Undefeated gridiron season comes to an end for Pearland

When the No. 6 state-ranked Pearland Oilers faced the No. 4 state-ranked Dickinson Gators — everyone knew someone would win and someone would see their season come to an end as both teams entered the second-round of the Class 6A Region III Div I contest with 11-0 records.

The fans saw a real battle to the very end but unfortunately, key mistakes in the game spelled doom for the Oilers as the Gators will continue their journey after getting the 28-21 win.

This is the 26th consecutive season that Pearland has advanced in the playoffs but they haven’t moved beyond the second round since 2013 when they won the 5A Region III title and played Allen in the 5A state championship game won by Allen.

This is the Gators’ first appearance in the third round of the playoffs since 2015.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Gators got on the scoreboard as the Pearland defense put them in an improbable situation with a third-and-37 situation.

Dickinson got an unlikely 27-yard completion from QB Lorenz Aquirre to WR Kaileb Peterson which made a more manageable fourth-and-10. Aquirre followed with a pass to WR Neiquayun Kinchen who slipped open for a 25-yard pass to the Pearland two-yard line setting up a 2-yard plunge by Ja’Marion Payne for a 7-0 lead with 7:15 remaining in the second quarter.

On Pearland’s third play following the ensuing kickoff, Dickinson’s Aydin Edison got the ball back to the Gators’ offense on a red-zone interception and once again they faced a fourth-and-13.

Aguirre lobbed a pass to the corner of the end zone to Peterson, who snatched it out of the clutches of two Pearland defenders for a 14-0 lead with 6:07 remaining in the second period.

The closest the Pearland came to scoring was late in the first quarter when junior kicker Holden Macneish attempted a 32-yard field goal which missed the mark wide left.

The Pearland offense struggle in the first half gaining only 83 total yards and 2.6 yards per carry in the running game. The Gators also produced two interceptions snatched by Aydin Edison and Rickey Casimere in the first and third quarters, respectively, that turned into points for the Gators.
Pearland got the ball first in the second half and went on a 11-play, 52-yard drive to the Dickinson 18 before the Gators picked off Pearland QB Jake Westmoreland and made a nice return to mid-field for the Dickinson offense.

It took only three plays for Dickinson to score again as Malachi Gamble got loose on a 24-yard run to give the Gators a 21-0 advantage with 6:49 remaining in the third quarter.

Pearland finally got on the scoreboard with 1:16 left in the third quarter when Westmoreland hit WR Jordan “Jet” Hernanez on an 18-yard scoring strike to cut the lead to 21-7 and put life back into the Oilers.

After the Pearland defense forced a Dickinson punt, the Oilers went on another scoring march that covered 11-plays and 73-yards and capped off by an 8-yard scoring pass from Westmoreland to junior TE Karon Johnson. The PAT by Macneish hit the mark and the Oilers had cut the margin to 21-14 with 6:09 left in the final period.

But, the Gators answered just three plays later on a 42-yard TD run by Gamble to make it 28-14 with 4:49 remaining in the fourth quarter.
At the time, it seemed like a dagger score, but the never-say-die Oilers made a run at Dickinson in the game’s final minutes — first, marching 81-yards downfield on 11-plays with a 33-yard TD reception by Johnson to get it back to within one score at 28-21 with 1:53 still to go.
The Oilers then recovered an onside kick and saw a final drive kept alive with a defensive personal foul on what would’ve been a turnover on downs otherwise. The penalty moved Pearland inside Dickinson’s 30-yard line, but back-to-back sacks followed by a fourth-and-long pass deflection finally sealed the game for the Gators.

Westmoreland closed out his final high school game with 14-of-27 passing for 170 yards, three TDs, and three INTs while rushing for 14 yards on nine carries.

Junior QB Kaleb Smith was 22-of-29 passing for 279 yards.

Champion had 27 carries for 136 yards. For the season, Champion had 188 carries for 1568 yards and 25 TDs.

Sophomore RB Royce Swan had 107 totes for 873 yards and 14 TDs. Junior Ryan Miller had 24 carries for 196 yards and three scores this season. Senior RB Jadon Howard had 36 carries for 249 yards and five TDs this year.

Jet Hernandez had a spectacular final game with 10 catches for 98 yards and one score. Hernandez finished the season with 40 catches for 633 yards and five touchdowns.

Sophomore Braxton Jones had 18 catches for 331 yards and six touchdowns.

Johnson had three grabs for 67 yards and two TDs against Dickinson.

Junior Kaleb Samuels had 11 catches for 187 yards for the year.

Pearland closes out the 2025 season as the undefeated District 22-6A champions (8-0) and 11-1 for the season.

Head coach B.J. Gotte closes out his fourth season at the helm of the Oilers with a 33-14 record.