Piqua Head Coach Bill Nees was pretty happy with the results Friday night in the Indians final scrimmage game. The Indians defeated Springfield South in 3 quarters of football, 27-16.

“Overall I thought we played pretty well,” Nees said.

After the two teams exchanged punts to begin the game Piqua’s punt coverage team stepped up.

Dusty Snyder recovered a fumbled punt return to give the Indian offense fresh life at the South 33 yard line. Sophomore quarterback Justin Hemm found Senior wide receiver Nate Roddy over the middle for 27 yards.

Running back Brandon Saine took the next play around the right end untouched for a 6 yard touchdown run. With 4:04 to play in the first quarter the score was 7-0 after the extra point.

A roughing the kicker penalty on the extra point allowed the ensuing kickoff to sail into the end zone. On third down, defensive tackle Dominic Allen made a sack to force another South punt.

Saine took center stage once again, this time taking a swing pass down to the South 38 yard line after making a few defenders miss and running away from a few would be South tacklers. Nate Curtis followed that up with a run up the middle to the South 7 yard line. With 1:24 to go in the opening quarter Saine smashed into the end zone from 2 yards out to make it 14-0 after another successful extra point.

“I think Brandon Saine answered some questions tonight,” Nees said. “He had a huge night. He ran the ball hard inside and out and made some big plays for us.”

The Piqua defense forced South to punt again. However, multiple penalties on the Indians negated the play. A roughing the kicker penalty gave South a first and 10 on the Piqua 44 yard line.

“We made too many mistakes tonight,” Nees added. “We need to eliminate those. They (mistakes) will hit us in a tight game.”

South took advantage of the Indians mistake by scoring on a 44 yard touchdown run. The two point conversion was good to make it 14-8.

“We gave up some big plays,” Nees said. “We knew coming in that they could make some big plays. They have an explosive offense. Their quarterback threw for over 3,000 yards last season.”

Saine once again left South defenders looking at his back as he raced 80 yards down the Piqua sideline for a touchdown. The extra point attempt failed, making it 20-8 with 9:15 to play in the first half.

Piqua’s next drive came to a sudden halt near the end zone when a South linebacker intercepted a deflected pass and returned it to the South 23.

South quarterback Brennen Glass then put his arm on display as he found a receiver for a long touchdown pass. The two point conversion was again successful making it 20-16.

At the start of the third quarter, the Piqua defense stepped up and held South on a 4th and 2 play deep in Piqua territory.

“Our tackling was good tonight,” Nees said. “We did pretty good against a good team.”

South gained even more momentum when Hemm’s pass was intercepted near midfield.

Once again, the Piqua defense stepped up and forced the Wildcats to punt.

Hemm redeemed himself on the next series. Hemm dropped back into the pocket and with great offensive line protection found a wide open Brandon Saine down the right sideline for a 51 yard touchdown pass. With 4:00 to play in the third quarter the Indians led 27-16.

The Indians defense fittingly ended the game with an interception by junior safety Bryant Fox made a diving catch near the goal line.

“It’s an advantage to have everyone healthy,” Nees added. “After last year you can never take anything for granted when it comes to health. It’s easy to get results when you have everyone healthy.”

The Indians will open up the regular season next week by hosting Grove City at Alexander Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30.