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Whittaker, defense keep Pearland perfect at 5-0
The game plan for Pearland head coach Tony Heath and Clear Lake head coach Troy Addudel was very simple. Line up and play smashmouth football. No tricks, no gadget plays, just hardnose football on both sides of the ball.

The two teams met at The Rig in the District 24-5A opener for both squads as No. 5 area-ranked Pearland (5-0) and Clear Lake (2-3), who shared the league title last season, met in a game that would give the winner an important first step in challenging for the district crown this year.

For the first time since Heath took over the helm of the Pearland football program nine years ago, the Oilers didn't attempt a pass. Clear Lake completed just 1-of-3 pass attempts for eight yards.

The Falcons entered the game as the No. 1 leading rushing team in the Houston area averaging 337 yards per game. The Oilers came in at No. 2 averaging 324 yards per contest.

The game also featured Pearland junior running back Fozzy Whittaker who is the No. 1 leading rusher in the Houston area with 753 yards while Clear Lake countered with senior fullback Geno Blow who was at No. 2 with 539 yards.
While the focus of attention was on the two run-oriented offenses, the real battle took place in the trenches on every down on both sides of the ball.

The Pearland offensive line took on the challenge of facing a stout Clear Lake defensive front wall and when the final buzzer sounded, the Oilers' "Trench Mob" had won the battle.

Play after play, Pearland's offensive front opened up holes for quarterback Michael Speciale and running back Fozzy Whittaker. Speciale had 17 carries for 97 yards and one score while Whittaker had 20 totes for 186 yards and another touchdown. Speciale now has 425 yards for the season and is positioning himself to become the first quarterback in Pearland football history to rush for over 1,000 yards. Whittaker continues to lead the Houston area in rushing with 939 yards.

On every play, the offensive line of center Steven Kenney, guards Malcolm Brown and David Webster, tackles Chad Garner and Alan Pelc, and tight ends Landon Davis and Matt Duke fired off the ball to create running room for Speciale and Whittaker.

"The guys up front really did an outstanding job with their blocking assignments," Heath said. "They battled on every play and that is what it took to control the ball and keep Clear Lake off the field."

It was the same on the defensive side of the ball as the Pearland defensive front faced one of the most potent running attacks they will see all season.
Led by defensive lineman Torry Peterson, Kent Schumacher, Deforester Jones, Brandon Drenon, Tony Barrows, and Andrew Hernandez, the Pearland linebacking corps of Texavier Henry, Lance Hayes, Brandon Shaw, Joel Mapps and Joseph Benton were able to make aggressive plays against Clear Lake's multiple runners in the run-oriented wishbone offense.
That allowed the defensive secondary of Justan Vaughn, Ernest Buch, Marcus Bradley, and Jamaal Driver to make critical stops during the course of the game.
"I'm proud of our defense to be able to hold a team with the weapons that Clear Lake has to three points," Heath said.

The first half saw both teams have three possessions.

Pearland received the opening kickoff and moved from their own 33 to the Clear Lake 20, but the Oilers came up short on a fourth-and-one as the officials made a questionable spot on a Speciale sneak.

The Falcons put their offense in gear and moved from their 20 to the Pearland 34. On fourth-and-five, defensive back Jamaal Driver came up with a big defensive play in the secondary to knock away a pass to give the Oilers the ball back.

In the blink of an eye, Whittaker took the handoff from Speciale, broke through a hole created by tackle Chad Garner and tight end Landon Davis, and raced 66 yards for the score leaving the Clear Lake defense choking in his heel dust. Alex Bolan hit the extra point giving Pearland a 7-0 lead with 2:01 remaining in the opening period.

The Falcons began their second possession of the first half at their own 26 and drove to the Oilers 30. Once again, the bend, but not break Pearland defense forced a 46-yard field goal attempt that came up short.

The Oilers moved the ball with ease down the field as Whittaker ripped off runs of 10, 10, 3, and 12 yards as Pearland picked up three first downs to the Lake 17, but the Oilers fumbled on second down to shut down another scoring drive.

"We got into the red zone twice, but stopped ourselves by coming up short on fourth down and then a turnover," Heath said. "The only ones who could stop us offensively was ourselves."

With 4:23 remaining in the first half, Clear Lake drove from their own 14 to the Pearland 12 where the Falcons had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Patrick Ashley with five seconds left before intermission.

It looked like Clear Lake might have found the answer to Pearland's suffocating defense as Joe Clark burned the Oilers for a 32 yard scamper to the Pearland 31. An illegal procedure call moved the ball back to the 36 and Lake was limited to eight yards on two carries. Facing third and seven, Lake attempted their second pass of the game which was picked off by Ernest Buch at the Oilers' 15.

Both teams traded punts before the Oilers took over at their own 37 with less than a minute remaining in the third period.

That's when Speciale and Whittaker followed their offensive line on a 12-play, 63-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard plunge on fourth down by Speciale with 5:49 remaining in the district showdown. It took Speciale two times from the one-yard line as the Clear Lake stuffed the Pearland offense on third down, but the Oilers' offensive front wasn't going to be denied on the fourth down play. Bolan booted the extra point and the Oilers had some breathing room 14-3.

After Whittaker ripped off runs of 18 and 12 yards to the Falcons' 33, the yards became a little tougher. A critcial play in the drive was on third-and-four from the Clear Lake 27 when Speciale found a hole created by Alan Pelc and Davis that freed him for a 10 yard gain.

Clear Lake mounted one last scoring drive with 5:44 remaining in the game, but that came to an end when Justan Vaughn picked off a third down pass at the Pearland 20 and returned it to the 42 where Pearland ran out the game clock to get the 14-3 win avenging last year's loss to the Falcons.

Pearland's defense limited the Falcons to their lowest offensive output of the season with 234 yards on the ground and 27 passing yards. The game also marked the first time this year that Clear Lake failed to score a touchdown.
Geno Blow, the area' second-leading rusher entering the game, left with only 53 yards on 12 carries. Quarterback Jonathan Gilmer led the Falcons with 15 totes for 59 yards.

The Oilers had 289 rushing yards to go with 16 first downs to become the area's top rushing offense.

Pearland travled to face Clear Brook at District Stadium on Tuesday, October 4. The Ball High Tornadoes come to The Rig on Saturday, October 8 at 4:00 p.m. Should the Oilers still be undefeated after facing Clear Brook, most figure that the District 24-5A title will be on the line when Pearland and Ball face one another in the league showdown.