Kerryon Johnson runs away from Piedmont defenders in the second round of the AHSAA playoffs. (Record Photo/Nick Sellers)

By Nick Sellers | Staff Writer

MADISON – The score at the end of the first quarter of Madison Academy’s game against Piedmont was tied, just like the end of regulation of last year’s matchup.

The similarities end there, as Madison Academy turned a one-score halftime lead – 21-14 – into 21 unanswered points in the second half.

Piedmont scored a touchdown with 3:25 left to make it 42-20, still a far cry from the 34-33 overtime heart stopper Madison Academy won last year.

Piedmont struck first with a 3-yard keeper by Taylor Hayes at 8:35 in the first quarter. The Bulldogs got the ball after Madison Academy’s Malik Miller fumbled on the second play of the game.

The teams traded scores, with Kerryon Johnson scoring from 59 yards out for the Mustangs and Hayes again running it in from 3 yards out for Piedmont. Blake Coward hit Cole Tomlinson for a 44-yard touchdown pass, and the score stood at 14-14 going into the second quarter.

Johnson scored from a yard out to begin the second quarter, and the Mustangs caught a break when Piedmont failed to convert a long drive when it missed a field goal with 2:57 to go before halftime.

The Mustangs held Piedmont scoreless in the third quarter while they scored three touchdowns of their own.

“Basically we challenged them at halftime and said, ‘If we don’t raise the bar defensively, we’re not going to win this game,’” Madison Academy head coach Eric Cohu said.

Johnson caught a lob from Coward and took it 48 yards with 7:23 left in the third quarter. Miller rumbled 50 yards for a score with three minutes left in the third quarter and Johnson took in his second pick-six in the 2014 playoffs 50 yards to close out the third quarter.

“We made a few adjustments [at halftime], but really we just focused more and made some big plays when it counted,” Cohu said.

The Mustangs travel to Walter Wellborn on Nov. 21 for the state quarterfinals.