Shadow Creek’s Sharks defeated Pearland’s Oilers in the penultimate battle for the 6A Region III District 19 crown Friday night at Freedom Field. The Oilers entered the game 8-0 this season, with a 19 regular-season-game win streak dating back to November 2024, with the loss preceding that streak also to Shadow Creek.
Both teams came out firing, combining for three touchdowns in a less than three-minute period early in the first quarter. After intercepting Shadow Creek’s Tavis Coleman, the Oilers opened the scoring on a 74-yard touchdown run by Ryan Miller. Shadow Creek responded with a 60-yard touchdown pass from Coleman to Brandon LaFell Jr. Pearland answered with a 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kaleb Smith to Joaquin Soraiz. Julian Mathis evened the score at 14 on a 10-yard run for the Sharks. Mathis scored again to bring Shadow Creek’s total to 21.
With the game tied at 21 early in the 2nd quarter, Coleman connected with LaFell for a 56-yard Shark touchdown to go ahead 28-21. Pearland tied the score once again on a 38-yard run by Royce Swan. With less than two minutes left in the half, Tavis Coleman connected with Bryce Coleman for a Shark touchdown to go ahead 35-28.
The Oilers’ final score came on a 24-yard run by Swan in the third quarter. Shadow Creek tacked on two more touchdowns on a 53-yard pass from Coleman to Jaylen Addai and a 2-yard keeper by Coleman to bring the Shark total to 55.
The Sharks’ Tavis Coleman continued an impressive season, connecting on 18 of 22 for 345 yards, 4 touchdowns and a 143.0 QB rating. His first and only interception of the season came on the opening drive. Coleman also rushed 11 times for 58 yards. Jacier Pace led the rushing attack with 91 yards, while Julian Mathis powered through on short runs to score twice. LaFell and Addai led the receivers with 164 and 108 yards, respectively, with LaFell scoring 3 touchdowns. The Sharks tallied an impressive 531 yards offensively.
Pearland tallied 329 yards of offense, with Miller leading with 150 rushing yards and one touchdown, while Royce Swan collected 54 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Kaleb Smith was 7 of 15 for 142 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and a QB rating of 92.2.
With the win, Shadow Creek improves to 8-1 on the season and leads the district 7-0 heading into Thursday’s final regular season and district game against the 1-8 Sam Rayburn Texans. Barring an upset, the Sharks should take home the district title Thursday night. The Oilers, now 8-1 overall with a 6-1 district record, have an apparent lock on at least second place in the district and finish their regular season hosting Brazoswood (4-5) in a district game.
