Bronco Commit Shines In State Championship

Pearland High School had never won a State Championship when Samuel Ukwuachu laced up his shoes on Saturday night. But that all changed behind the fearsome hitting and incredible big play production that is becoming the trademark of one of Boise State's brightest future stars..

Pearland High School had never played in a State Championship game before this weekend, but the buildup to the big game showed that their presence was no fluke.

Pearland was a perfect 15-0 headed into the game with Euless Trinity, played at Cowboys Stadium, thank in large part to the play of Boise State commit, DE/WR Samuel Ukwuachu.

All season long, Ukwuachu had stepped up in big moments, scoring long TD's in the final seconds of a game to secure the win, or making the big hit to end a drive or cause a turnover.

The future Bronco Defensive End caught a 44 yard TD pass with 47 seconds against Katy that was the game winning catch and allowed the Oilers to defeat a tenacious Katy team. (Click here to see the play)

Earlier in the year, Ukwuachu made a 42 yard TD catch with 11 seconds left in Pearland's 40-38 last second district opening win over Clear Springs.

And now, in the State Championship game, Sam scored from 54 yards out on a trick play, but it was what he accomplished on defense that solidified him as the Player of the game to most watching.

Ukwuachu earned the Defensive Player of the State Championship game honors with a dominating performance that saw him end the night with 8 tackles and a fumble recovery, as well as a viscious hit that caused a possible fumble that unfortunately the ref's missed.

It is clutch performances like that, on both sides of the ball, that led to him being named the All-District 22-5A "Co-Defensive MVP" by the district coaches as a Junior, something that he is a favorite to repeat after his dominating Senior season.