By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
OKLAHOMA CITY – Piedmont didn’t figure to have much room for error if it wanted to win at fifth-ranked Bishop McGuinness.
The Wildcats found out the hard way that they had none.
McGuinness capitalized off three Piedmont turnovers as running back Mike Taffe ran for 114 yards and also threw a 71-yard touchdown pass as the Fighting Irish got past the Wildcats 34-17 inside Pribil Stadium on a rain-soaked Friday evening.
“When you play a team like that, that’s as good as they are, you’ve got to be perfect,” Piedmont head coach Jeff Hall said. “If you’re not, you’ve got to hope for them to do some things to let you back in, and they didn’t.”
The loss was Piedmont’s 15th straight to McGuinness (8-1, 5-1) and dropped PHS out of contention for a district title, but with a playoff berth already secured, the Wildcats (6-3, 3-2) can still fight for postseason position inside District 5A-2 at home next week against No. 4 Carl Albert.
“That’s a big one. It ought to be a fun next few weeks,” Hall said.
Kolten Luschen caught a 6-yard touchdown pass and ran for 53 more yards in the loss for Piedmont, which controlled the game for most of the first half.
PHS gained 163 total yards while limiting McGuinness to just 56, and could’ve had a halftime lead, but instead the Wildcats trailed 14-10 after McGuinness quarterback River Warren hit a wide open Tyrell Bruner for a touchdown pass with 3:47 to play in the second quarter.
The Irish score came one play after a Piedmont fumble was recovered by McGuinness at the ‘Cats’ 14-yard line.
Two plays before the costly turnover, PHS sophomore Lane Whitworth intercepted a pass that shifted momentum to Piedmont’s sideline, but it was short-lived.
Earlier in the half, quarterback Josh Mars and Luschen narrowly missed connecting on a long touchdown pass that would have given Piedmont the lead.
“Going into halftime it should’ve been 14-0 or 14-7 us, but you can’t make mistakes against a team like that,” Hall said. “We did some uncharacteristic things. We’ve got to keep working and limit as many of those mistakes as we can.”
Chase Duke hit a 32-yard field goal with 0:04 left in the first half to cap Piedmont’s second successful two-minute drill in as many weeks, but that was the ‘Cats last productive drive until the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats offense stalled in the second half while McGuinness used a trio of big plays to keep Piedmont at arm’s length. Zane Shadid busted free for a 64-yard touchdown run on his first carry of the third quarter and Taffe threw a halfback pass to Bruner that covered 71 yards for another score later in the quarter.
Warren delivered the dagger with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Bruner with 7:22 remaining. Bruner had 124 yards receiving and turned each of his three receptions into touchdowns.
“Things kind of snow-balled on us in the second half,” Hall said. “It was a tale of two halves.”
Jayden Fuston scored Piedmont’s only second-half touchdown with a 27-yard run that cut the McGuinness lead to 27-17 with 10:32 to play. The ‘Cats recovered the ensuing onside kick, too, but were stopped on downs in four plays.
“There are still a lot of positives that we can draw from this. Our kids don’t quit,” Hall said.
Piedmont totaled 317 yards rushing with Cannon Wood leading the way with 74 yards on 16 carries. Mars totaled 69 yards on the ground and Israel Robles rushed for 55.
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