THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Enumclaw High School Athletics

The No. 1 team in Mississippi was cut open and showed it was human in the first 24 minutes Friday. Pearl senior quarterback Jake Smithhart's first pass of the game was an easy interception taken to the end zone by Warren Central. Warren Central moved the ball with ease, and the Pirates trailed 21-7 in the first quarter. Maybe they weren't the best team. But Pearl responded, shut down the Warren Central offense for the rest of the game and won 28-21. "Our kids just kept fighting," Pearl coach John Perry said. "We took their best shot, you know you're going to take everybody's best shot." After the game, Perry didn't act like his team made any drastic changes or dominated the second half. He was adamant that Warren Central was a great team and that nobody can take anything away from them. Vikings quarterback Fred Barnum completed 14-of-22 passes in the first half for 163 yards and a touchdown, and running back Corey Wilson Jr. had 47 yards on 13 carries. Those numbers didn't translate into the second half, as Barnum completed 4-of-8 for only nine yards after halftime. "We just got fortunate in the second half and made a couple plays that they didn't," Perry said. "You can't take anything away from Warren Central. They got a great coaching staff and a great program." What it means Pearl convincingly won its season opener against Brookhaven, but now Mississippi has seen Pearl can be punched in the face and bounce back. Against a fellow top-10 opponent — and one that beat Pearl the last two years by one score — Pearl struggled early and came back stronger as the game went on. Now, it's a little clearer that this team can handle adversity and can continue its claim as No. 1 in the state. Even when Pearl's Tylan Knight was stopped short on 4th-and-1 at the Warren Central 45 in the fourth quarter, Pearl stayed strong. Warren Central drove to the Pearl 21, but penalties pushed them back and the Pirates stopped them. "We weren't really worried," Perry said. "We knew we were one play away. "We just kept, kept — you gotta keep going to do anything in this life or in this world. That's what I'm so proud of. They just kept pushing, kept pushing, kept the faith." Second half hero Johnny Winston was in the dog house. He only touched the ball three times in the first half for a net gain of zero yards. But in the second half, the 201-pound running back got the ball time and time again and ran for 64 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Perry didn't clarify why exactly Winston received so few carries in the first half, yet Winston was one of the keys to the Pearl offense stepping up to win Friday. "Johnny learned what it meant to be in the dog house. He came out of the dog house and did a fantastic job in the second half."

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Enumclaw High School Athletics

NO. 1 PEARL COMES BACK FROM 21-7 TO BEAT NO. 8 WARREN CENTRAL

BRODY MILLER

The Clarion-Ledger | 8/25/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Pearl Athletics