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.
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