Cade Pearson Leads Texas High To 42-29 District-Opening Win At Sulphur Springs

[By Josh Richert, Special to ETSN.fm]

SULPHUR SPRINGS — Down 16 points early, Texas High rallied in the second half to claim a 42-29 victory over host Sulphur Springs on Friday in the District 15-5A opener for both teams at Gerald Prim Stadium.

Sophomore Cade Pearson completed 14 of 27 passes for 243 yards and two scores, and also ran for a pair of touchdowns to help lift the Tigers to the win.

Jarion Anderson caught six passes from Pearson, who connected with just three receivers on the night, for 130 yards and a touchdown. Running back Javon Thomas ran for 54 yards and had five catches for 90 more, including the go-ahead score with 5:48 left to play.

Cornelius Zachery raced 38 yards to the end zone while the Tigers were attempting to run out the clock. Demondre Cooper also had a 55-yard TD run, putting the Tigers ahead with 21 seconds left in the third quarter after an interception at the Texas High 2-yard line by safety Dee Jones.

Wildcats quarterback Larry Pryor threw for 175 yards and ran for 172 and three scores, but was forced to use his arm to try and beat the Tigers after Texas High scored 20 straight points in the third quarter.

Pryor capped off the Wildcats' first two drives with short touchdown runs of 5 and 4 yards, and Sulphur Springs answered the Tigers' only first-half score with a quick, three-play drive strike. Pryor broke free for a 64-yard jaunt with 2:40 left in the half to make it 23-7 at intermission.

Pryor had 98 yards and his three touchdowns on just seven carries in the first half. He connected on 3 of 5 passes for 58 yards and also threw an interception, which led to the Tigers' 1-yard quarterback sneak by Pearson with 8:28 left in the second quarter.

Pryor scored just 3:18 into the game on a 5-yard draw play to finish off an 11-play opening campaign covering 75 yards, and the senior Texas A&M commit had a 4-yard run around the left side following a poor punt that hit a Texas High up-back in the back to give Sulphur Springs the ball at the Texas High 35.

Texas High 42, Sulphur Springs 29

At Gerald Prim Stadium, Sulphur Springs

Texas High                 0     7    20    15    —    42
Sulphur Springs        16     7      0      6    —    29

First Quarter
SS-Larry Pryor 5 run (Zach Spigner run), 8:42.
SS-Pryor 4 run (Drew McCullough pass to Dillon Carpenter), 6:00.
Second Quarter
TH-Cade Pearson 1 run (Ethan Montez kick), 8:28.
SS-Pryor 64 run (Tanner Ramirez kick), 2:40.
Third Quarter
TH-Pearson 2 run (pass failed), 9:48.
TH-Jarion Anderson 41 pass from Pearson (Montez kick), 5:21.
TH-Demondre Cooper 55 run (Montez kick), 0:21.
Fourth Quarter
SS-Tyler Rosamond 4 run (kick failed), 7:12.
TH-Javon Thomas 56 pass from Pearson (Pearson pass to Anderson), 5:48.
TH-Cornelius Zachery 38 run (Montez kick), 1:08.

                                              THS                    SS
First Downs                                18                   19
Total Yards                               443                 447
Rushing-Yards                     31-200            46-272
Passing Yards                           243                 175
Comp.-Att.-Int.                   14-27-0           14-28-2
Fumbles-Lost                             1-0                  3-1
Penalties-Yards                        6-58              10-67
Punts-Avg.                             3-23.0            3-41.7

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Texas High, Thomas 17-54, Cooper 4-83, Zachery 4-60, Pearson 6-3. Sulphur Springs, Rosamond 22-79, Pryor 18-172, Scott Galarza 4-14, Dillon Carpenter 2-7.
PASSING—Texas High, Pearson 14-27-0-243. Sulphur Springs, Pryor 14-27-2-175, McCullough 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—Texas High, Anderson 6-130, Thomas 5-90, Jaylen Rhone 3-23. Sulphur Springs, Ben Brooks 5-30, Carpenter 6-84, C. J. Stephens 1-27, Cain Cody 1-27, Jaylon Dugan 1-7.