Organization news and notes

The last time that the Pearland Oilers lost a regular season game was on September 24, 2004 against -- you guess it! To the Clear Lake Falcons at District Stadium in League City. The two teams went on to finish the 2004 campaign as District 24-5A co-champions as the Falcons dropped their only league game to the Alvin Yellowjackets. Clear Lake went on to advance to the 5A Division II state semifinals to finish 12-2 overall.

In 2005, Pearland won the league title with a perfect 7-0 mark while finishing the regular season with an unblemished 10-0 record. On the other hand, Clear Lake finished a disappointing 2-8 and went from first to last in the league race with a 1-6 mark with their only win coming from a forfeit from Ball High for playing an ineligible player.

At least five district losses came as a result of the Falcons fumbling away the game when they should have won.

"We gave away a lot of games in 2005," offensive coordinator Paul Lanier said prior to the Pearland-Clear Lake game this past weekend. "I think we have a team that isn't going to be so generous this season."

Pearland got the ball first to begin the game at their own 20. It took 16-plays for the Oilers to find the end zone while taking 8:04 off the game clock.

Running back Fozzy Whittaker and quarterback Sam Proctor carried the load to the one-yard line before James Williford got the call for the score. Robbie Hersh hit the extra point and the Oilers had a 7-0 lead.

Before Pearland could kick off, school officials sent both teams into the dressing room and advised the crowd to seek shelter as lightning was in the area. The game was delayed for 40 minutes before it was deemed safe to resume the game.

The Oilers kicked off to the Falcons and it didn't take long to find out that Clear Lake wasn't going to do anything fancy. The game plan was to line up nose-to-nose and challenge the Pearland defense to stop the ground attack of the Falcons.

With 8:42 left in the second quarter, Clear Lake quarterback Andrew Decker scored on a two-yard run. Dylan Dement added the extra point to knot up the score at 7-7.

Pearland answered with another drive capped off by a 25-yard scoring run by Whittaker with 4:00 minutes left before intermission. Hersh lined up to kick the extra point, but the Falcons broke down the protection tk block the kick. Spencer Hayes picked up the ball and raced 96 yards for the two-point conversion leaving the Oilers ahead 13-9.

Clear Lake scored on their next possession as Decker added another two-yard sneak for the score with 58 seconds left before intermission. The extra point was good giving the Falcons a 16-13 lead.

After Pearland received the kickoff, the Falcons took advantage of a fumble by the Oilers. Two plays later, Michael Grant broke through the middle of the Pearland defense for a 20-yard scoring dash with 12 seconds showing on the clock. The extra point was good and Clear Lake took a 23-13 lead at halftime before a shocked Pearland Homecoming sellout crowd.

The second half didn't get any easier for the Oilers as Clear Lake scored on their first possession of the second half on a 59-yard jaunt by Ronnie Feaster.

Pearland added another turnover and the Falcons took advantage to score on their fifth straight possession with Decker scoring on an eight-yard keeper giving Clear Lake a 37-13 advantage with 5:49 remaining in the third quarter.
The Oilers weren't going to give up as Whittaker scored on a 12 yard run with 3:37 left in the third period to cut the lead to 37-20, but that is as close as Pearland would get for the remainder of the game.

Dement added a 21-yard field goal with 10:25 left in the game to post the 40-20 final score.

Both teams came into the game with 4-0 marks. The Oilers were ranked No. 4 in the area while Clear Lake was ranked No. 18.

Whittaker was the top ball carrier for the Oilers finishing with 152 yards on 21 carries and two TDs. Whittaker also had four catches for 43 yards. Proctor was 7-of-8 passing for 65 yards.

Decker finished as the leading ball carrier for the Falcons with 22 carries for 79 yards and three scores. The Falcons completed 1-of-2 passing for 37 yards. Feaster caught the lone pass that set up the Falcons fourth touchdown.