WARRENTON — Brandon Johnson is digging this quarterbacking thing.
The Warrenton High senior has been a standout at safety the past two seasons and is still patrolling the Warrior defense this fall, but he added QB duties after the graduation of two-year starter Charlie Blondin.
Johnson had four total touchdowns — three through the air — to lead Warrenton to a 40-35 win over visiting Liberty in a non-conference football matchup Friday night at David Huff Memorial Field.
“The first week, I was definitely a little nervous,†he said. “But last week, I got a little confidence and we’re rolling now.â€
Johnson compiled a solid 326 total yards and two touchdowns through the first two weeks of the season before tripling his TD total Friday night.
“Every week, he looks better,†Warriors coach Jason Koper said. “He’s one of those guys where I had some of the guys that were captains the last couple years come up to me and say he’s got to be a captain. He’s done a great job.â€
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Warriors unbeaten again
Warrenton — the No. 6 team in the small-schools rankings — started last season 11-0 for the first time before falling in postseason play.
The Warriors are right back to their winning ways this year with a 3-0 start that includes outscoring their first three opponents by a combined score of 89-45.
“It’s great to start 3-0. It hasn’t happened a whole lot in our program’s history,†Koper said. “I love the way we play. We’re physical, we’re aggressive, we’re hard-hitting. I just love our team’s mentality and couldn’t be more proud of the guys.â€
Eagles suffer first setback
Liberty (2-1), which won its first two games of the season for the third time in program history and first since the 2019 team that won nine games and advanced to the Class 4 quarterfinals, had a four-game winning streak over the Warriors snapped.
“We were just searching for something to get going,†Eagles coach Ryan McMillen said. “Warrenton’s defense is really good, really physical and they kind of had our number there in the middle of the game. But I’m proud of how we kept battling at the end, put some more points on the board and made it a game.â€
Johnson still racking up INTs
Just because Johnson has also moved to the offensive side of the ball doesn’t mean he isn’t still wreaking havoc on defense.
He intercepted a pass from Liberty quarterback Cody McMullen midway through the fourth quarter to set up a short Austin Haas touchdown run that made it a seemingly comfortable 40-21 lead at the time.
The pick was the 11th of Johnson’s high school career breaking the school’s all-time career interception record previously held by current Warrenton assistant coach Brandon Molinari.
“It feels great,†Johnson said. “He was a little mad, but he’ll get over it.â€
Liberty starts fast
The Eagles got a pair of TD runs from Jaylen Mack less than three minutes apart in the first quarter to take a 13-0 lead before the game was nine minutes old.
“It felt good because we haven’t started off with the lead in a couple weeks,†McMillen said. “It slowly went away, but it was nice to start off with that lead.â€
Warrenton has the answer
The Warriors finally got going on a 65-yard Mason Thompson catch and run off a Johnson pass just 21 seconds after Mack’s second score and later added rushing TDs from Haas in the second quarter and Johnson in the third to lead 20-13 after three quarters.
Haas’ go-ahead 4-yard score in the second capped a quick, three-play, 90-yard drive that also included a 49-yard run by Haas and a 37-yard catch by Deadrick Forrest.
“We needed that momentum boost,†Koper said. “Austin Haas has been a big playmaker for us for four years now. On the sideline, we said we needed him to break one and sure enough he did.â€
Wild fourth quarter
After a total of 33 points were scored in the first three quarters, the teams combined for 42 points in the final quarter.
Liberty’s initial offensive burst was met with a scoreless drought of 30:12 from last few minutes of the first quarter to the first few of the fourth that included the Warriors picking McMullen off three times in a span of four series in the third and fourth quarters.
“They’re a very prolific offense. Even better on the field than what they looked on film,†Koper said. “Getting those turnovers was huge and it was ultimately the difference maker in the game.â€
The Eagles finally showed some late signs of life with three TDs in the fourth, including two in the final 3:28 when the backups were in the game.
“It was great that our second-string quarterback (Sullivan Thornton) and our second-string running back (James Alexander) kind of got us back in the game," McMillen said.
Up next
Warrenton will play its first GAC North contest of the season when it hosts Winfield (1-2) next Friday night.
“It’s just 1-0 every week,†Johnson said. “We snuck this one by. We’ve got to move on to next week, watch film, prepare and focus on beating Winfield. That’s it.â€
Liberty will also see its first conference action when it hosts crosstown rival North Point (3-0) next Friday. The Eagles have won both previous matchups against their newest GAC Central foe, albeit by a combined total of six points.
“We knew with this week and next week we had maybe our toughest two weeks of the season coming up,†McMillen said. “North Point’s a very good team. They’ve been good since this group was sophomores and now this senior class is pretty special.â€