No. 14 state-ranked Pearland blows past Pasadena Memorial 49-0

By Dr David Davis

The No. 14 state-ranked Pearland Oilers (5-0, 3-0) remain undefeated at 5-0 after getting a convincing 49-0 district win over the Pasadena Memorial Mavericks (2-3, 1-2).

The Oilers will turn their attention this week to the Manvel Mavericks ((4-0, 2-0) as the two undefeated teams meet on Friday, October 2 at 7:00 p.m. at Pearland ISD Stadium.

So far this season, the offense and defense are operating on all cylinders as the offense is averaging 46.6 points per game while the defense has given up only 41 points in five game for 8.2 points per game.

Pearland forced Memorial to punt on their opening possession, and then the Oilers went on a 14-play, 83-yard scoring drive capped off with a 6-yard run by junior RB Royce Swan with 1:58 remaining in the opening quarter for a 7-0 lead.

The Oilers forced another Memorial punt but this time, it only took five plays to find pay dirt as senior QB Kaleb Smith hit junior WR Joaquin Soraiz on a perfect 32-yard scoring strike to make the score 14-0 following the PAT by Holden Macneish with 7:13 left in the second period.

Pearland added one more score in the first half when Smith hit sophomore WR Lance Goree on a 31-yard scoring pass with 5:04 remaining in the second period for a 21-0 halftime lead.

The second half began the same way it did the previous game as Royce Swan broke through the Memorial defense on his way to a crowd-pleasing 66-yard scoring jaunt to give the Oilers a quick 28-0 advantage with 11:46 left in the third quarter.

After Memorial was forced to punt, the Oilers didn’t waste any time scoring again as senior RB Ryan Miller got loose on a 31-yard scoring dash to make the score 35-0 at the 8:42 mark of the third.

While the Pearland defense was doing their job, the Oilers offense added two more scores in the final frame as senior QB Blake Morkovsky hit senior WR Deshun Washington on a 10-yard scoring pass and senior DB Maddox Grant intercepted a Memorial pass and return it 70-yards for a score with 1:45 left in the game to post the 49-0 final score.

Smith was 12-of-19 for 161 yards and two TDs while Morkovsky was 3-for-3 for 62 yards and one TD for a total of 223 yards passing.

Royce Swan was the leading ball carrier with 16 carries for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Miller had 10 totes for 90 yards and one TD.

The Oilers had 284 yards rushing for a total of 507 yards while holding the Mavericks to 194 total yards (51 rushing, 143 passing).

Pearland (5-0, 3-0) will now prepare to face their biggest test of the season when they host the undefeated Manvel Mavericks (4-0, 2-0) on Friday, October 2 at 7:00 p.m. at Pearland ISD Stadium in a District 19-6A clash.