Friday, October 22, 2010, the Friendswood Mustangs traveled to Santa Fe to play the Indians. I usually like to get to the stadium with enough time to get a good seat and visit the concession stand before the pre-game activities begin. This week, however, due to my daughter's Friday evening dance rehearsal, I didn't get to the stadium until 20 minutes before kick off. We had no trouble finding a place to park However, we ran into a problem when we entered the stadium. The visitor's side of the stadium was already full! Thankfully, my new friend saw my daughters and me wandering the stadium and called me up to her. We squeezed in, but there was only enough room for 2 of us. We put stadium cushions on the top step for my youngest daughter - halfway through the first quarter, she decided it would be more comfortable to stand at the fence than to sit on the steps. We ended up sitting in the student section. When I was in high school, I was in the band, so this was a new experience for me.
This game was an series of coulda, shoulda, woulda's. Friendswood won the toss and elected to receive. I was expecting Friendwood's usual high power, high scoring offense. But that's not what I saw. Friendswood struggled to march down the field and couldn't convert on 4th down. Santa Fe got the ball on downs at the 26 yard line. Thankfully, the Indians couldn't move the ball either. The Indians punt and Matt Kennemer is able to run the ball back to the line of scrimmage. So, here we go, right? Wrong.
Here Friendswood earns the first, but not the last, penalty of the game. Santa Fe earned their first penalty during Friendswood's first drive. This drive confirmed that all was not right for the Friendswood Mustangs. For the second time, Friendswood QB Pete Maetzold threw a pass that went no where. I never did find out what happened. Did he drop the pass? Fingers slip?
Possession continued to trade back and forth for the rest of the 1st quarter. The only good thing for Friendswood was Santa Fe's missed field goal attempt. The kick was short and wide right. So, the score at the end of the 1st quarter was 0-0. And for those wondering, Friendswood did have the white pants on again this week.
To start the second quarter, Pete Maetzold threw his first, but not his last, interception of the game. So, Santa Fe gets the ball again, but can't do anything with it. Friendswood takes over on downs at the 30.
Friendswood tried a few running plays that didn't work (just a note, if we try the same play 5 times, and it doesn't work 5 times, let's try something else). Finally, it looks like Friendswood may gets the first points on the score board. Jonathon Johnson was in the end zone and wide open. Maetzold's pass was right on. But, one of the Santa Fe defenders saw the pass and almost intercepted it at the 1 yard line. Thankfully, he wasn't able to hold onto the ball. After penalties, Friendswood is unable to convert on 4th down and loses possession of the ball. The score remains tied at 0.
Again, the Indians aren't able to do anything with the ball. They punt and Friendswood ends up with possession at the 34 yard line. And what does Friendswood do? Throw and interception. That's right, Maetzold's second interception of the night.
After trading possessions, with 1:30 left in the half, the score changes to 7-0. People who've been following district 24-4A this season would expect the team who scored to be Friendswood. But they would be wrong. It was Santa Fe 7 - Friendswood 0. Many in the stands were wondering what was wrong with our team. Were they sick? Were they over confident after their win against Manvel? Whatever it was, that was not the Mustangs that we had been watching all season.
After a few plays, the clock said :00 and everyone thought the half was over. But after some discussion on the field, 2 seconds were added to the clock. Everyone hoped Friendswood would tie the game before the half. But, . . . Maetzold threw his third interception of the game.
And that was the end of the first half. Santa Fe tackled well during the first half, mostly by tripping or grabbing the feet of the offense. And Friendswood wasn't passing well. Not a good combination for Friendswood fans. I wonder what was said in the locker room. I would hope some soul searching was going on, as well as some honest discussion about all the things what were going wrong.
Santa Fe received the kick off by Tyler Dement to start the second half. They looked like they came out of the locker room with renewed confidence. The first two plays yielded two first downs. Santa Fe seems to be giving the ball to Joseph Walton on every play. And as long as Friendswood couldn't stop him, they had no reason to change strategies. (Where Friendswood on the other hand was getting the ball to Johnson on every play and it wasn't working - time to change strategies. What's that definition on insanity again?)
Santa Fe's offense was on the field for the first 5 minutes 25 seconds of the second half. And how do we capitalize when we finally get the ball? We go three and out.
And how does Santa Fe thank us for getting the all back to them so quickly? A 79 yard touch down. So, with 4:49 left in the 3rd quarter, the score is Friendswood 0 - Santa Fe 14.
Possession was traded a few more times, but finally, with 3:30 left in the 3rd quarter, Friendswood gets on the score board! Friendswood 7 - Santa Fe 14.
Possession was traded again, more fouls called. Friendswood players had more than one opportunity to be heroes. On one big pass, Keith Canada had an opportunity to be a big hero with a catch. Instead, he is only able to prevent an interception. It could have been much worse. Good save Canada. And with 4:36 left in the game, Friendswood scores again. And the point after attempt is off. But, Zach Hardy is tackled after the kick. So, with a roughing the kicker penalty, Zach gets a second chance. The score is now tied at 14. All the Friendswood fans are saying, the game ain't over yet. And many are asking who are these guys and where are our Mustangs?
And, thanks to some missed tackles, Santa Fe gets back into the end zone 2 minutes 22 seconds later. With the score 21-14, Friendswood fans began to leave. Not me, we are dedicated fans, we stayed 'til the end.
With Friendswood in possession, we thought we had a real chance. The team seemed to be in control. TJ Scott caught a ball and it looked like he was in the end zone. However, he was out of bounds. Try again. This time, instead of the touchdown we were expecting, Friendswood fumbled the ball. So, with 55 seconds left in the game, Santa Fe took over possession, and even more Friendswood fans began to leave. The game appeared to be over. But appearances can be deceiving. 23 seconds later, Friendswood regained possession of the ball. And with 8 seconds left in the game, a double reverse from Maetzold to Johnson to Maetzold works and ends with Pete in the end zone!! Friendswood 20 - Santa Fe 21. The PAT is ruled no good. I still don't know what was wrong with the kick, but the officials ruled it no good. I didn't have the best seat in the house, but from where I was sitting, it looked good. Apparently Matt Kennemer thought the kick was good, too. He argued with the official for quite a while. Another team mate (who's number I didn't get) came over and got Kennemer to walk away. After he walked away, another ref threw a flag for Kennemer's arguing. A few minutes later, the ref, who didn't have a flag anymore, threw his that - though I'm not sure exactly why.
So, with 30 yards worth of penalties, and 8 seconds left on the clock and Santa Fe in possession of the ball.
The game ended with a score of 20-21, Santa Fe. And the Mustangs perfect season ended with that final buzzer. Unlike many Friendswood players and fans, I am not blaming the refs. I think the refs did a poor job of officiating the game, but I think the officials were unbiased in their poor calls. Both teams suffered for the refs mistakes. Was the last kick good? Was it wide right? Better question - why in the world did it come down to that. Friendswood, a team who is known for playing down to their opponents' level, did not perform well Friday night. There are no two ways about it. What happened? I've never seen Pete Maetzold throw three interceptions in one half. And I've never seen him throw a pass that went less than 5 yards and hit the dirt before being touched. And he didn't do it just once, but twice. I've never seen the definition of insanity played out before my eyes by the Mustangs. Why did we lose to Santa Fe? Why did Friendswood (8-0, 4-0 before the game) lose their perfect season to Santa Fe (4-3, 0-3 before the game)? We should not have struggled against this team. If we had to lose our perfect season, it should have been against Texas City, Manvel or Dawson. Not Santa Fe.
I hope our Mustangs use this bye week to regroup, refocus and rework fundamentals. And, if they are sick, I hope they are able to get healthy. And to the team - remember we have great back ups for our starters. If you are sick, don't be afraid to say so and let your back up get some playing time. Our next game will be the first ever Thursday night game played in Henry Winston Stadium. It will feature the patriotic halftime show with the Wranglerettes, FHS band and choirs and FJH band and choirs. November 4, 2010 against Texas City. I hope we get to see the real Mustangs that night. And, I hope none of the junior high or high school teachers schedule a test for that Friday.
I was able to talk to one of the players Saturday. He mentioned that they would be in the playoffs and it's all good. I reminded him that the goal is not to get to the play offs. The goal is to get through the play offs and play in Dallas in December for the State title. His response, "Yes ma'am. We want to play for 6 weeks after the end of the regular season." The fans want that too.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Homecoming 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010, Friendswood played it's annual homecoming game. This year. the game was played against the Manvel Mavericks.
The night before the game, there was the traditional homecoming parade. This year, there was a small problem with the parade that I'm not sure anyone anticipated. The sun set just as the parade was starting. So, by the time the parade got to where I was standing with my daughter (about halfway down the parade route) it was so dark it was hard to see everyone on the "floats"
Now, I have to get on my soap box for a bit here. First, why in the world is a theme other than some derivative of "Beat the Mavericks", or whoever we're playing that year, necessary. This is the fourth homecoming parade I've seen in Friendswood and each has had a theme; such as, Under the Sea, Disney Movies, etc. Second, putting a bunch of people on a lowboy trailer with a sign made from poster board is not a float. What ever happened to chicken wire and paper mache? Floats used to take weeks to build. Now, it looks like someone spent 10 minutes on some of them. Tsk tsk.
Now, to the important stuff, the game.
Due to the homecoming activities being held during half time, our band and Wranglerettes performed their entire shows before the game. The band looked good. This was the first time I had seen the entire show. Of course, there's still some work to do. The Wranglerettes looked wonderful, as always.
When the players took the field, everyone was surprised to see our boys in blue wearing black pants. That's right, black pants. It immediately sparked conversation, both at the stadium and on facebook.
Manvel won the toss and elected to receive. On their first possession, they went three and out. And then we got a penalty for roughing the kicker, which means an automatic first down. The Mavericks used this mistake to take themselves into the end zone. Just three minutes and thirty-six seconds into the game, the score stood at Manvel 7 - Friendswood 0. During that entire drive, well, except one play where Brezina broke up a pass attempt, our defense looked like they had just woke up from a nap and weren't completely awake.
Now, our offense gets it's first turn on the field and we thought it was time for the show to began. We thought wrong. The Mustangs went three and out and the only penalty (offsides by Manvel is called as a false start against Friendswood). This was when I began to suspect the black pants of being bad juju.
So, Manvel's offense gets the ball back. And once again, our defense looks like they're not fully awake.
I wondered if maybe they stayed up too late the night before? Was the pep rally after their bedtimes? Did homecoming activities interfere with their Friday afternoon naps? Whatever the problem was, they didn't look good. With just over a minute left in the quarter, Manvel scored again. We ended the quarter with a score of Manvel 14 - Friendswood 0. I'd have to go back to double check, but I think that was the first time we'd been down by 14 all season.
Friendswood had possession of the ball as the second quarter began. And once again, the Friendswood fans waited with baited breath for our team to get on the board, but again it wasn't to be. Maetzold had to punt, again.
Once again, our defense had a chance to show everyone what they're made of. And once again, they left everyone wondering who those boys were and what had they down with out Mustangs. 3 minutes into the second quarter, Manvel gets on the board again. Now we're down by 21. And I know this is the first time we'd been down by 21 in a long time. Thinking back, I don't think we'd been that far down since we played Lake Travis in College Station for the State Semi-Finals in December 2008. Earlier I had said that during half time the Mustangs should take the black pants off and put the white ones back on. Now I was suggesting that those black pants should be burned during half time.
With this possession, finally, things begin to go right. It took Friendswood sixteen minutes 47 seconds to get on the board and the score was Manvel 21 - Friendswood 7.
Once our offense started clicking, our defense did too. During this drive, Friendswood was able to hold Manvel to only 1/2 yard. It was time for Friendswood's offense to take over again.
Keith Canada got what I think was his first touch down pass of the year! Bringing the score to Manvel 21 - Friendswood 14. We're still down by 14, but things are looking up.
One thing I love about Friendswood's kickers - not only can they kick, but they can tackle, too. And on this return, it was necessary for Dement to tackle the runner. Dement was the only man between the runner and the end zone. The runner was brought down at Friendswood's 46.
Here, our defense, well, let's just say they've been watching too many Texans' games. Note to our defenders covering the receivers: It's a lot easier to prevent the receiver from catching the ball than to try and catch him after he has the ball and is running. You can not play them 5 steps or even 5 yards off. With that being said, you can imagine what happened next. I believe it took Manvel all of three plays to find the end zone. So, with 58 seconds left in the half, we are again down by 14.
Garrett Ward caught the kick off, which was more of a line drive straight to him, on the 44 yard line. We were driving, and thought another score was coming, but then Maetzold threw an interception. Manvel was able to get to the 39.
At half time the score was 28 - 14 Manvel. It was nothing short of amazing that we were only 14 points behind. Things should have been much worse.
When the players came out after half time, the first thing I noticed was that the players still had the black pants on. The ball was kicked to us for the kick off. This is the kick off where they kicked the ball straight to JJ. He was able to run it back to the 22 yard line. Then Maetzold scrambled to the 3. On the next play, 31 seconds into the second half, Friendswood finds the end zone. New score - Manvel 28 - Friendswood 21.
Once Manvel got the ball back, I think they confirmed their theory concerning our defense. If you run up the middle, it will take us a while to stop you. Manvel was able to get close to the goal line, but never find they end zone. They had to settle for a field goal. Now there's 7:15 left in the third quarter and Friendswood is down by 10.
Friendswood is quickly able to score again. Two minutes twenty-five seconds later, Friendswood makes is into the end zone. Now, instead of being down by 10, we're down by 3. 31-28.
We were all hoping our defense would get the ball back to the offense quickly, but it didn't look like it was going to happen. That is until Matthew Lewis intercepted a Manvel pass. After a few plays Maetzold passed to Justin Battle who found the end zone. For the first time in this game, Friendswood held the lead, by 4 points. I wonder how long it's been since Friendswood had to wait until there was only 1:30 left in the 3rd quarter to have the lead.
On the kick, Caleb Taube, with the assistance of a few others, made an awesome tackle. The Mavericks and Mustangs traded possessions until, 2 minutes and 19 seconds into the quarter, the Mavericks scored again. The extra point kick bounced off the uprights and the score was 37-35. I need to look up the official rules on the ball hitting the upright. I know that the kick was no good. What I don't know is whether or not the ball was still in play. The Mustangs caught the ball and began to run with it, but the officials blew it dead. I'm glad to see that the Mustangs continued playing to the whistle, but I'm not sure if it was really a live or dead ball. Hmmm
Friendswood used their next possession to march down the field. Around the Mavericks' 25 or 30 yard line, there was some sort of bobble that resulted in a fumble recovered by the Mavericks. Even though I saw the whole thing, I'm still not exactly sure what happened. The center kicked the ball to Maetzold who tossed it to JJ. I'm not sure if Maetzold ever had control of the ball.
So, the Mavericks have the ball and the lead. The marched down the field, thanks to a face mask penalty by Friendswood. They did earn a penalty of their own, but still had to punt. When they set up for the punt, the fans began screaming for them to watch out for the fake. The boys behind the line of scrimmage were set up too far back. The fans were right. The "kicker" took the ball and tried to run with it. Under pressure, he decided to kick the ball, but it went out of bounds not far away.
Each team earned a few penalties during the next drive. Friendswood earned a penalty for holding. The Mavericks earned a penalty for illegal substitution. Then Friendswood made it to the end zone. It was decided to go for two instead of one, trying to put a far enough lead on the board that it would take more than one touchdown by Manvel to win the game. Unfortunately, it didn't work. So with 3:09 left in the game, the score was Manvel 37 - Friendswood 41.
Manvel was driving and was getting much closer to the end zone than I liked. But with 4 seconds left, a Manvel pass was intercepted by Friendswood. I wish I had seen which player had the presence of mind to catch the ball and then protect the ball as he slid to the ground rather than try to run back to score. With the next snap, Maetzold took a knee and that was the end of the game. Final score Manvel 37 - Friendswood 41.
I know several people liked the black pants that the Mustangs were wearing, but I still think they may be jinxed. Once our offense woke up, they looked really good, but it's dangerous to wait that long to get into the game. And the defense, where do I begin.
I thought the arm tackling problem had been fixed. Friday night I was proved wrong. My husband and I discussed the memorable punishments our coaches handed our when we were in school; and which of those might be effective in this situation. My suggestions are monster walks, suicides and running.
For the third time in a row, Friendswood was very close to being outscored by Manvel, and may have been outplayed.
So, Friday, October 22, the Mustangs will travel to Santa Fe to take on the Indians. The Mustangs are 8-0 on the season and 4-0 in district. Santa Fe is 4-3 on the season and 0-3 in district play.
I will be in the stands in Santa Fe. Will you? If not you can follow me on twitter at @momrod2000 for updates.
The night before the game, there was the traditional homecoming parade. This year, there was a small problem with the parade that I'm not sure anyone anticipated. The sun set just as the parade was starting. So, by the time the parade got to where I was standing with my daughter (about halfway down the parade route) it was so dark it was hard to see everyone on the "floats"
Now, I have to get on my soap box for a bit here. First, why in the world is a theme other than some derivative of "Beat the Mavericks", or whoever we're playing that year, necessary. This is the fourth homecoming parade I've seen in Friendswood and each has had a theme; such as, Under the Sea, Disney Movies, etc. Second, putting a bunch of people on a lowboy trailer with a sign made from poster board is not a float. What ever happened to chicken wire and paper mache? Floats used to take weeks to build. Now, it looks like someone spent 10 minutes on some of them. Tsk tsk.
Now, to the important stuff, the game.
Due to the homecoming activities being held during half time, our band and Wranglerettes performed their entire shows before the game. The band looked good. This was the first time I had seen the entire show. Of course, there's still some work to do. The Wranglerettes looked wonderful, as always.
When the players took the field, everyone was surprised to see our boys in blue wearing black pants. That's right, black pants. It immediately sparked conversation, both at the stadium and on facebook.
Manvel won the toss and elected to receive. On their first possession, they went three and out. And then we got a penalty for roughing the kicker, which means an automatic first down. The Mavericks used this mistake to take themselves into the end zone. Just three minutes and thirty-six seconds into the game, the score stood at Manvel 7 - Friendswood 0. During that entire drive, well, except one play where Brezina broke up a pass attempt, our defense looked like they had just woke up from a nap and weren't completely awake.
Now, our offense gets it's first turn on the field and we thought it was time for the show to began. We thought wrong. The Mustangs went three and out and the only penalty (offsides by Manvel is called as a false start against Friendswood). This was when I began to suspect the black pants of being bad juju.
So, Manvel's offense gets the ball back. And once again, our defense looks like they're not fully awake.
I wondered if maybe they stayed up too late the night before? Was the pep rally after their bedtimes? Did homecoming activities interfere with their Friday afternoon naps? Whatever the problem was, they didn't look good. With just over a minute left in the quarter, Manvel scored again. We ended the quarter with a score of Manvel 14 - Friendswood 0. I'd have to go back to double check, but I think that was the first time we'd been down by 14 all season.
Friendswood had possession of the ball as the second quarter began. And once again, the Friendswood fans waited with baited breath for our team to get on the board, but again it wasn't to be. Maetzold had to punt, again.
Once again, our defense had a chance to show everyone what they're made of. And once again, they left everyone wondering who those boys were and what had they down with out Mustangs. 3 minutes into the second quarter, Manvel gets on the board again. Now we're down by 21. And I know this is the first time we'd been down by 21 in a long time. Thinking back, I don't think we'd been that far down since we played Lake Travis in College Station for the State Semi-Finals in December 2008. Earlier I had said that during half time the Mustangs should take the black pants off and put the white ones back on. Now I was suggesting that those black pants should be burned during half time.
With this possession, finally, things begin to go right. It took Friendswood sixteen minutes 47 seconds to get on the board and the score was Manvel 21 - Friendswood 7.
Once our offense started clicking, our defense did too. During this drive, Friendswood was able to hold Manvel to only 1/2 yard. It was time for Friendswood's offense to take over again.
Keith Canada got what I think was his first touch down pass of the year! Bringing the score to Manvel 21 - Friendswood 14. We're still down by 14, but things are looking up.
One thing I love about Friendswood's kickers - not only can they kick, but they can tackle, too. And on this return, it was necessary for Dement to tackle the runner. Dement was the only man between the runner and the end zone. The runner was brought down at Friendswood's 46.
Here, our defense, well, let's just say they've been watching too many Texans' games. Note to our defenders covering the receivers: It's a lot easier to prevent the receiver from catching the ball than to try and catch him after he has the ball and is running. You can not play them 5 steps or even 5 yards off. With that being said, you can imagine what happened next. I believe it took Manvel all of three plays to find the end zone. So, with 58 seconds left in the half, we are again down by 14.
Garrett Ward caught the kick off, which was more of a line drive straight to him, on the 44 yard line. We were driving, and thought another score was coming, but then Maetzold threw an interception. Manvel was able to get to the 39.
At half time the score was 28 - 14 Manvel. It was nothing short of amazing that we were only 14 points behind. Things should have been much worse.
When the players came out after half time, the first thing I noticed was that the players still had the black pants on. The ball was kicked to us for the kick off. This is the kick off where they kicked the ball straight to JJ. He was able to run it back to the 22 yard line. Then Maetzold scrambled to the 3. On the next play, 31 seconds into the second half, Friendswood finds the end zone. New score - Manvel 28 - Friendswood 21.
Once Manvel got the ball back, I think they confirmed their theory concerning our defense. If you run up the middle, it will take us a while to stop you. Manvel was able to get close to the goal line, but never find they end zone. They had to settle for a field goal. Now there's 7:15 left in the third quarter and Friendswood is down by 10.
Friendswood is quickly able to score again. Two minutes twenty-five seconds later, Friendswood makes is into the end zone. Now, instead of being down by 10, we're down by 3. 31-28.
We were all hoping our defense would get the ball back to the offense quickly, but it didn't look like it was going to happen. That is until Matthew Lewis intercepted a Manvel pass. After a few plays Maetzold passed to Justin Battle who found the end zone. For the first time in this game, Friendswood held the lead, by 4 points. I wonder how long it's been since Friendswood had to wait until there was only 1:30 left in the 3rd quarter to have the lead.
On the kick, Caleb Taube, with the assistance of a few others, made an awesome tackle. The Mavericks and Mustangs traded possessions until, 2 minutes and 19 seconds into the quarter, the Mavericks scored again. The extra point kick bounced off the uprights and the score was 37-35. I need to look up the official rules on the ball hitting the upright. I know that the kick was no good. What I don't know is whether or not the ball was still in play. The Mustangs caught the ball and began to run with it, but the officials blew it dead. I'm glad to see that the Mustangs continued playing to the whistle, but I'm not sure if it was really a live or dead ball. Hmmm
Friendswood used their next possession to march down the field. Around the Mavericks' 25 or 30 yard line, there was some sort of bobble that resulted in a fumble recovered by the Mavericks. Even though I saw the whole thing, I'm still not exactly sure what happened. The center kicked the ball to Maetzold who tossed it to JJ. I'm not sure if Maetzold ever had control of the ball.
So, the Mavericks have the ball and the lead. The marched down the field, thanks to a face mask penalty by Friendswood. They did earn a penalty of their own, but still had to punt. When they set up for the punt, the fans began screaming for them to watch out for the fake. The boys behind the line of scrimmage were set up too far back. The fans were right. The "kicker" took the ball and tried to run with it. Under pressure, he decided to kick the ball, but it went out of bounds not far away.
Each team earned a few penalties during the next drive. Friendswood earned a penalty for holding. The Mavericks earned a penalty for illegal substitution. Then Friendswood made it to the end zone. It was decided to go for two instead of one, trying to put a far enough lead on the board that it would take more than one touchdown by Manvel to win the game. Unfortunately, it didn't work. So with 3:09 left in the game, the score was Manvel 37 - Friendswood 41.
Manvel was driving and was getting much closer to the end zone than I liked. But with 4 seconds left, a Manvel pass was intercepted by Friendswood. I wish I had seen which player had the presence of mind to catch the ball and then protect the ball as he slid to the ground rather than try to run back to score. With the next snap, Maetzold took a knee and that was the end of the game. Final score Manvel 37 - Friendswood 41.
I know several people liked the black pants that the Mustangs were wearing, but I still think they may be jinxed. Once our offense woke up, they looked really good, but it's dangerous to wait that long to get into the game. And the defense, where do I begin.
I thought the arm tackling problem had been fixed. Friday night I was proved wrong. My husband and I discussed the memorable punishments our coaches handed our when we were in school; and which of those might be effective in this situation. My suggestions are monster walks, suicides and running.
For the third time in a row, Friendswood was very close to being outscored by Manvel, and may have been outplayed.
So, Friday, October 22, the Mustangs will travel to Santa Fe to take on the Indians. The Mustangs are 8-0 on the season and 4-0 in district. Santa Fe is 4-3 on the season and 0-3 in district play.
I will be in the stands in Santa Fe. Will you? If not you can follow me on twitter at @momrod2000 for updates.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Friendswood defies the sports prognosticators
I love it, I love it, I love it! Why am I so excited, read the high school football match ups in today's Galveston County Daily News, then look at the final score and you'll see.
Tonight's game was played at Etheredge Stadium in La Marque. I haven't been down there since I was a senior in high school (many, many moons ago) so I decided to drive down there this morning and get the lay of the land. I knew that I would be arriving late to the game and it would be after dark when I got there, so I wanted to see where I was going.
And why did I get there late, well, tonight was my oldest daughter's first choir concert. Why did the junior high schedule a choir concert on a Friday night during football season? Well, the answer is - I don't know. Several people have asked the same question. In the audience, there were several people in their Friendswood Mustang best, and lots of parents were checking their cell phones often. As soon as the concert was over, the only thing you heard people ask was, "What's the score?" or "Who's winning?" or "How far into the game is it?" Several families made a bee line to the parking lot to head to La Marque. I was lucky enough to find a friend of my daughter's and her mom who were planning to drive to La Marque, just the two of them. So we rode together. It was great, I made a new friend and my daughter got to visit with her friend. Then, on the way back, my new friend's husband joined us, and I got to make another new friend. More people, who live close to us, and have at least 2 things in common with us. :)
Now, for the game. From what I heard, there were a few memorable moments in the first half. I was told that Jordan Wood made his first interception of the game (way to go Jordan!) and one of the officials needs a refresher course. From what I heard, penalties that should have been marked as 15 yard penalties were marked as 20 yards more than once (maybe he just needs a refresher on counting to 15 and 20). And some bad calls were made. However, I was also told that Coach Van Meter never threw his hat during the first half, so things couldn't have been too bad. We arrived at the game with less than two minutes in the half. The score was Friendswood 27 - La Marque 13. I'm not sure if La Marque missed the point after kick, or if it was blocked.
Friendswood, as always, had a great half time performance. Well, what I saw and heard of it anyway. Since we were the visitors, we saw the show from the back. Not great sound quality back there. I was very impressed by the color guard at one point. I saw at least 20 rifles spinning in the air. They went up together, all went the same height, and were all caught at the same time. Good job girls. La Marque, it appears, does not have a marching band this year, which is really sad. A marching band not only provides an awesome opportunity for students to learn music and discipline, it also adds to the atmosphere at the games. As Friendswood's band showed last week, a band can cause an opponent to make mistakes as well as pump up their own team. La Marque did have some people in the stands wearing La Marque's yellow shirts with jeans who played percussion. Unfortunately, they only seemed to know one cadence. They did not perform at half time. La Marque's portion of the half time show was to be twirlers who were to perform to a CD as well as their drill team (they had 10 - 15 members) who danced to a CD. Sadly, there were some technical difficulties and the twirlers never made it onto the field.
It didn't take long for me to see why everyone was talking about Tim Wright before the game. La Marque's running back is talented - he is fast as well as strong and is able to find or make openings. At the end of a later play, I saw him go several yards with every Mustang defender who was on the field trying to take this guy down. He is rather impressive.
During this same drive, I saw why La Marque relies so heavily on their run game as opposed to their passing game. During that same possession, Garrett Ward almost intercepted the ball (I think that would be his first of the year) and on the next play Jordan Wood came down with his second interception of the evening. A few plays later, Friendswood scored bringing the score to 34 - 13 with 9:15 left in the 3rd quarter.
It didn't take long for La Marque to answer back. And unfortunately, we helped them along the way. With 7:37 left in the 3rd quarter, La Marque scored. After a time out, La Marque's special teams lined up off to one side, leaving the kicker and the spotter standing alone in the center of the field. After a few seconds, everyone shifts to their normal positions. I've only seem one other team do this, and I think it was Lake Travis (though don't hold me to that). I still don't understand the point of that move.
When La Marque kicked the ball to us, our receivers attempted a trick play. The person who caught the ball turned to face backward and pretended to hand off to several runners. It was a neat play, but they did it on every single kick off. It worked sometimes. Other times it just seemed to eat away time and cost us yards. I would suggest that this be a "sometimes" play as opposed to an "every kick off" play.
On the next set of plays between touchdowns, we caused the only fumble I saw tonight. Unfortunately, the ball rolled out of bounds before we could scoop it up and run with it. So, La Marque remained in possession of the ball. Also during these plays, I saw Wright's one man show and his incredible strength and determination. With all the players trying to take him down, Mr. Kennemer was in the stands yelling "Strip! Strip!" Of course, I new immediately what he meant and didn't think anything of it. The next time he yelled it, he got some funny looks from the people in front of me and I realized why it was funny. The guy sitting behind me, between me and Mr. Kennemer pretended to take his shirt off and said, "Well, if you think it will help." After that, Mr. Kennemer changed his comments to "Strip the ball! Strip the ball!" During this drive, La Marque scored again. This is the closest I saw the score. Friendswood 34 - La Marque 27 with 2:43 left in the 3rd quarter.
After the catch of this kick off, our team began a series of unfortunate events. Matt Kennemer was running with the ball, the goal line was in his sights and there was only one yellow jersey that looked like he could catch him. But then, Kennemer's blocker got tangled up with the man he was blocking. Both players hit the ground, and Kennemer tripped over them. If it had happened a little farther in front of him, Kennemer probably could have jumped the players and kept going for the end zone. But as it was, they were just too close and Kennemer ended up tripping over the two. I don't blame the blocker. Like I said, unfortunate event. It was a one time thing. A few plays later, our ball carrier (didn't make a note of who it was, sorry) tripped over his blocker (different blocker) costing us yards (though probably not a touchdown this time.) This might have been a good time to take a time out. The team looked a little frustrated. But we ended up punting and giving the offense a breather and time to settle down.
The next time our offense had the ball, I saw another unusual play. Maetzold passed to Canada. There were two Cougar defenders there. The ball bobbles between a couple of players before landing in Canada's hands. However, the play was ruled an incomplete pass before he caught the ball. From where we were sitting, it didn't appear that he had gone out of bounds. Maybe this was that same ref who needs a refresher course? A few plays later, something happened that has the entire Friendswood side on it's feet booing the officials. I did not boo, because I try to teach my kids respect. But I wanted to do alot more than boo. Maetzold passed the ball to Justin Battle who made a wonderful catch as he was running across the field (in). But before his feet even touched the grass, a La Marque defender grabbed his face mask, jerked his head around and threw to the ground. It literally looked like he was trying to take his head off. Immediately a flag was thrown and Friendswood cheered. Then we heard what the official penalty was. Do you think it was a personal foul? Perhaps unnecessary roughness? Maybe he was about the be the second player of the night to be ejected from the game for personal fouls. If you guessed any of these, you would be wrong. Friendswood was given a 15 yard penalty for having an ineligible receiver down field. Are you serious?!?!? The La Marque defense just tried to decapitate Justin Battle and you're calling an ineligible receiver against us?!?! Then, as they are marking off the penalty, instead of moving the ball 15 yards, they move it 25!!! And all the while, Van Meter is arguing with the officials (and rightfully so - he didn't throw his hat, but he did throw his headset) and the La Marque coaches are using the distraction to sneak onto the field and talk to their players. There were 2 coaches on the field talking to 2 different players. These coaches did not go back to the sidelines until the next play started. At this point I did yell to the field, but I was yelling for La Marque's coaches to get off the field. Last year, the first or second game of the season, several penalties were called for coaches being on the field. And these coaches were just doing their jobs from a few feet inside the playing area. They were not on the field talking to the players. Where was that penalty tonight? And what happened to the player who made sure Justin Battle will need a good chiropractor? Absolutely nothing. As you can probably tell, I am still upset over that. The officials jobs are to make sure the game is played fair and safe. Not allowing WWE stuff to go unnoticed.
Okay, rant over, for now. Back to the game. If you know the Mustangs, you know that the players made sure than wasn't the end of it. Two plays later, Friendswood finds the end zone! With 11:46 left in the game, the score was Friendswood 41 - La Marque 27.
What happened on the kick off was something I'd never seen before. The kick went right into the chest of on of La Marque's front linemen. The lineman caught the ball, and the La Marque offense was able to start near midfield. A few minutes later, they were not so lucky. I'm not sure if Friendswood's defense did a great job here, or it La Marque's offense made a mistake. The quarterback went to fake a hand off, and there was no one there to fake to. Then, he went to hand it off to someone else, and again; no one was there. He had to scramble and didn't get very far. But that' okay, not long after Maetzold showed them what it looks like when a QB scrambles, and gets a first down in the process. Not sure if they were watching though.
With 6:48 left in the game, Friendswood scored again. Now the score's 48-34. High scoring game right? But it ain't over yet, folks.
La Marque was trying to drive toward the end zone, but threw a beautiful pass that was intercepted by Jordan Wood (his third of the night!). That, apparently was the cue for the La Marque fans to begin pouring out of the stadium. More than 1/2 their fans were leaving. I guess they thought that was it. They only missed 2 more touchdowns.
Of course, the next touchdown went to Friendswood. An exhausted Johnson got us close to the end zone and Maetzold was able to get in. This brought the score to 55-34 with 2:52 left in the game.
Still not over, as I said, there were 2 more touchdowns, and that's just one. So, who do you think got the last touchdown of the game?
If you said Friendswood, you'd be wrong. La Marque scored again. But by this time, so many of their fans were gone, there wasn't a loud celebration from their side of the stadium. So now, with 23 seconds left in the game, the score is 55-41.
La Marque went for the onsides kick and it almost worked. Pete Maetzold took a knee and that was the final play of the game. Final score Friendswood 55 - La Marque 41. That brings Friendswood to 7-0 for the season and 3-0 in district play and La Marque to 5-1 for the season and 2-1 in district play. I had told my dad earlier in the week that I thought Friendswood would win by 7. When the Galveston County Daily News came out with their predictions, my dad asked me if I wanted to revise my predictions. But I stood by the Mustangs. Turned out I made a good decision. And my point spread was only off by 3 points.
Next week, Friendswood will host Manvel for Friendwood's 2010 Homecoming game. If I remember correctly, we don't have that great of a record for homecoming games. I'd really like to see us put a stop to that. Manvel will come into this game after a win in Santa Fe (10-35). Manvel now has an over all record of 5-1 with district games being 1-1.
I've heard a few people ask, is this our year? I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but I sure hope so. I'd love to have a reason to go visit my friends who live in the metroplex this December.
So, now do you know why I'm happy? I just love it when my team is chosen to be the underdog and comes out on top.
http://galvestondailynews.com/story/181918
Also, something else of note. I find it sad that Maetzold is not being courted by college football scouts. Maetzold can pass, and run. Friendswood runs a no huddle offense, and very rarely does the offense not know what to do. Maetzold can see the whole field and once (not sure how he does it) and wait for someone to be open. Then he can deliver the ball straight into the hands of the open receiver. He has no problem holding on to the ball if a receiver can't get open and is not afraid to take a hit. Any team would benefit from having him in their uniform,
I haven't heard yet which, if any colleges are looking at Matt Kennemer and Zach Hardy. Both are worthy players who can make plays happen.
Tonight's game was played at Etheredge Stadium in La Marque. I haven't been down there since I was a senior in high school (many, many moons ago) so I decided to drive down there this morning and get the lay of the land. I knew that I would be arriving late to the game and it would be after dark when I got there, so I wanted to see where I was going.
And why did I get there late, well, tonight was my oldest daughter's first choir concert. Why did the junior high schedule a choir concert on a Friday night during football season? Well, the answer is - I don't know. Several people have asked the same question. In the audience, there were several people in their Friendswood Mustang best, and lots of parents were checking their cell phones often. As soon as the concert was over, the only thing you heard people ask was, "What's the score?" or "Who's winning?" or "How far into the game is it?" Several families made a bee line to the parking lot to head to La Marque. I was lucky enough to find a friend of my daughter's and her mom who were planning to drive to La Marque, just the two of them. So we rode together. It was great, I made a new friend and my daughter got to visit with her friend. Then, on the way back, my new friend's husband joined us, and I got to make another new friend. More people, who live close to us, and have at least 2 things in common with us. :)
Now, for the game. From what I heard, there were a few memorable moments in the first half. I was told that Jordan Wood made his first interception of the game (way to go Jordan!) and one of the officials needs a refresher course. From what I heard, penalties that should have been marked as 15 yard penalties were marked as 20 yards more than once (maybe he just needs a refresher on counting to 15 and 20). And some bad calls were made. However, I was also told that Coach Van Meter never threw his hat during the first half, so things couldn't have been too bad. We arrived at the game with less than two minutes in the half. The score was Friendswood 27 - La Marque 13. I'm not sure if La Marque missed the point after kick, or if it was blocked.
Friendswood, as always, had a great half time performance. Well, what I saw and heard of it anyway. Since we were the visitors, we saw the show from the back. Not great sound quality back there. I was very impressed by the color guard at one point. I saw at least 20 rifles spinning in the air. They went up together, all went the same height, and were all caught at the same time. Good job girls. La Marque, it appears, does not have a marching band this year, which is really sad. A marching band not only provides an awesome opportunity for students to learn music and discipline, it also adds to the atmosphere at the games. As Friendswood's band showed last week, a band can cause an opponent to make mistakes as well as pump up their own team. La Marque did have some people in the stands wearing La Marque's yellow shirts with jeans who played percussion. Unfortunately, they only seemed to know one cadence. They did not perform at half time. La Marque's portion of the half time show was to be twirlers who were to perform to a CD as well as their drill team (they had 10 - 15 members) who danced to a CD. Sadly, there were some technical difficulties and the twirlers never made it onto the field.
It didn't take long for me to see why everyone was talking about Tim Wright before the game. La Marque's running back is talented - he is fast as well as strong and is able to find or make openings. At the end of a later play, I saw him go several yards with every Mustang defender who was on the field trying to take this guy down. He is rather impressive.
During this same drive, I saw why La Marque relies so heavily on their run game as opposed to their passing game. During that same possession, Garrett Ward almost intercepted the ball (I think that would be his first of the year) and on the next play Jordan Wood came down with his second interception of the evening. A few plays later, Friendswood scored bringing the score to 34 - 13 with 9:15 left in the 3rd quarter.
It didn't take long for La Marque to answer back. And unfortunately, we helped them along the way. With 7:37 left in the 3rd quarter, La Marque scored. After a time out, La Marque's special teams lined up off to one side, leaving the kicker and the spotter standing alone in the center of the field. After a few seconds, everyone shifts to their normal positions. I've only seem one other team do this, and I think it was Lake Travis (though don't hold me to that). I still don't understand the point of that move.
When La Marque kicked the ball to us, our receivers attempted a trick play. The person who caught the ball turned to face backward and pretended to hand off to several runners. It was a neat play, but they did it on every single kick off. It worked sometimes. Other times it just seemed to eat away time and cost us yards. I would suggest that this be a "sometimes" play as opposed to an "every kick off" play.
On the next set of plays between touchdowns, we caused the only fumble I saw tonight. Unfortunately, the ball rolled out of bounds before we could scoop it up and run with it. So, La Marque remained in possession of the ball. Also during these plays, I saw Wright's one man show and his incredible strength and determination. With all the players trying to take him down, Mr. Kennemer was in the stands yelling "Strip! Strip!" Of course, I new immediately what he meant and didn't think anything of it. The next time he yelled it, he got some funny looks from the people in front of me and I realized why it was funny. The guy sitting behind me, between me and Mr. Kennemer pretended to take his shirt off and said, "Well, if you think it will help." After that, Mr. Kennemer changed his comments to "Strip the ball! Strip the ball!" During this drive, La Marque scored again. This is the closest I saw the score. Friendswood 34 - La Marque 27 with 2:43 left in the 3rd quarter.
After the catch of this kick off, our team began a series of unfortunate events. Matt Kennemer was running with the ball, the goal line was in his sights and there was only one yellow jersey that looked like he could catch him. But then, Kennemer's blocker got tangled up with the man he was blocking. Both players hit the ground, and Kennemer tripped over them. If it had happened a little farther in front of him, Kennemer probably could have jumped the players and kept going for the end zone. But as it was, they were just too close and Kennemer ended up tripping over the two. I don't blame the blocker. Like I said, unfortunate event. It was a one time thing. A few plays later, our ball carrier (didn't make a note of who it was, sorry) tripped over his blocker (different blocker) costing us yards (though probably not a touchdown this time.) This might have been a good time to take a time out. The team looked a little frustrated. But we ended up punting and giving the offense a breather and time to settle down.
The next time our offense had the ball, I saw another unusual play. Maetzold passed to Canada. There were two Cougar defenders there. The ball bobbles between a couple of players before landing in Canada's hands. However, the play was ruled an incomplete pass before he caught the ball. From where we were sitting, it didn't appear that he had gone out of bounds. Maybe this was that same ref who needs a refresher course? A few plays later, something happened that has the entire Friendswood side on it's feet booing the officials. I did not boo, because I try to teach my kids respect. But I wanted to do alot more than boo. Maetzold passed the ball to Justin Battle who made a wonderful catch as he was running across the field (in). But before his feet even touched the grass, a La Marque defender grabbed his face mask, jerked his head around and threw to the ground. It literally looked like he was trying to take his head off. Immediately a flag was thrown and Friendswood cheered. Then we heard what the official penalty was. Do you think it was a personal foul? Perhaps unnecessary roughness? Maybe he was about the be the second player of the night to be ejected from the game for personal fouls. If you guessed any of these, you would be wrong. Friendswood was given a 15 yard penalty for having an ineligible receiver down field. Are you serious?!?!? The La Marque defense just tried to decapitate Justin Battle and you're calling an ineligible receiver against us?!?! Then, as they are marking off the penalty, instead of moving the ball 15 yards, they move it 25!!! And all the while, Van Meter is arguing with the officials (and rightfully so - he didn't throw his hat, but he did throw his headset) and the La Marque coaches are using the distraction to sneak onto the field and talk to their players. There were 2 coaches on the field talking to 2 different players. These coaches did not go back to the sidelines until the next play started. At this point I did yell to the field, but I was yelling for La Marque's coaches to get off the field. Last year, the first or second game of the season, several penalties were called for coaches being on the field. And these coaches were just doing their jobs from a few feet inside the playing area. They were not on the field talking to the players. Where was that penalty tonight? And what happened to the player who made sure Justin Battle will need a good chiropractor? Absolutely nothing. As you can probably tell, I am still upset over that. The officials jobs are to make sure the game is played fair and safe. Not allowing WWE stuff to go unnoticed.
Okay, rant over, for now. Back to the game. If you know the Mustangs, you know that the players made sure than wasn't the end of it. Two plays later, Friendswood finds the end zone! With 11:46 left in the game, the score was Friendswood 41 - La Marque 27.
What happened on the kick off was something I'd never seen before. The kick went right into the chest of on of La Marque's front linemen. The lineman caught the ball, and the La Marque offense was able to start near midfield. A few minutes later, they were not so lucky. I'm not sure if Friendswood's defense did a great job here, or it La Marque's offense made a mistake. The quarterback went to fake a hand off, and there was no one there to fake to. Then, he went to hand it off to someone else, and again; no one was there. He had to scramble and didn't get very far. But that' okay, not long after Maetzold showed them what it looks like when a QB scrambles, and gets a first down in the process. Not sure if they were watching though.
With 6:48 left in the game, Friendswood scored again. Now the score's 48-34. High scoring game right? But it ain't over yet, folks.
La Marque was trying to drive toward the end zone, but threw a beautiful pass that was intercepted by Jordan Wood (his third of the night!). That, apparently was the cue for the La Marque fans to begin pouring out of the stadium. More than 1/2 their fans were leaving. I guess they thought that was it. They only missed 2 more touchdowns.
Of course, the next touchdown went to Friendswood. An exhausted Johnson got us close to the end zone and Maetzold was able to get in. This brought the score to 55-34 with 2:52 left in the game.
Still not over, as I said, there were 2 more touchdowns, and that's just one. So, who do you think got the last touchdown of the game?
If you said Friendswood, you'd be wrong. La Marque scored again. But by this time, so many of their fans were gone, there wasn't a loud celebration from their side of the stadium. So now, with 23 seconds left in the game, the score is 55-41.
La Marque went for the onsides kick and it almost worked. Pete Maetzold took a knee and that was the final play of the game. Final score Friendswood 55 - La Marque 41. That brings Friendswood to 7-0 for the season and 3-0 in district play and La Marque to 5-1 for the season and 2-1 in district play. I had told my dad earlier in the week that I thought Friendswood would win by 7. When the Galveston County Daily News came out with their predictions, my dad asked me if I wanted to revise my predictions. But I stood by the Mustangs. Turned out I made a good decision. And my point spread was only off by 3 points.
Next week, Friendswood will host Manvel for Friendwood's 2010 Homecoming game. If I remember correctly, we don't have that great of a record for homecoming games. I'd really like to see us put a stop to that. Manvel will come into this game after a win in Santa Fe (10-35). Manvel now has an over all record of 5-1 with district games being 1-1.
I've heard a few people ask, is this our year? I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but I sure hope so. I'd love to have a reason to go visit my friends who live in the metroplex this December.
So, now do you know why I'm happy? I just love it when my team is chosen to be the underdog and comes out on top.
http://galvestondailynews.com/story/181918
Also, something else of note. I find it sad that Maetzold is not being courted by college football scouts. Maetzold can pass, and run. Friendswood runs a no huddle offense, and very rarely does the offense not know what to do. Maetzold can see the whole field and once (not sure how he does it) and wait for someone to be open. Then he can deliver the ball straight into the hands of the open receiver. He has no problem holding on to the ball if a receiver can't get open and is not afraid to take a hit. Any team would benefit from having him in their uniform,
I haven't heard yet which, if any colleges are looking at Matt Kennemer and Zach Hardy. Both are worthy players who can make plays happen.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Friendswood Hosts Pearland Dawson October 1, 2010
Tonight was the first real test for Friendswood's Mustangs. It was a very exciting game. There was only 1 interception thrown, though there were a few other passes that came close. There were not one, not two, but three blocked extra point kicks, and a fumble or two.
This was a grudge match, and no one will deny it. The last time these two team met was in the Regional Finals in November 2009. That game was so poorly officiated that it was investigated by the officials' governing body. The Mustangs seemed to give up during the first half of that game because they knew they couldn't win while playing both the opposing team and the officials. Of course, I wanted a Mustang win tonight. But I wanted that win to come fairly. I would rather lose a fair game than win by cheating (whether we cheat or the officials cheat for us).
There still seemed to be some biased officiating tonight, but the Mustangs seemed to have decided that they were going to win. I was very impressed with our team's determination. Yes, there were several penalties against Friendswood; and no, not all of them were earned. But we overcame those obstacles.
If you read my posts during the game, you know that it was exciting. And the last three quarters were close. You also know that I ended up in twitter jail trying to keep everyone updated. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that. I can't imagine trying to keep everyone updated using two twitter accounts all from my blackberry. And don't even get me started on the Galveston County Daily News live chats. I want to be in those so badly, but can't get there on my blackberry. I digress.
Back to the game. I've only seen one other blocked extra point kick. Don't ask me when or where it was, because I don't remember. But I'm pretty sure it was at a Friendswood game, and I'm pretty sure it was Friendswood who blocked the kick. But don't hold me to that. Tonight, there were three blocked extra point kicks. Friendswood had two and Dawson had one.
Both teams played very well. Dawson's #8 ran through our defense more times than I cared to see. And Dawson's defense covered our receivers so well that even though our offensive line gave Pete an eternity to throw the ball, he often had trouble finding an open receiver. After the game I heard he was 20 of 27. I'm going to have to go back and look at stats to see how that compares to previous games. I suspect that he was able to throw the ball more than he was tonight.
Dawson made an amazing play in the third quarter. Even if they were the opposing team, I have to give them credit for that one. Catching a pass with double coverage and making it to the endzone is an accomplishment.
Props also need to go out to Zach Hardy. It isn't often that a kicker is called on to tackle, but he did it tonight. After one of our touchdowns, the Dawson player who caught the kick off ran past all the Mustangs, except Hardy. Good job Zach.
The game wasn't sealed until we got the ball back with 46 seconds on the clock. 2 knees later and Friendswood had handed Dawson their first district loss of the season. The final score: Dawson 27 - Friendswood 34. Next week, Friendswood will travel to La Marque. Both teams come into this game undefeated, but one team will walk away with a district record of 2-1. I will not be able to make this game (my oldest daughter had a choir concert that night). So I will have to get my news from the Galveston County Daily News and twitter.
PS. Just a couple of notes for the officials. First, in order to have a first down, a team but move the ball all ten yards, not nine and a half yards. Second. If a play goes out of bounds, and a tackle takes place out of bounds, but before the whistle, it is not unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct or a personal foul. It is called finishing the play. Third, if a player is listening to trash talk and being harassed by members of the opposing team. And after a quarter and a half of this, he tells the opposing team member to shut up, it's not a personal foul. If you want to call a personal foul, call it on the people who have been trash talking. Thank you.
This was Channel 2's game of the week. I saw the interview after the game, but I couldn't hear what Pete was saying. If I can, I'll post a link to the video on my facebook and twitter and hopefully here as well.
Here's the link to the Friday Night Frenzy from Henry Winston Stadium. http://www.click2houston.com/video/25249375/index.html
This was a grudge match, and no one will deny it. The last time these two team met was in the Regional Finals in November 2009. That game was so poorly officiated that it was investigated by the officials' governing body. The Mustangs seemed to give up during the first half of that game because they knew they couldn't win while playing both the opposing team and the officials. Of course, I wanted a Mustang win tonight. But I wanted that win to come fairly. I would rather lose a fair game than win by cheating (whether we cheat or the officials cheat for us).
There still seemed to be some biased officiating tonight, but the Mustangs seemed to have decided that they were going to win. I was very impressed with our team's determination. Yes, there were several penalties against Friendswood; and no, not all of them were earned. But we overcame those obstacles.
If you read my posts during the game, you know that it was exciting. And the last three quarters were close. You also know that I ended up in twitter jail trying to keep everyone updated. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that. I can't imagine trying to keep everyone updated using two twitter accounts all from my blackberry. And don't even get me started on the Galveston County Daily News live chats. I want to be in those so badly, but can't get there on my blackberry. I digress.
Back to the game. I've only seen one other blocked extra point kick. Don't ask me when or where it was, because I don't remember. But I'm pretty sure it was at a Friendswood game, and I'm pretty sure it was Friendswood who blocked the kick. But don't hold me to that. Tonight, there were three blocked extra point kicks. Friendswood had two and Dawson had one.
Both teams played very well. Dawson's #8 ran through our defense more times than I cared to see. And Dawson's defense covered our receivers so well that even though our offensive line gave Pete an eternity to throw the ball, he often had trouble finding an open receiver. After the game I heard he was 20 of 27. I'm going to have to go back and look at stats to see how that compares to previous games. I suspect that he was able to throw the ball more than he was tonight.
Dawson made an amazing play in the third quarter. Even if they were the opposing team, I have to give them credit for that one. Catching a pass with double coverage and making it to the endzone is an accomplishment.
Props also need to go out to Zach Hardy. It isn't often that a kicker is called on to tackle, but he did it tonight. After one of our touchdowns, the Dawson player who caught the kick off ran past all the Mustangs, except Hardy. Good job Zach.
The game wasn't sealed until we got the ball back with 46 seconds on the clock. 2 knees later and Friendswood had handed Dawson their first district loss of the season. The final score: Dawson 27 - Friendswood 34. Next week, Friendswood will travel to La Marque. Both teams come into this game undefeated, but one team will walk away with a district record of 2-1. I will not be able to make this game (my oldest daughter had a choir concert that night). So I will have to get my news from the Galveston County Daily News and twitter.
PS. Just a couple of notes for the officials. First, in order to have a first down, a team but move the ball all ten yards, not nine and a half yards. Second. If a play goes out of bounds, and a tackle takes place out of bounds, but before the whistle, it is not unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct or a personal foul. It is called finishing the play. Third, if a player is listening to trash talk and being harassed by members of the opposing team. And after a quarter and a half of this, he tells the opposing team member to shut up, it's not a personal foul. If you want to call a personal foul, call it on the people who have been trash talking. Thank you.
This was Channel 2's game of the week. I saw the interview after the game, but I couldn't hear what Pete was saying. If I can, I'll post a link to the video on my facebook and twitter and hopefully here as well.
Here's the link to the Friday Night Frenzy from Henry Winston Stadium. http://www.click2houston.com/video/25249375/index.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)