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The No. 5 area-ranked Pearland Oilers traveled to District Stadium in League City to face the Clear Brook Wolverines and returned home with an impressive 34-7 victory to improve to 6-0 on the season and remain perfect in District 24-5A action at 2-0. The loss drops Clear Brook to 1-5 on the season and 0-2 in league play and now on the bubble to challenge for a spot in the post-season.

Playing on a Tuesday night with only three days rest to prepare for the contest due to the rescheduling caused by Hurricane Rita, Pearland head coach Tony Heath saw his troops not skip a beat in taking out the Wolverines in dominating fashion.

With Galveston Ball on the horizon with another short week to prepare, Heath and his coaches have always preached to the players to focus on one game at a time, but it was evident that when the Oilers jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead in the first quarter, the coaching staff began to impliment their plan to rest the starters in anticipation of this Saturday's showdown with the Golden Tornadoes who had an open date.

The Oilers' scouting report knew that Clear Brook was vulnerable to the deep pass after seeing Ball High use it to their advantage to pull out a late 17-3 win over the Wolverines.

Pearland got the opening kickoff and on the fourth play of the game, quarterback Michael Speciale dropped back and hit Earnest Buch for a 47-yard gain to the Brook four-yard line. Fozzy Whittaker got the call around right end for the score on the next play giving the Oilers a quick 7-0 lead with 10:07 remaining in the opening period after Alex Bolan hit the extra point.

The two teams traded punts and then Speciale took to the airways again finding Buch open for another 47-yard gain, but this time the wide receiver scampered into the end zone for the score with 1:35 left in the first quarter.

The extra point missed the mark giving the Oilers a 13-0 advantage.

The Pearland defense limited the Wolverines only four yards on their first two possessions. After Brook had moved from their own 28 to the Pearland 46, quarterback James Holmes was stripped of the ball and Joel Mapps picked up loose pigskin and raced 54 yards for the score with 10:20 showing on the clock. Bolan nailed the extra point and the Oilers were ahead 20-0.

Brook ran three plays and out forcing another punt. This time, the Oilers' special teams got involved with a partial block off the foot of Brandon Yelovich setting up the Pearland offensive machine at the Brook 31.

It took only three plays as running back Marcus Bradley ripped off 17 yards, Speciale scrambled for 13 to the Wolverines' one-yard line before Speciale scored on a sneak. Bolan was true with the extra point and the Oilers had a 27-0 lead with 8:13 remaining before intermission.

Clear Brook finally got on the scoreboard late in the first half when Pearland quarterback Reid Wendell was picked off by Jordan Thompson at the Oiler 20.

Quarterback Cory Crader, who replaced Holmes, spotted Andy Dong open for the 20-yard scoring toss. Yelovich hit the extra point to make the score 27-7 at the half.

The two teams traded punts to open the second half and then Pearland put the final points on the scoreboard with a three-play, 66-yard drive that was aided by two Clear Brook personal fouls.

On third-and-10 from the Brook 10, Speciale dropped back and lofted a soft screen pass to Bradley, who juked one defender with an incredible move at the five-yard line that allowed him to easily score. Bolan hit his fourth extra point and the 34-7 final score was posted with 5:13 remaining in the third quarter.

Throughout the game, Heath opted to use his backup offensive and defensive players so the starters could get some rest in preparation for the Ball High showdown.

While Pearland fans wanted to see Whittaker run the ball more, Heath knew that the game was under control and the overall health of the team was more important than racking up statistics.

Whittaker gained 64 yards on only 11 carries for one score. The junior speedster, who is the leading ball carrier in the Houston area, now has 1,003 yards for the season with four games remaining. Whittaker scored his ninth touchdown of the year in the opening period.

Speciale finished with eight carries for 40 yards giving him 465 yards on the season and on pace to have a shot at surpassing the 1,000 yard barrier for the season making him the first Pearland quarterback to accomplish that feat. Speciale scored on a two-yard run. The game marked the best passing outing for Speciale after not throwing a pass against Clear Lake. Speciale hit 4-of-6 passes for 109 yards and two scores.

Bradley took advantage of Whittaker being rested during the game and responded with nine totes for 50 yards while grabbing two passes for 15 yards and a score.

Buch is the leading pass catcher for the Oilers after grabbing two passes for 94 yards and one touchdown.

Once again, the Oiler defense continues to shine limiting the Wolverines to only 95 yards rushing and 41 yards passing for 136 total yards.

Defensive coordinator Mike Rinehart played a lot of players in the game giving his regulars some much needed rest while getting to see what other players could do in the heat of the battle.

Pearland (6-0, 2-0) faces Galveston Ball (4-1, 1-0) on Saturday, October 8 at 4:00 p.m. at The Rig. Both teams are undefeated in district and the showdown looks to be the game that might decided the District 24-5A championship.

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