Union WR to Play for Les Miles in Kansas in 2020, Looking to End HS Career with State Championship

By Mike Moguin
GTR Sports Writer

Family roots grow strong. Kyler Pearson can attest to that.
Not many people know that he was born in the Sunflower State, the Union wide receiver said. That played a big role in Pearson’s decision in June to choose the University of Kansas as his destination for college football.
“Most of my family grew up in Kansas,” he said. “My dad played at a Kansas school and my mom attended there (Emporia State)as well. My family has a lot of history in Kansas. It just worked out that I went to the camp and I did really well. I direct messaged Les Miles about a month before I went to the camp and I told him I wanted to go to Kansas. Then a month later, I go to the camp and he gets to watch me play and I get offered and I committed a week later. I feel like it was the right fit and I’m thankful I have that chance.”
Gearing up for his senior year at Union, Pearson stands at 5’8” and weighs 155 pounds. KU coaches overlooked his height at the camp, he said, with his quickness and route-running likely getting their attention.
“I just run real crisp routes and I’ve gotten a lot faster, running a 4.45 in the 40,” Pearson said. “Whenever I get that one step on you, I’m probably going to pull away and I think that they noticed that. I was kind of gritty and you have to be that way when you are small.”
Kansas was the only D-I offer he received.
Pearson said he can best be compared to the legendary Wes Welker, whom he considers his favorite receiver. Welker, who is 5-9, had to overcome adversity in regards to his height to have success at the NCAA Division-I and NFL levels.
Christian McCaffrey, a running back and return specialist for the Carolina Panthers, is another favorite of Pearson, who returned to Union last year after playing his sophomore year at Putnam City.
“This is where I grew up. It’s where I got to watch my brothers play. All my best friends were here and I felt it like it would give the best opportunity to play Division-I football,” he said.
His older brothers, Kale and Kaylor, also played as receivers at Union. Kale Pearson was the starting quarterback of the Redskins’ 2010 state championship team.
The younger Pearson and his teammates would like nothing more than to add 2019 as a state championship year for the program. The Redskins were ousted in the Class 6AI semifinals last season by Jenks.
In what was another epic battle between the rivals, Pearson caught a go-ahead touchdown pass that gave the Redskins a four-point lead with 20 seconds left in the game. Jenks answered immediately on the following drive with an 87-yard pass reception that set up the go-ahead and game-clinching score, inflicting a 27-24 defeat to Union.
“It was very tough to go out like that, especially for the seniors,” Pearson said. “I just felt like we could have done a little more to get them the win. That last drive, I felt like was one of the best drives we put together in the entire year. We had 45 seconds left to drive down the field and go up. I think I touched the ball fives times that drive and to finish with a touchdown with 20 seconds was really a high point. We were all excited and I felt like we had the game.
“But we should have known that Jenks-Union games have always been like that and the game is not over until you hit zero and we found that out the hard way,” Pearson added. “It was a very big change of emotions and it helps us prepare for the next year. Knowing how those seniors went out, we don’t want to go out like that.”
Pearson believes the loss kicked the Redskins into a different gear heading into this season.
“We want it more now,” he said. “I think we’re starting to realize that we have the talent to do it and we can’t let something like that happen again or it will be another wasted game.”
As always, Broken Arrow, Jenks and Owasso will be fiercest foes in the race.
“We can’t worry about what they’re doing, we just got to focus on ourselves,” Pearson said. “If we focus on ourselves and do what we are supposed to do, it’ll take care of itself. We are definitely talented, we just got to play like it. We got to buy into what Coach (Kirk) Frid (Fridrich) is wanting us to do and we just have to out and play to our ability.”