Pearland cruises past Dawson in the PearBowl 48-14

It was the 13th meeting between Pearland and Dawson in the annual PearBowl between the two cross-town cousins so the winner would take a 7-6 lead in the series.

Excitement filled the Pearland ISD Stadium as the Bayway Chevrolet Parachute Team landed flawlessly on the field before the game with the Game Ball and the American Flag to the cheers of all the fans of both schools.

As in past PearBowls, the season record book could be thrown out even though the Oilers entered this year’s contest with a perfect 3-0 mark while the Eagles were at 1-2. Year-after-year — the two teams have been evenly matched thanks to great coaching on both teams.

However, this year’s game actually favored Pearland more than in the past and it didn’t take long to find out why after the opening kickoff.

The Eagles took the ensuing kickoff from their own 20 to the Pearland 19 thanks to a long pass completion from sophomore QB Aiden Raglin to WR Corey Brown covering 31-yards.

But on the next play, the Eagles fumbled and Pearland senior LB Jayden Larry picked up the ball and returned it 81-yards for a touchdown with 8:46 remaining in the opening quarter. Holden Macneish added the PAT and the Oilers had a 7-0 lead.

Both teams traded punts and Dawson began their third possession at their own 12.

The turnover bug struck again for the Eagles when junior DB Terrell Johnson intercepted a Dawson pass and returned it to the 5-yard line.

Junior RB Royce Swan blasted across the goal line from a yard out and the Oilers were ahead 14-0 with 3:07 still left in the opening frame.

Pearland scored again when Macneish booted a 37-yard field goal after the Oilers drive stalled at the Dawson 20 making the score 17-0 with 10:28 left in the second quarter.

The Oilers struck again less than two minutes when senior RB Ryan Miller scored on a 5-yard run giving Pearland a 24-0 advantage at the 9:07 mark of the second period.

Macneish put an exclamation mark on the first half with his second 37-yard field goal with :03 seconds left before intermission giving the Oilers a 27-0 lead at halftime.

Pearland got the second-half kickoff and Royce Swan immediately excited the crowd with a thrilling 76-yard scoring jaunt on the first play as he burst through the middle of the Dawson defense with only :20 seconds gone in the third quarter. Macneish added the PAT for a 34-0 lead.

Miller would score on the next possession for Pearland with a 4-yard scamper to increase the margin to 41-0 with 8:37 left in the third.

Dawson would finally get on the scoreboard late in the third quarter on a 57-yard run by QB Raglin to trim the lead to 41-7 with 1:57 remaining in the third period.

Early in the final frame, Pearland would score on a 1-yard plunge by Wil Torres to up the score to 48-7 at the 9:00 mark.

The Eagles would score one more time on an 8-yard scoring pass from Raglin to Brown with 8:18 left in the game to post the 48-14 final score.

Pearland had 384 total yards (304 rushing, 80 yards passing) against the Dawson defense while the Eagles offense had 247 total yards (142 rushing, 105 passing).

Royce Swan was the game’s leading rusher with 172 yards on 14 carries for two TDs. Swan now has 636 yards rushing after only four games and is one of the top ten rushers in the Houston area.

No individual stats were available for Dawson.

Pearland (4-0) will host the Pasadena Memorial Mavericks (2-2) on Thursday, September 24 at 6:30 p.m. at Pearland ISD Stadium.

Dawson (1-3) will host the Sam Rayburn Texans (1-3) on Friday, September 25 at 7:00 p.m. at Pearland ISD Stadium.