|
The
recent success of the Pearland Oilers football teams has
provided one of the fastest-growing communities in the Houston
area with a lot of excitement. Once known as the doormat
team to schedule as a homecoming opponent, the Oilers are
now considered as one of the area powers on the gridiron.
Pearland head coach Tony Heath will begin the 2005 football
campaign in his ninth year at the helm of one of the most
incredible turnarounds in Texas football history. When the
1999 squad posted an 8-2 record marking the best season
since 1962 when Pearland was 10-1, it caught the attention
of area coaches who were considering putting Pearland on
their schedule. The Oilers didn't make the playoffs that
season after finishing in a tie for second-place in District
24-5A with Clear Lake and Clear Brook while Ball High won
the league title. Pearland lost the tie-breaker and had
to stay at home. But that would be the last time a Heath
coached team would be missing from the playoffs.
In 2000, Pearland beat Deer Park in the Astrodome 35-13
to win their first playoff game since 1950 when the Oilers
were 11-1 in Class B to snap a 50-year drought. The 2001
squad finished with the first undefeated season since the
1962 Class A team (10-1) went undefeated during the regular
season while losing in the first round of the playoffs.
Pearland advanced to the 2001 Class 5A Division I state
semifinals before falling to San Antonio Taft to conclude
a record-setting season with a 13-1 mark. The Oilers captured
the District 24-5A title and a first-ever Class 5A Region
III crown.
While the recent history of the Oilers has produced some
outstanding teams with several players moving on to play
at the collegiate level, there are some long-time Pearland
supporters who don't want people to forget the success that
the Oilers had when football first began at Pearland High
School.
When Pearland die-hard fans, Mickey Mark and Luther Cunningham,
get in on the conversation, they are quick to praise the
early beginnings of the Oilers that took the gridiron beginning
in 1937 which was the year that Pearland High School began
in the small farm town.
Mark and Cunningham were both inducted into the first class
of the PHS Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 and both were
on those early football teams that began with a winning
tradition. Mark played on the 1947 undefeated team that
went 11-0 while winning the bi-district championship with
a 52-0 victory over Orangefield 52-0. Cunningham played
on the 1948 team that posted a 6-2 record to win the league
title while beating High Island 13-7 for the bi-district
championship.
Pearland students were bussed to Webster from 1914 to 1936
prior to the opening of Pearland High School.
At the start of the 1937 school year, the Pearland students
chose the name "Oilers" as their mascot and the
colors of maroon and white.
The first Superintendent of Pearland schools was B.B. Ainsworth
who went to Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches to recruit
a staff of teachers. Among those recruited was a young man
who had been a football and basketball standout at SFA by
the name of Lloyd C. Hawkins. With no football field, no
uniforms, no schedule, and only 13 players, Hawkins accepted
the challenge to be the football coach and found one team
to play in 1937 losing to La Marque.
Hawkins began to do some research on six-man football being
played in the Midwest at very small schools and set out
to establish a six-man football league on the Gulf Coast.
Pearland didn't field a team in 1938, but the Oilers began
playing six-man football in 1939 competing against other
small schools in the area.
In 1940, Pearland joined Friendswood, Missouri City, League
City, Dickinson, La Marque, Santa Fe, Danbury, and Sweeny
in a strong six-man football district. The fast-paced, high-scoring
six-man game became popular with teams all around the Houston
area. Pearland fans gave strong support to their team and
the Oilers responded with a 7-3 mark.
In 1941, Pearland went undefeated with a 9-0 record and
finished with a 52-0 bi-district win over New Waverly. The
Oilers were declared the unofficial six-man state champion
by the Houston newspapers when they defeated Houston Kincaid
44-14 to close out the year at 11-0.
The 1942 team finished with an 8-2 record losing to Kincaid
and League City in two close games to finish in second place
in the district. The Oilers established the all-time single-game
scoring record when they ambushed the Santa Fe Indians 108-12.
At the end of the season, coach Hawkins went into the Navy
to serve his country during World War II and didn't return
until the spring of 1945.
The War Years of 1943 and 1944 were down years for the Oilers.
With coach Hawkins in the Navy, the 1943 team was coached
by the local constable and went 0-10. The 1944 and 1945
teams were coached by an interim coach, Mr. H.L. McAninch,
who was also the Pearland High School principal. The 1944
team also went 0-10 while the 1945 team improved to 6-4.
Pearland welcomed coach Hawkins back at the helm in 1946.
During that season, Pearland snapped Sweeny's 32-game winning
streak to tie the Bulldogs 14-14. The two teams tied for
the district title and had a one-game playoff played before
5,000 fans in Alvin. The Oilers lost a heartbreaker 21-19.
Pearland lost to Kincaid in a non-district game during the
regular season to finish at 7-2-1.
Hawkins later became a City Councilman and Mayor of Pearland
after 1946 which marked his final season as the head coach
for the Oilers.
Pearland got a new coach in 1947 when Buck Brooks took over
the football program. The Oilers defeated Orangefield 52-0
to finish with a perfect 11-0 record.
The 1948 season marked the final year that Pearland would
compete in six-man football and the Oilers won the bi-district
championship defeating High Island 13-7 while finishing
with a 6-2 season record.
In 1949, Pearland began competing in 11-man football. With
a team dominated by juniors, the Oilers finished 4-4-2 that
initial year.
However, in 1950, the senior-laden Oilers finished the regular
season 10-0 while winning the bi-district championship.
Pearland lost in the next round to finish 11-1.
The Oilers would then go on an incredible 50-year drought
in the playoffs until Pearland won their game against Deer
Park in 2000. The winning tradition vanished over that 50-year
timetable until the arrival of Heath and his coaching staff.
From 1950 to 1996, prior to the arrival of Heath and Co.
-- the Oilers recorded only 11 winning seasons while making
the playoffs only three times (1950, 1962, 1986).. Pearland
has had eight winless seasons since 1949 and six one-win
seasons. The Oilers have never had a winning record in any
decade from 1950 to 1999.
Times were particular hard from 1980 to 1989 when the Oilers
were 22-79-0 and then were 21-79-1 from 1990-99.
Coach Heath arrived in 1997 and was 2-9 that first season,
5-5 in 1998, and 8-2 in 1999 which means that the Oilers
were 6-63-1 prior to the arrival of Heath in the '90s. During
Heath's first three years, Pearland was 15-16.
The Oilers are now 50-12 from 2000-2004 and are one of the
top five winningest football programs in the Houston area
over the past five years. Coach Heath is the winningest
coach in Pearland football history with an overall 65-28
mark. The Oilers have won more games in the past five years
(50) than the Pearland teams won in 20 years from 1980-1999
(43).
Pearland is looking to make the playoffs for a record sixth
consecutive year and to post their seventh straight winning
season when the 2005 football campaign kicks off. The Oilers
have advanced to the post-season six of the eight years
coach Heath has been at the helm and this year looks to
be no different.
The Oilers were District 24-5A co-champions with Clear Lake
in 2004 and all sub-varsity teams won four district championships
for the two Junior Varsity and two Freshman teams.
|
