarterback Michael Graham and running back Rodney Fields.
“They have athletes that put us in some positions where their athletes had advantages,” Hall said. “Overall, I’m really happy with the win. We’ve got just some good film to watch and our job over this next week is to get better.”
Ethan Shelton collected his third interception of the season to help set up Piedmont’s second touchdown of the night, which came on a 39-yard burst from Fuston with 3:33 to play in the first quarter.
Piedmont (4-1, 1-0) has a big matchup with unbeaten Guthrie (4-0) at home looming next Thursday. The Blue Jays had this week off after beating Tuttle 24-20 last Friday.
Hall said afterward that, as always, improvement throughout the next week is the key to beating Guthrie.
“I think we’re playing well, we’ve just got to keep improving,” Hall said. “I like where we’re headed.”
