Takeaways: Week 4 — Look back, look ahead
- Updated: September 17, 2014
By Chad Barnett
East Alabama Sports Today
Piedmont-Glencoe: Been a Long Time
It has been nine years since Glencoe has beaten Piedmont and most of the games haven’t been close; in the six games they’ve played in that stretch, only one — 13-12 in 2010 — has been so. The last two years, the Piedmont Bulldogs have won 41-7, only slightly closer than the previous year’s 49-7.
Despite the teams’ respective rankings — Piedmont No. 3, Glencoe No. 5 — expect the Bulldogs to maintain control following this Friday night’s clash in Glencoe.
The Yellow Jackets do have some talent. They have four returning all-state players and already have dispatched one ranked team this season (Wellborn). They have a good head coach in Lee Ozmint who teaches fundamentals and a whole lot about toughness. But Piedmont has an advantage on the perimeter I would expect to be exploited.
Wellborn, a team known for its Notre Dame box style offense rather than their passing game, took advantage of the Glencoe secondary and built a strong lead. Piedmont has those same type skill players, if not more.
Alexandria: Oh, to be young again
KEENAN WOODRUFF
It may have lost the game, but Alexandria came away from its loss to Lincoln with a huge bright spot for the future.
While the Valley Cubs already knew about their talented freshman running back, Keenan Woodruff blasted onto the scene with a 220-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Golden Bears. He scored on a 57-yard run the second half and a 46-yarder in the first that will turn out as one of the best runs of the entire 2014 season.
He’s a little undersized but that’s to be expected with a freshman.
Lincoln’s head coach Brad Wallace already knew of Woodruff, too, stating after the game that the coaching staff was concerned how to limit his playmaking. In the end, the Bears did enough to win the game, but for a little while it looked as though a freshman was going to take down the Bears in the Valley.
Wellborn: The first of many
Wellborn picked up its first win last Friday in dominating fashion. The Panthers thrashed a Pleasant Valley team that came into town riding a high after a win over Weaver, but the Raiders’ momentum was quickly taken down a notch by a 30-7 halftime deficit.
Wellborn started out the year with an understood disadvantage. It entered the year with contests against two state ranked opponents — Saks and Glencoe – so don’t let that 1-2 start fool you. The Panthers will still make a run this year.
One of their biggest bright spots is coming from an unlikely source. Senior skill player Corey Tignor barely knew how to put his cleats on two years ago. Today, he’s a dynamic playmaker. While he had only two catches for 32 yards last Friday he delivered some major blows on defense.
“He’s worked real hard to get where he is today,” Wellborn head coach Jeff Smith said.
Saks: Smith-to-Harris an easy transition
DEVIN HARRIS
One of the few concerns for Saks in 2014 was replacing quarterback Tre Smith. After all, he led the team to their best run in decades and went on to play FCS college football. Replacing that production would be no small task. Enter Devin Harris.
Harris, a running back last fall, has been tremendous for the Wildcats. Last week, he continued his assualt on opposing defenses with a 205-yard, five-touchdown performance in a 38-16 defeat of Cherokee County. He had a 170-yard performance in his debut under center against Wellborn.
Chad Barnett covers high school football for the “Pigskin Roundup.” Read his impressions of the high school football week that was every week at East Alabama Sports Today.
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