The No. 5 area-ranked Pearland Oilers left little doubt as to who would win their homecoming contest against the neighboring Alvin Yellowjackets.

It was a match-up of too much speed, size, and depth as the Oilers controlled the contest from the very beginning of the game. The homecoming win kept Pearland as the only undefeated team in District 24-5A with sole possession of first place in the district standings at 4-0 and 7-1 overall.

The Oilers will travel to The Rock in Galveston to face the Ball High Tornadoes on Friday, November 2 at 7:00 p.m. at Courville Stadium. The Tors are 5-3 overall and 2-2 in league play with wins over Alvin (27-12) and Clear Brook (18-16). However, they currently have a two-game losing streak after falling to Clear Lake (38-14) and Brazoswood (21-14).

While Pearland has a lock on the playoffs -- the Oilers still have two more games left and head coach Tony Heath will have his players focused on one game at a time to complete the regular season and win the District 24-5A title this season. A win over the Tors will guarantee a share of the title, but the Oilers aren't interested in sharing the crown with anyone.



That was evident in the game against the Yellowjackets when the Oilers set the tone in the first half.

Alvin took the opening kickoff and netted minus-7 yards after three plays forcing a punt.

Beginning at their own 49, Pearland quarterback Sam Allen hit wide receiver Kevin Miller who gained eight yards before coughing up the ball to the Jackets.

The Jackets took over at their 46 and came up with a flea-flicker on the first play that took the ball to the Pearland 30. Three plays later, Alvin faced fourth-and-one at the Pearland 21, but came up short when linebacker Gary Robertson and Kyle Ehrlich dropped running back Vincent Wydermyer for a loss.

The Oilers moved from their own 21 to the Alvin 11, but Robbie Hersh missed on a 28-yard field goal attempt with 3:31 left in the first quarter.
After Alvin was forced to punt for the second time in the game, Pearland began their fourth series at their own 26 and finally found their rythym as Kasey Carrier broke free for a 21 yard gain. Allen and Miller hooked up again for a 33 yard pass completion to the Alvin 32.

Allen fired a bullet to Munda Olford for 11 more yards to the Jackets 21. Allen dropped back again and tossed a screen pass to Carrier who weaved his way through the Alvin defenders for the 21-yard touchdown at the 10:48 mark of the second quarter. Hersh hit the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Alvin got their three plays and punted again setting up the Oilers at their own 46.

Josh Gonzales ripped off a 29 yard run while Anthony Ross picked up 10 more on great run. The combiniation of Allen to Miller worked again for 11 yards to the Alvin four-yard line. Fullback Alex Deason got the call and bolted his way across the goal line for the score with 8:10 left in the second period. Hersh booted the extra point and the Oilers posted a 14-0 lead at intermission.

The Oilers began the second half at their own 22 and moved the ball methodically down the field in a 10-play, 78-yard scoring drive capped off by another Deason touchdown of two-yards. The Oilers used a balanced attack as Allen hit Miller and Olford for nine-yards each while Carrier picked up 26 yards on two carries and Gonzales had two carries for 19 yards. A bad snap on the extra point left the Oilers ahead 20-0 with 7:22 left in the third period.

The Jackets got a shot in the arm when junior running back Ashton Jefferson did something that no team has done since the arrival of coach Heath in 1997. Jefferson took the kickoff and returned it 93 yards for a touchdown that took only 15 seconds off the clock. Nathan Earles added the extra point and the Jackets were back in the game at 20-7.

But that would be as close as the Oilers would allow Alvin to get as Pearland ripped off 28 unanswered points for the 48-7 win.

It took the Oilers only eight plays to complete a 72-yard drive as Carrier ran through the heart of the Alvin defense for a 30-yard touchdown to make the score 27-7.

Alvin fumbled the kickoff which was recovered by Bernard Obi. Two plays later, Allen hit tight end Travis Zimmerman for a 32-yard scoring strike. The extra point by Hersh made the score 34-7.



Pearland continued their scoring barrage as Carlos Lebron-Thachar scored on a 36-yard touchdown with 9:59 left in the fourth quarter to make the score 41-7.

With second and third team players for Pearland taking the defensive side, Alvin moved from their own 31 to the Pearland 23. Alvin quarterback Stephen Owens rolled to his left and launched a pass that was juggled and snatched up by junior defensive back Dennis Walls who returned the ball 80 yards to the Alvin 18.

It took Pearland only three plays to put the final points on the board as Frank Anaro scored on a nine-yard run to post the 48-7 final score.

Heath utilized a host of other players who stepped up with some outstanding plays including Grant Gilmore who stepped off a nice 19 yard run. Chuma Dike also had a nice nine-yard run with Anaro also picking up another 12 yards on two carries to add to his scoring run.

Carrier led the ground attack with 11 totes for 124 yards and one score. He also had one catch for 21 yards and another touchdown. The junior speedster now has 1,082 yards rushing for the season while scoring 11 touchdowns. The Oilers have had a running back surpass the 1,000 yard rushing mark every year since 1998 with three past ball carriers among the Class 5A all-time leading rushers in Texas football history including Anthony Evans (No. 4), Fozzy Whittaker (No. 6), and Brandon Roberson (No. 10).
Allen had one of his best passing performances hitting 15-of-19 passing for 192 yards and two TDs.

Miller continues to lead the receiving corps with six catches for 63 yards while Munda Olford had four catches for 50 yards.

by Dr. David Davis E-mail: drdd@swbell.net