By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
NOBLE – A pair of costly fumbles were too much for Piedmont to overcome in its season opener at Noble Friday night.
Bears quarterback Colin Fisher ran 16 times for 50 yards and the winning score and passed for 129 yards and another touchdown as Noble cashed in on two costly miscues by Piedmont to win 12-6.
“The self-inflicted wounds were the story of the night for us offensively,” Piedmont coach Jeff Hall said.
Trailing 12-6 with six minutes to play, Piedmont lost a fumble on the Noble 9-yard line. Quarterback Josh Mars had hit Kolten Luschen for a 42-yard completion one play earlier.
“You fumble the ball and there goes the momentum,” Mars said, “we could’ve won the game right there.”
The Wildcats made a last-ditch effort to rally in the final minute, but Mars’ Hail Mary was intercepted by L.T. Taylor on the last play of the game.
Mars led the way for PHS with 48 yards rushing and one touchdown on eight carries. His 17-yard score put Piedmont in front 6-0 with 2:39 left in the first quarter.
Jacob Anglin had 42 yards rushing on six attempts, but Piedmont’s offense struggled to find its rhythm overall. The Wildcats finished with 166 rushing yards.
“We had some really good sparks, but we’ve got to finish. We’ve got to score touchdowns and put points on the board,” Mars said.
The Wildcats’ first fumble of the night came with PHS driving inside Noble territory midway through the third quarter and helped open the door for the Bears’ rally.
“It was just bad all the way around,” Mars said of the turnover. “It was my fault. It was everyone’s fault.”
Fisher found receiver Brandon Harper for a 36-yard gain one play after the fumble. Later in the same drive, Harper and Fisher turned nothing into something with a 38-yard touchdown connection on 4th-and-7 to even the score at 6-6 with 5:17 to play in the third quarter.
“They’re really, really good football players. That’s a good football team,” Hall said of Noble. “I think that we’re a good football team, we just need to make sure we execute.”
Fisher plowed in from three yards out for the winning score with 11:55 to play. Noble took advantage of good field position after Piedmont went for a conversion on 4th-and-6 from midfield and failed.
“Turnovers kill you. You should lose every game you have a turnover in,” Mars said.
The loss spoiled a good performance from Piedmont’s defense. Talan Owen had three sacks and Ethan Shelton intercepted a pass to set up the ‘Cats’ only touchdown. The Wildcats held Noble to 312 total yards.
“I can’t say enough good things about our defense. That’s a very potent offense that I feel like our defense kind of handled,” Hall said. “I feel like on one side of the ball we’re way ahead, and one side of the ball we did some things where we shot ourselves in the foot.”
Piedmont is back in action next week against El Reno.
“We’ll make some changes and get better. I feel like we’ll look like a different team Friday,” Hall said.
