Pearland's cardiac kids do it again

September 15, 2009

   

PEARLAND — If things continue to go like they have over the past couple of weeks -- head coach Tony Heath and/or his coaching staff will need a heart specialist on the sidelines in case of an emergency.

It might not be a bad idea to have extra EMT personnel stationed close to the Pearland side.

The Pearland Oilers scored a touchdown with 49 seconds left in the game to pull out a 22-21 win over the Fort Bend Cougars two weeks ago.        

Last week - with the score tied 14-14 -- the Oilers once again found the magic touch as quarterback Trey Anderson launched a pass covering 23-yards down the right sideline where T.J. Strayhorn gathered in the ball in the endzone with 17.6 seconds remaining in the game to pull out a 20-14 miracle win.

In the 13 years that Heath has been at the helm of the miracle turnaround of Pearland football -- two games as close as the past two weeks don't usually happen.

Unless one goes back to the back-to-back wins over Cinco Ranch and Cy-Fair in 2006 when the Oilers won the Region III title to advance to the state semifinals.

Or one could go back only to last year's miraculous playoff win over Clear Lake on the final play of the game when the Falcons botched a certain game-winning field goal that was picked up by Dennis Walls for a 65-yard touchdown.

But so early in the season?

Pearland scored first with 11:51 left in the second quarter when junior running back Dustin Garrison broke through a couple of Memorial defenders for a 25-yard touchdown. The extra point, which has been an early season challenge, was shanked to the left leaving the score 6-0.

Memorial finally put together a drive to score on a Justin White three-yard run with 5:11 left before intermission. Kevin Soto drilled the extra point giving the Mustangs a 7-6 halftime lead.

This was the third straight game that the Oilers trailed at intermission.

Pearland began their second possession of the second half at their own four-yard line. It took only seven plays for the Oilers to find paydirt as Myles Kanipes scored on a three-yard run. The drive was sparked by a 37-yard run by Garrison to the Memorial 3. Kanipes also scored the two-point conversion to give the Oilers a 14-7 lead with 5:27 left in the third period.

The defenses took over  for both teams as neither team could cross the midfield stripe.

With 7:13 remaining in the game, Memorial finally got untracked moving the ball from their own 18 to the Pearland 35 on a 46-yard pass completion. The Mustangs scored four plays later on a 32-yard pass. The extra point hit the mark to make the score 14-14 with 3:40 left in the game.

The Oilers got in gear and used eight plays to move the ball from their 32 to the Memorial 31, but a fourth-and-10 pass came up short giving the ball back to the Mustangs with 32 seconds to go in the game and staring overtime in the face.

However, Memorial set up on their own 29 and went to the air, but Pearland defensive back Claudius Smithers came up with a big interception and returned the ball to the Memorial 28.

“We were playing for overtime tonight,” Heath said. “But we saw an opportunity there at the end and made something happen.”

A pass from Trey Anderson to Kanipes moved the chains to the 19. After an incomplete pass, Anderson dropped back and lofted a beautiful pass to the endzone that was caught by T.J. Strayhorn with 17.6 seconds left in the contest. The extra point missed the mark again leaving the Oilers with a 20-14 lead.

“Trey Anderson was banged up last week and Kanipes came in and did a great job for him,” Heath said. “Then Anderson stepped in and did a great job. I think that we are really getting much better as a team.”

Memorial made it interesting in the final seconds, but for the second straight week -- Pearland pulled a miracle out of their pocket to improve their season record to 2-1.

Garrison continues to improve each week and had his best game of the season with 21 carries for 145 yards and one score. Kanipes had 17 carries for 77 yards and one TD.

Anderson hit 6-of-10 passing for 80 yards and the game-winner. Kanipes was 4-of-7 for 35 yards and one INT.

Strayhorn caught three passes for 40 yards and one TD. Charles Ortiz, who caught the winning TD against Kempner, had five catches for 52 yards. Kanipes had two grabs for 23 yards.

Overall, the Oilers finished with a season-high 349 yards and 18 first downs.

The Pearland defense held Memorial to 249 total yards and have been the difference for the Oilers this season. But the offense is still young and is coming around.

The Oilers have an open date this week, but will face the Pasadena Eagles at Pasadena Memorial Stadium on Saturday, September 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the District 22-5A opener for both teams.

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