Philpott an offensive juggernaut with nearly 300 yards rushing

Things looked bleak at halftime for Peabody-Burns on the road against Cedar Vale/Dexter on Thursday.

A 5-yard scoring pass from Bryant Young to Rocco Weerts and two-point conversion on a Bailey Penner reception was all the Warriors put up against the Spartans’ 36 first-half points.

Trailing 36-8 and coming off of a point-spread loss the week before, the Warriors could have just played out the string and left early for the long drive back home.

Instead, a determined Peabody-Burns squad came back on fire and mounted a memorable comeback, crushing the Spartans 50-26 in the second half.

That performance would have made for a perfect final score, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the first half deficit, as the Warriors ran out of time to lose 62-58.

The answer offensively was in large part a relentless dose of Jesse Philpott right, Philpott middle, and Philpott left, as he ran for 289 yards and scored four second-half touchdowns and four two-point conversions.

Had the Warriors scored on all their conversion attempts, they would have won the game by 2 points.

The other big offensive lightning bolt was Weerts, who followed up a 54-yard touchdown reception to open the fourth quarter with a 73-yard stunner on the next possession.

Penner added to the scoring spree defensively with a fumble recovery for a score.

The Warriors outgained the Spartans 463 yards to 445, with Philpott running the ball 40 times. Weerts had 132 yards receiving on three catches. Young was 8-of-17 passing for 167 yards and 3 touchdowns.