No. 12 state-ranked Pearland rushes past Alvin 59-7

Pearland senior wide receiver Karon Johnson fights through an Alvin defender on his way to a 43-yard touchdown reception Friday night against the Yellowjackets. Junior running back Royce Swan added 148 yards and four touchdowns as the Oilers rolled to a 59-7 victory. (Photo by Lloyd Hendricks)

When you go to a football game, whether it is high school, college, or professional, the game is won or lost in the trenches between the offensive and defensive line.

Of course, when a quarterback, running back, or receiver makes a crowd-pleasing play on offense — all attention and cheers are aimed at those players while the guys who made the play a success are taken for granted.

There is a reason there are 11 players on the field for each team as each one has their own responsibilities — especially those who are in the trenches who get so little credit.

The battle is at the line of scrimmage.

The No. 12 state-ranked Pearland Oilers are now 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the district standings thanks to the one-two punch of junior RB Royce Swan and senior RB Ryan Miller but the ones that make it happen are the ones in trenches who open the holes and provide pass protection for QB Kaleb Smith.

Special recognition goes out to strong tackle Colby Rao, strong guard Grayden Phillips, center RJ Swan (Royce’s brother), quick guard Noah Burback, quick tackle AJ Zimmerhanzel, tight ends Karon Johnson and Damien Mears.

This offensive line made it possible for Royce Swan (12 carries, 148 yards, 4 TDs) and Miller (4 carries, 90 yards, 1 TD) to rush for a combined 238 yards against the Alvin Yellowjackets.

Swan currently has 1,134 yards and 17 TDs for the season after six games which ranks him in the top five of the Houston ball carriers.

The Oilers offense rolled up 505 total yards (298 rushing, 207 passing) against the hapless Yellowjackets defense while the Pearland defense limited Alvin to 172 total yards (38 rushing, 134 passing) and one score.

Pearland also picked up valuable yardage through the air as Smith was 11-of-13 passing for 136 yards and back-up quarterback Blake Morkovsky was 3-of-4 for 71 yards and one TD.

The Oilers struck first in the opening quarter when Royce Swan got loose on a 30-yard scoring run with 8:09 left in the period for a 7-0 lead following the PAT by Holden Macneish.

The game got out of hand in the second period for the Jackets as the Oilers scored four more times to build a 35-0 halftime lead.

Swan score twice on runs of 6 and 19 yards, Miller scored on a thrilling 43-yard run, and LB Terrell Johnson picked off an Alvin pass and returned it 40-yards for a touchdown with 5:16 left in the first half.

Pearland continued their domination as the Oilers scored two more touchdowns and a field goal in the third quarter.

Swan scored his fourth touchdown on a 1-yard plunge with 6:24 in the third and then Smith tossed a short pass to tight end Karon Johnson who sprinted down the left sideline 43-yards to find the pay station and Macneish closed out the frame with a 37-yard field goal with 1:15 left to make the score 52-0.

Alvin managed to put together a scoring drive in the fourth quarter to cut the margin to 52-7 and then with 6:33 left in the game, Pearland’s Nehemiah Wagner score on a 7-yard scoring dash to post the 59-7 final score.

Pearland improved to 7-0 on the season and will enjoy a bye week this Friday before hosting Sam Rayburn for Homecoming on Friday, October 23, at 7:00 p.m. at Pearland ISD Stadium.