Garrison’s INT secures victory
with 6 seconds to go
Samuel Ukwuachu caught a 44 yard touchdown pass with 47 seconds to go and Dustin Garrison intercepted Haack’s desperation pass with 6 seconds to go to send the Pearland Oilers past previously unbeaten Katy 38-35 in Class 5A Region III Finals Saturday evening at Rice Stadium. The win moves Pearland into the Class 5A State Semifinals where they will face San Antonio Stevens next Saturday, 4: p.m. at the Alamodome.
A day of sorrow and pain fell on the No. 5 nationally ranked Tigers.
The Oilers (14-0) had heard too much about how they couldn’t do it, but they not only did it. 41, 368 fans witnessed it.
Dylan Nowak converted a 17 yard field goal to give the Oilers the early 3-0 lead with 7:02 to go in the first quarter.
Two series later a personal foul gave the Tigers a first down at the 19 yard line of Pearland where they went ahead of the Oilers 7-3 on Taylor’s sprint around the right side of the defense.
In the next couple of possessions both teams added scores, Garrison went in from one yard out for Pearland and Taylor capped a 57 yard drive with a 7 yard touchdown run to give the Tigers a 14-10 lead with 40 second to go in the half.
Just when fans were preparing for halftime, Trey Anderson shocked the crowd with a 71 yard touchdown strike to Myles Kanipes who caught the pass on the run while nearly losing his balance reaching out for the ball to send Pearland to locker room with 17-14 lead.
In the second half the Oilers defense continued to silence the nay Sayers, as defensive lineman William Messenger sacked Haack at the Pearland 44 yard line forcing a turnover on downs on the Tigers first drive of the third quarter. Mean while Anderson made sure that Pearland would make the best of this possession when he connected with Ukwuachu on a 50 yard touchdown pass. Anderson avoided a sack with a whodini like move to get out of the hands of fast and furious line backer Grant Clifton while he continued to scramble left and found Ukwuachu wide open at the 25 yard line where he caught the ball and outran the Tigers secondary to the end zone.
Katy (13-1) turned to their power running game. Taylor and Young assumed the position, pounding the ball up the middle as well as power sweeps. Young’s 14 yard scoring run trimmed Pearland’s lead to three, 24-21 with 7:21 to go in the third quarter. After, both teams traded stops before the Oilers took a drive into the fourth quarter down to the 21 yard line of Katy.
Facing fourth and six from the Tigers 21, a personal foul penalty turn the tables on Katy when defensive end Nick Narcisse rushed in from the left end sacking Anderson but grabbing the face mask in the process. The infraction was half the distance giving Pearland a new set of downs at 11. Anderson finished the drive with a one yard sneak pushing the lead back to ten, 31-21.
Taylor’s 65 yard kickoff return set up Katy’s next score which was capped on a one yard sneak by Haack, 31-27 with 7:12 to go in the fourth quarter.
Clifton and Narcisse pressured Anderson and the Oilers offense into punting the ball away. The stop gave way to the Tigers in taking their second lead of the game since holding a brief 14-10 lead near the end of the second quarter. Haack’s 26 yard strike to Joey Chapman gave them the lead with 3:12 to go but it was short lived as Anderson pulled off the second stunner of the day with Tigers all over him he managed to escape and throw sky rocket down the left side where Ukwuachu made the acrobatic catch out jumping Quinn Atwood around the ten yard line and running in for a shocking lead 38-35 with 47 seconds to go.
Garrison who worked tersely on offense entered the game at defensive back and intercepted Haack’s deep heave with 6 seconds to go to seal the deal.