PEARL – In one of the greatest comebacks in Brookhaven football history, the Panthers scored three, fourth-quarter touchdowns and shocked Pearl’s Pirates 35-28 Friday night. Pearl had taken a 28-14 lead and appeared ready to wrap up the Region 3-5A game.

     Ole Brook head coach Tommy Clopton praised his team’s comeback performance. “Our kids and coaches did a great job. When we went down 28-14, Fred Trevillion and  our kickoff return team gave us great field position on their end of the field. That picked us right back up.

     “Then our defense went back out and got us the ball. We had some kids step up and make big plays,” said Clopton. “We have been gradually improving every week.”

     Leading by two touchdowns with around eight minutes left in the game, Pearl’s fans appeared confident of victory. Instead, the Panthers authored a rousing rally, led by senior running back Justin Blue who scored Brook’s final 3 touchdowns. He scored on runs of 3, 47 and 6 yards, the final TD coming with just over a minute left to play.

      Blue finished with 23 rushes for 152 yards. He also caught a 43-yard pass from quarterback Zach Smith.

     “Zach and Justin had a great fourth quarter for us,” Clopton. “Our team really picked us up on both sides of the football.”

     Smith enjoyed an exceptional night passing. He completed 14 of 26 passes for 246 yards and 2 TDs.

     Smith’s favorite receiver was Fred Trevillion who caught 6 passes for 117 yards and 2 TDs.

     Ole Brook raised its record to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the region race. Pearl fell to 4-4 and 2-2.

     After a scoreless first quarter, the Panthers took a 7-0 lead on Smith’s 10-yard scoring toss to Trevillion. Noah Allen kicked his first of 7 extra points.

     Pearl responded with a 77-yard catch and run from  Tre Harvey. Evan Osborne also passed 49 yards to Harvey to give the Pirates a 14-7, third-quarter advantage.

     “For three quarters, our defense played really strong,” said Clopton. “Our kids played hard for each other and we found a way to win.”

     Trevillion’s second TD reception covered 43 yards and gained a 14-14 tie early in the fourth quarter. The Pirates got an 11-yard TD dash from Jordan Wright and a 36-yard interception return by Zach Howard for a 28-14 lead, following Bailey Hart’s PAT kick.

     The Panthers travel to Stone County at Wiggins Friday night for a region test.