Two games. Seven touchdowns. Meet RB Pierre Summers, Pacelli’s quiet leader.
He looks like Patrick Mahomes and runs like Saquon Barkley, but there’s more to Pacelli senior running back Pierre Summers than meets the eye.
Summers, a Timber Creek (Orlando, Florida) transfer, is more than just an offensive threat. Sure, his stats are startling: he’s scored seven touchdowns in two games and run for hundreds of yards in the process.
But it’s Summers’ off-field maturity that’s impacted the Vikings the most, and is a driving force behind Pacelli’s surprise 2-0 start to the 2020 season.
“I try to tell my guys to remain humble,” Summers said. “Like, with the predictions, people saying we’re going to lose, that hypes us up a little when we win. But we’ve got to understand: being humble is the No. 1 key to being successful in life.”
From Central Florida to Western Georgia
Summers did not play football at Timber Creek, an Orlando-area high school located 30 miles northeast of Disney World. He played in 28 basketball games his junior season at Timber Creek, averaging around six points and one assist per game.
Summers wanted to live with his grandparents, in order to help his mother. After speaking over the phone with the school’s athletic director and head basketball coach Corry Black, Summers decided to attend Pacelli.
“I just think it’s God’s plan,” Summers said. “I think I’m very blessed to be here right now.”
Maturity off the field — and production on it
To say Summers’ first two games at Pacelli went well would be an understatement.
Summers ran for 107 yards and scored two touchdowns against 4A Jordan, as the Vikings, a Georgia High School Association 1A private school, cruised to a 34-6 win. Then, in a 20-point win over Columbus, he ran for 290 yards and five touchdowns.
Summers has fit well into Dwight Jones’ wing-T offense, a run-heavy attack that uses deception (almost every play looks the same for the first few steps) to create space for running backs and fullbacks.
“I wanted to run,” Summers said. “I have a passion for running the football, and I think that’s a God-given talent as well.”
Speed is Summers’ No. 1 attribute. But the senior was not brought in solely for his on-field ability.
Summers’ voice is not the loudest in the locker room, but his leadership skills were evident from day one, according to his coach.
He’s told the team to remain humble, despite the hot start. He warned his teammates that although the Vikings have won two games, eight remain.
That selflessness shows on the field, too. Summers registered 19 carries against Columbus, his coach said, but made just as big of an impact blocking as he did running the ball.
Jones likened Summers to former Georgia Tech quarterback TaQuon Marshall, who Jones coached at Harris County.
“TaQuon was a better human being than he was a football player, and he was a tremendous football player” Jones said. “Pierre is more concerned about being a better human being than he is concerned about being a better football player.”
Pacelli vs. Randolph-Clay
When: 5:30 p.m., Friday
Where: St. Anne-Pacelli High School
This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
