Warren’s Eric Carr, left, wraps up Point Pleasant quarterback Caden Hill during Friday’s game in Vincent. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

VINCENT — It took until senior night here Friday for Warren to earn its second victory of the campaign, but the Warriors got a big game from Tanner Pepper and sophomore signal-caller Declan Johnson in what turned out to be a 35-24 shootout win versus Point Pleasant.

The Big Blacks of first-year head man James Higginbotham fell behind 21-0 late in the first half, but managed a Caden Hill 2-yard touchdown run to cut it to 21-6.

At intermission, PPHS had just 108 total yards, but the visitors continued to fight only to come up short as Hill finished with a career night after hitting 22 of 43 attempts for 344 yards and two scores.

Johnson, who was 12 of 19 for 211 yards in the first half, finished 16 of 26 for 345 yards with an interception and three TD passes.

Pepper not only carried 12 times for 117 stripes, but he had six receptions for a game-high 147 yards as he tied former Warrior Evan Gandee in career touchdown grabs.

Warren’s Tanner Pepper is tackled after making a catch during Friday’s game against Point Pleasant. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“On senior night, great feeling,” admitted Pepper, who also had a fumble recovery. “We came into this game expecting to win like we do every game. Beginning of the season was a rough start, but we came out this game, started at 21-0 going into the half and just let up a touchdown. We were pretty mad about that and then we came out and did our job.

“Declan is definitely a character in the locker room. He’s always a hype guy, but at the beginning of the season I played quarterback and it would’ve been real easy for him to just toss it in the bag, but he came out last game and played well, came out this game and played extraordinarily well. He’s doing a great job as a sophomore quarterback.”

Warren first-year head coach Jason Gandee watched his team rush for just 101 yards on 34 attempts, but held the Big Blacks to 38 yards on 28 carries.

“We gave away some chances. We had some stupid penalties,” said coach Higginbotham, whose 0-6 squad welcomes in Marietta next week for another Twin State League affair. “We dropped a couple balls, but I can’t get on them for that because we probably threw it 50 times.

“We just started chucking it and we had success with it. We thought we could throw some, but we didn’t run the ball very well and that kind of disappointed me. We’re getting better even though it doesn’t seem like it. We just got to get better tackling in open space.”

Warren head coach Jason Gandee addresses the team during a timeout in Friday’s game against Point Pleasant. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

The Warriors scored on their opening possession when Johnson threw into double coverage and Pepper pulled it down for a 29-yard hookup on fourth down. The first of five Jackson Venham extra points gave the Warriors the lead for good at the 8:15 mark.

PPHS had to punt on its opening drive and then fumbled with Pepper recovering.

After the two teams traded punts, WHS had a quick seven-play, 85-yard scoring march that was capped by a quick hitter to Jude Daly, who turned it up and raced 53 yards to paydirt to make it 14-0 with four seconds left in the quarter. Warren converted a third-and-10 at its own 15 when Pepper had a 14-yard grab while Jayce Hilverding also had an 8-yard reception.

The Big Blacks marched into the red zone on the ensuing series, but running back Brody Bowen was ejected and Craig Bennett, Jr. had a sack of Hill on third down to force a punt.

Despite nearly getting into the red zone on their next drive, the visitors turned the ball over on downs at the WHS 18 after Hill’s fourth-and-5 run from the 21 netted just 3 yards.

Warren quarterback Declan Johnson throws a pass during Friday’s game against Point Pleasant. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

A 37-yard diving catch by David Dickel (3-86) got Warren across midfield, but Gage McCoy registered a sack only to watch as Pepper broke off a 47-yard scoring scamper two plays later when he made a quick cut and a spin move at the 35 in front of the PPHS bench before racing all the way across the field into the end zone.

With only 41 seconds left and a 21-0 lead it appeared Warren was in good shape. However, Hill had consecutive completions to Anthony Marrero (7-76) and then a 36-yard slant to Braxton Bauer (4-87) that led to Hill’s 2-yard plunge. However, Evan Bailes’ PAT was wide left.

Point Pleasant marched down the field to open the third as Hill started to utilize tight end Gavin Barnett, who had all eight of his game-high grabs for 133 yards in the second half, which included a key 32-yarder to convert a third down and get across midfield.

Although the visitors had the ball in the red zone with a first-and-10 at the Warrior 16, Hill was stopped for a gain of 2 on a fourth-and-3 snap from the 9.

After forcing yet another WHS punt, the Big Blacks had good field position at their own 43. Facing a fourth-and-13 at the Warrior 43, Hill went back to punt, but PPHS faked it only to have a sure first down completion dropped.

Johnson then found Jude Daly for a 30-yard completion, hit Hilverding for 8 yards and then Pepper for 26 before Eric Carr bulled in from the 3, which made it 28-6 at 1:55 of the third.

Marrero’s 25-yard touchdown catch just 11 seconds into the fourth was answered 19 ticks later when Pepper got a quick hitter and darted 70 yards to the end zone. Pepper nearly intercepted the pass intended for Marrero, but it went off his hand and Marrero caught it in stride heading toward the end zone.

Barnett added an 18-yard TD grab at the 10:07 mark and Hill’s 1-yard run capped the scoring with 66 seconds to play. Hill ran 18 times for 54 yards.

“I feel great. It’s about these kids. It’s been about these kids from the start. I love these seniors,” said coach Gandee, whose 2-6 program plays next Friday at Fort Frye. “These kids mean a lot to me and they know that. To get the win is great. We couldn’t run the ball like we thought we were going to be able to. Having Tanner at receiver helps a lot. We used him at quarterback, on the ground and we used him as a receiver to make plays for us, and obviously he did.

“We wanted to stop the run and then they get into this empty set we’ve barely seen and they spread us out. Give them credit. They spread us out and when you don’t get pressure on a quarterback that’s as athletic as him they are going to make plays in the air and they did. We made it harder than it needed to be, but that’s fitting for this group. Everything is hard. We’re getting ready to put the game away, but it didn’t happen. I’m proud of them, love them and good win.”

Warren, which was flagged nine times for 115 yards, finished with a 446-382 advantage in total yards.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com