No. 6 Pearland edges Shadow Creek to capture 22-6A crown

    Coaches break down the high season into three steps and Pearland has achieved the first step and that is to win a district championship.
    The No. 6 state-ranked Oilers defeated the Shadow Creek Sharks 21-14 to remain undefeated at 9-0 overall and 7-0 in district which gave them the 22-6A league title.
    With one game remaining against winless South Houston (0-8, 0-6), it is safe to say the Oilers will close out the regular season at 10-0 and advance to the second step and that will be the playoffs.
    The goal in the playoffs is to win the 6A Region III Div. I title which will send the Oilers to the third step which is the state football tournament that includes the state semifinals and ultimately the state title game.
    Pearland head coach B.J. Gotte has preached all season to focus on each game — one at a time. And the Oilers have bought into that message.
    “We challenge our team to get better and improve every week and that message hasn’t changed,” Gotte said. “Despite the success we have had, there are plenty of things to work on to improve.
    ‘We have made progress but still need to keep improving if we want to accomplish our goals.”
    The Oilers took command of the game against Shadow Creek who were the defending district champions. The Sharks lost earlier in the season to Pearland’s cross-town cousin, Dawson, 30-27 in a double-overtime thriller.
    Dawson, who has already made their reservations for the post-season, is 7-2 and will close out their regular season against Manvel on Friday, October 31 at 7:00 p.m. at Pearland ISD Stadium.
    Pearland faced a tough Shadow Creek squad as the Oilers were able to only score once in the first quarter while holding the visitors scoreless in the first half for a 7-0 Oiler lead at intermission.
    The only score in the first period was produced by Pearland on their opening possession when they drove the ball 70-yards in 12-plays capped off with a 7-yard scoring run by RB Ja’Maurey Champion with 5:17 left in the opening quarter. Kicker Holden Macneish hit the PAT for the 7-0 lead.
    The Oilers offense produced a controlled drive that took 6:53 off the game clock.
    A key play in the drive was QB Jake Westmoreland hitting WR Jordan “Jet” Hernandez on a 15-yard clutch pass on third down to keep the drive moving.
    Champion was the workhorse in the drive with nine carries.
    Both teams would move the ball throughout the first half only to see each drive stall short of field goal range.
    Shadow Creek managed to make a deep drive in Oiler territory as the second quarter was coming to an end but Pearland came up with a great interception at their 32 by LB Kamryn Harris with less than a minute remaining in the first half that left Pearland with a 7-0 halftime advantage.
    The Oilers jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the third quarter when Champion broke through the Shadow Creek defense on the Oilers first possession of the second half with a 49-yard run to the Sharks one-yard line. The Pearland leading rusher scored on a 1-yard plunge. Macneish drilled the PAT giving Pearland a 14-0 lead with 8:07 left in the third.
    After the Sharks had to punt on their next possession, Pearland scored again as Westmoreland and FB Dominic Teichelman caught the Sharks sleeping with a 42-yard scoring hookup to increase the lead to 21-0 at 4:16 third quarter mark.
    But Shadow Creek wasn’t going away as they scored on a 40-yard pass from junior QB Tavis Coleman to sophomore WR Jaylen Addai to close the gap to 21-7 with 1:55 left in the third quarter.
    The pair hooked up again at the beginning of the fourth quarter on another long bomb covering 45-yards to narrow the margin to 21-14 with 11:14 remaining in the period to make things very interesting.
    Both teams battled down the stretch and on Shadow Creek’s last possession of the game — the Sharks faced a fourth-and-20 from the Pearland 35. The desperate pass fell incomplete and the Oilers held on to win the district contest.
    Pearland had 336 (252 rushing, 84 passing) total yards compared to Shadow Creek who had 212 total yards (24 rushing, 188 passing).
    Westmoreland was 8-of-10 passing for 84 yards and one TD.
    Champion had 27 carries for 171 yards and two scores while sophomore Royce Swan had 18 carries for 79 yards. Champion now has 138 carries for 1,216 yards rushing and 20 TDs and Swan has 86 carries rushing for 678 yards and 12 TDs.
    Teichelman had two catches for 57 yards and one touchdown and Hernandez had three grabs for 18 yards.
    Pearland has an open date this week but will close out the regular season at Pasadena Memorial Veterans Stadium against winless South Houston on Thursday, November 6 at 6:30 p.m.