Stop #5 on the 6th Annual MaxPreps Football Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard brought us to
Pearland (Pearland, Texas), Texas home of the #1 team in Texas, the Pearland High School Oilers. Pearland secured the top spot in Texas by knocking off then #1 Trinity in the State Championship game in dramatic fashion. The win gave Pearland their first ever football state championship in school history. The district was so proud of the accomplishment they decided to commemorate the team by hosting a parade and celebrate this monumental feat with the entire community.
When I arrived at Pearland, the school was already well underway with preparing for the parade. The parade was to start about 1 mile from the school and finish up in their football stadium known as "The Rig". At The Rig a stage was being built on the football field where the ceremony would be taking place and the final score of the championship game was displayed proudly on the scoreboard for everyone to relive. Once I walked onto the field I met up with Ben Pardo and I immediately noticed how excited he was about the parade and our presentation. He introduced me to Head Coach Tony Heath who was just as enthusiastic as Ben was about all of the events that were going to take place. The parade was going to start soon so I walked over to the road behind The Rig, Pearland Parkway, where the parade was taking place.
While I was walking through the parking lot I couldn't help but notice all of the car windows that were decorated with pro Oilers sayings like "State Champs" and "Go Oilers!". This championship went much further than just the school. It extended throughout the entire community. As the parade rolled down towards the stadium and passed through all the adoring fans that is when it really hit home on how much this meant to the Pearland community. Families, friends, neighbors, local business owners, casual fans and diehards all showed up in support rocking their Pearland gear proudly. The parade was led by the Mayor of Pearland who would later speak at the presentation.
The parade finished and all the fans packed onto the field and into the stands after walking through the Oilers gigantic blowup tunnel, fully equipped with fog, mimicking game time. Emcee Trent Henley got the crowd fired up on stage and set the mood for the rest of the ceremony. The Mayor gave a brief speech and presented head coach Tony Heath with a proclamation about January 8th being a special day in Pearland history. Next up Ted Irving of MaxPreps was announced and he touched upon the phenomenal season that Pearland had not only being ranked 14th in the nation, among 15,000+ teams nationwide, but also being #1 in football crazed Texas! Ted introduced Master Sergeant Robert Haigis of the Texas Army National Guard who spoke about how he has seen excellence in our country's military services and how he sees it as well in the Pearland Oilers. The crowd went wild and then Coach Heath and the team captains were presented with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy. Coach Heath said a few words of acceptance for the award and stressed how proud he was of his players accomplishments.
Pearland Oilers were more than just football players and a coaching staff. The entire program was a tight knit group of players, coaches, and a community, and that is what led to the success of their season. Congratulations to Pearland on their first ever state championship and national recognition!!
