Organization news and notes

When Brandon Roberson was a freshman at Pearland High School in 2000, head coach Tony Heath began to hint that he had another runner that would follow in the footsteps of record-setting Anthony Evans who was closing out his illustrious high school career that same year.

While many thought it would be impossible to find an immediate replacement for Evans, who was instrumental in seeing the Pearland football fortunes make one of the most incredible turnarounds in Texas football history, Roberson stepped up his sophomore to prove that Heath wasn't just blowing hot air.

Roberson shared running back duties with senior Jeremy Brown during his first year on the varsity and rushed for 1,243 yards on 175 carries for 15 touchdowns while Brown won the league rushing title with 1,386 yards on 165 carries and 10 touchdowns giving the pair a combined 2,629 yards and 25 touchdowns. The one-two punch of Brown and Roberson helped the Oilers to 13 straight wins to set a new PHS winning mark while advancing to the Class 5A Division I state semifinals.

Evans was the prototype running back that set the standard and Roberson continued his development and would eventually capture two of Evans' rushing records. Roberson rushed for 2,294 yards and 25 touchdowns his junior year breaking Evans' single-season rushing mark of 2,055 yards. Roberson closed out his illustrious high school career by breaking the single-game rushing mark as well with 347 yards against Baytown Lee in the second round of the playoffs. The speedster finished out his senior year with 1,688 yards on 221 carries and 19 touchdowns placing him as the No. 8 all-time leading rusher in Texas Class 5A history (5,235 yards) with 65 touchdowns.

Pearland is the only school in Texas football history to have two running backs in the top 10 Class 5A all-time leading rushers. Evans is at the No. 2 slot with 6,192 yards and 66 touchdowns.

Roberson was a SuperPrep All-Southwest Region pick, a second-team All-State selection by the Texas Sports Writers Association, a two-time All-Greater Houston honoree, a two-time District 23-5A Offensive MVP, a 2003 Touchdown Club of Houston pre-season All-Greater Houston pick, a member of the 2003 NFL Global Junior Championship USA team, a member of the Texas High School Coaches Association North-South All-Star game, and participated in the Texas-Louisiana Bayou Bowl All-Star game.

Pearland was 31-4 during his three-year tenure including a perfect 10-0 regular season mark his sophomore year while capturing the District 24-5A and a first-ever Class 5A Region III crown.

It came as no surprise that Roberson would be recruited by some of the top college football programs including Kansas and Utah.

However, Roberson followed former All-State center Trevor Rees to Northwestern University and was able to play as a pure freshman for the Wildcats.

Roberson will be a sophomore at Northwestern this fall and is the projected starting tailback for the Wildcats after having an excellent showing during spring drills.

The coaching staff praised the progress of Roberson while complimenting his tremendous vision as a ball carrier as well as his elusiveness and quickness. Roberson will get his share of the offensive work load this year while also being used as a kickoff returner.

Roberson had only two carries his freshman season with both coming against Michigan for 15 yards. He also had three kickoff returns for 38 yards with his longest covering 21 yards.

The former Pearland standout will be wearing jersey No. 11 this season and Northwestern is seen on local television for most of the football season. Pearland fans will want to watch Roberson as he and Evans (UH) will both be featured running backs at the collegiate level.