Jul 30, 2010
Pearland goes Myles out of the way for win
September 8, 2009
SUGARLAND — Pearland head coach Tony Heath has won a lot of games during his 13 years at the helm of the Pearland football program, but the 22-21 win over Fort Bend Kempner will go down as one of the most spectacular wins he has ever experienced.
With only 8:12 left in the game and trailing 21-10 -- many of the Pearland fans had to wonder if the Oilers were going to be able to pull out another remarkable win. After all -- history has proven that Pearland has that miraculous magic.
And - to the credit of the Pearland fans - not many were making their way to the parking lot. For those who did -- you really missed a gut-wrenching performance by every Pearland kid out there on the field.
The Oilers got the ball at their own 42 with 8:012 left in the game. Starting quarterback Trey Anderson suffered an injury so Heath turned to Myles Kanipes to take over the controls of the offense.
Pearland's ground attack had been held in check for most of the game, but Kanipes, who has an incredible desire to win, put the game on his shoulders and quickly put the Oilers in business on the Kempner 20 after completing a 38-yard pass to Sam Ukwuachu. Kanipes completed the scoring march with two straight runs covering 14 and 6 yards for the score. The two-point conversion came up short leaving Pearland trailing 21-16 with 7:17 left to go in the game.
The drive took only 47 seconds and put the Oilers in a position to get the win.
After the Pearland defense came up big to force the Cougars to punt - the Oilers got their final possession of the game with 2:18 left in the contest at their own 25 with no time outs left.
A 12-yard completion to TJ Strayhorn and a 15-yard face mask penalty put the ball at the Kempner 48. Kanipes completed two more passes to Charles Ortiz for 14 yards and to Ukwuachu for six yards to the Cougars 28.
After a four-yard carry by Kanipes, the competitive Kanipes rolled to his right and then lofted a soft pass to Ortiz in the corner of the end zone for the game-winning score with 49 seconds left in the game.
It was the only time the Oilers had the lead in the entire game, but they got it just at the right time. The defense did their part to thwart any come-back effort as Pearland got the 22-21 non-district win.
Kempner led 7-0 at halftime and increased the lead to 14-0 with 8:40 left in the third quarter.
But the Oilers got back in the game when Anderson lofted a pass to Matt Rhodes for a 10-yard score. Dylan Nowak added a 24-yard field goal to cut the lead to 14-10.
But the Cougars got a 37-yard scoring pass to increase their lead to 21-10 and it appeared that Kempner would get their first win over the Oilers.
But they weren't ready for a little dynamo to be the catalyst for another memorable come-back win in recent years.
Kanipes started at free safety and had 10 unassisted tackles, seven assisted stops, and one fumble recovery, and one caused fumble. He took over at quarterback (5-for-12, 102 yards, one TD) in the final eight minutes and Pearland trailing 21-10. He scored one TD and threw a game-winning TD pass with 49 seconds left to give the Oilers the one-point victory.
Not bad for someone listed in the media guide at 5-8, 165 pounds.
The Oilers are now 1-1 on the season and will host Memorial on Friday, September 11 at 7:00 p.m. at The Rig. This is the first home game of the season for the Oilers.