By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
Jonathan Miller’s first season as the head football coach at Piedmont was a roller coaster ride.
Beset with injuries to key players early, the Bulldogs struggled offensively and lost four of their first five games. But when the calendar flipped to October, so too did the Bulldogs’ fortunes.
Piedmont ended the regular season winning three of its last five games, including a must-have region game against Hokes Bluff in overtime 22-21.
That win helped secure the Bulldogs’ 18th consecutive playoff appearance, but the Bulldogs weren’t just content on making the postseason. They defeated J.B. Pennington on the road in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs 44-14, and came within a whisker of beating Lauderdale County in the second round.
In the closing seconds of that game, Trevor Pike caught a pass at the front corner of the end zone, but was ruled out of bounds. Piedmont’s season ended at 5-7 with a heartbreaking 35-30 setback.
“We had a lot of crazy things happen during the course of the season. It was just one of those years,” Miller said. “I think if you coach long enough you’re going to have more than one of those. It just got to the point week to week we didn’t know what was going to happen next. You just kind of hold your breath and hang on.
“We learned a lot about our kids, or I did, during that time period. It will be good for us moving forward.”
Senior linebackers Caleb Tidwell and Kale Austin learned a lot about Miller throughout last season as well.
“I’d say that he never gave up through any kind of adversity,” Tidwell said. “He’s always been a winning coach wherever he’s gone. We have the same expectations with him like we did with our previous coach (Steve Smith). Now that he knows everyone he’s a lot more comfortable with us.”
“There were a few challenges we faced, but he didn’t back down from them,” Austin added. “We went head first into the challenges and we solved them. This year we’re going to be better than ever and hit the ground running.
“It just shows us he’s ready to win and we’re ready to win with him.”
The good news for Piedmont is that many of last year’s cast of players gained valuable experience and return in 2024.
Quarterback Cole Wilson, now a senior, played perhaps his best game against Lauderdale County. He completed 17 of 26 pass attempts for 324 yards and four touchdowns, including three to now-senior receiver Ishmael Bethel. Bethel caught 39 passes for 731 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.
Wilson and Bethel’s numbers should only benefit from the return of junior all-purpose threat Rollie Pinto. Pinto returns from a knee injury suffered a month into the season against Ohatchee.
Miller said he’s excited to see what this season holds for the trio.
“We went into a lot of games last year with maybe one guy who could make an explosive play. That kind of set us back a little bit,” Miller said. “Cole’s development was huge for us. He threw for over 300 yards in our second-round playoff game, and that just showed his growth and maturity. He handled everything like a pro. I think he’s going to have a big year for us. We’re looking forward to his continued development this season.
“As far as Rollie goes, obviously Rollie is one of the best players in this area regardless of classification. He’s a playmaker. He’s a competitor. He’s a guy you want the ball in his hands. It’s great to have him back. The good thing about his injury, and really our other ACL injuries, is they happened early in the season. It wasn’t good last year, but this year they were able to rehab and get back. Rollie has been cleared for a couple of months now. He’s back 100-percent as are our other guys. Having the combination of Rollie and Ishmael together, I’m excited to see how that develops.”
Miller is also excited to see what develops from his defense. The Bulldogs are replacing six guys on that side of the ball, but return a pair of senior leaders in Tidwell and Austin.
“Obviously those two guys being returning starters, they’re going to be keys to our success,” Miller said. “There are some areas where we need to (improve) and some guys returning who need to play a little bit better too.
“Demetrius Owen plays corner for us, has played a lot of football for us. Davion Stitts is at the other corner and has played a lot of football for us. Those are two guys that will likely have an impact on our season. Also Brodie Homesley, we’ll use him a little bit offensively and defensively too. He’s a returning starter on that side.
“It may be a situation where our offense has to carry us just a little bit early in the season until we get our footing on the defensive side of the ball.”
Piedmont competes in a revamped Region 6. Joining the Bulldogs as holdovers from last year’s region are Glencoe, Ohatchee and Westbrook Christian. Moving into the region is J.B. Pennington, Locust Fork, Saks, Weaver and Wellborn.
Miller calls Region 6 “one of the toughest in the state.”
“It’s balanced,” he said. “I think you can probably say there are a lot of coaches in this region who feel like they’ve got a shot to make the playoffs right now. There will be some factors that play into this, how things fall, which teams are able to stay healthy and which teams keep improving throughout the season. Those are a couple of things I think will determine the pecking order.”
Piedmont’s two non-region opponents are also tough. The Bulldogs open the 2024 season at back-to-back Class 4A state runner-up and Highway 9 rival Cherokee County on Aug. 23. They also host last year’s Class 2A state semifinalist B.B. Comer on Sept. 27.
“I think those non-region games are going to be very important too,” Miller said. “There very well could be some crazy tiebreaker situations.
“We’re looking forward to the season. We kind of have a bad taste in our mouth from last year with a lot of things that were not in our control and didn’t go our way. Hopefully the ball will bounce our way more this year. We’ve got a team, if we stay healthy and continue to get better as the season goes along, we can be dangerous if we get in the playoffs.”
2024 Piedmont Football Schedule
Aug. 23 at Cherokee County
Aug. 30 at Saks
Sept. 6 Ohatchee
Sept. 20 at Westbrook Christian
Sept. 27 B.B. Comer
Oct. 4 Locust Fork
Oct. 11 J.B. Pennington
Oct. 18 at Weaver
Oct. 25 Wellborn
Nov. 1 at Glencoe