On Saturday, December 11, 2010, the Lake Travis Cavaliers and the Friendswood Mustangs traveled to College Station, TX to play each other at Kyle Field in the State Sem-Finals for 4A D1. Kick off was at 2pm. This was a rematch of the 2008 State Semi-Finals in which Lake Travis pounded the Mustangs.
Like in 2008, only the lower level of Kyle Field was open. Friendswood filled the stands from the 10 yard line to the 10 yard line. Lake Travis had a smaller crowd. Both smaller than Friendwood's and smaller than the crowd that watched them in 2008.
Before the game began, I noticed (and commented) that few people were predicting an outcome for this game. I don't know if that is because they didn't want to inflate the heads of the players into thinking that this would game was in the bag, or if they truely didn't know how things would turn out. And it wasn't just local football watchers who were keeping quiet. I had trouble finding anyone who would put their thoughts out there for everyone to see After talking with people on twitter and facebook and reading about both teams, I, in an unusual move, did make a statement. I tried to be vague at first, but was not going to get off that easy. So, I said what I was thinking, And if the Mustangs had played the way they did against Montgomery, I would have been right.
Things started off well, thought not the best weather conditions for Friendswood. I've noticed that the Mustangs don't play their best in windy conditions. I honestly can't say if that's a coincidence, or if the wind effects the game some how. But that has been my observation.
Before the game, while the teams were in the locker rooms, the Coach from Lake Travis, 2 coaches form Friendswood, the team captians from Friendswood and the refs all shook hands and exchanged words. I assume they were pleasantries, but since I couldn't hear them . . .
During the pre-game activities, the cheerleaders were never introduced. A move that surprised the Friendswood cheerleaders, but not the Lake Travis cheerleaders. School songs were played. And the teams took to the field. Before either team had lined up on the sidelines, the Star Spangeled Banner was announced and the band began to play.
For the first time, I noticed some freshman uniforms on our sidelines as well as the JV jerseys. Lake Travis brought some of their younger players as well. They were more obvious because of the colors on their pants. I sure they were all beyond excited at the opportunity they had. It would have been great to see some of them get to play.
To start the game Friendswood won the toss and elected to receive. I have to say that this was somewhat of a relief to me. To the best of my knowledge, we have won the toss in every game except Santa Fe and Montgomery. We all know how those games turned out. I was hoping that this would be a good omen for the team.
The offense started strong. The team looked like they were picking up right where they left off against Montgomery last week. After the first three plays, I agreed to take my oldest daughter to the rest room. A flag was thrown as we were walking down the steps; the first of the game, but not the last. I never did find out what the flag was for, but that it was against Friendswood. I was quite surprised when I got back to my seats, saw that we had the ball and the score was 0-3. Why did we only have 3 points? Obviously, we scored a field goal (thanks Tyler Dement), but what happened that we had to "settle for 3" instead of put 7 on the board? I did learn that we got the ball back after our defense was too much for Lake Travis to handle.
Friendwood is marching down the field, but ended up in a 4th and 8 situation. They line up for the trick play that didn't work against Humble. Lake Travis had no idea what was going on and had to call a time out to ask the coaches what to do. Once the time out was over, Friendswood look a more traditional line up and I was glad to see it. We were there to win, not end up with thousands of hits on you tube. Unfortunatley, something didn't work right and Maetxold threw the ball away before we was sacked. The ball went back to Lake Travis on downs.
The Cavs were able to get their 2nd first down of the day, but then had to punt the ball back to the Mustangs from their 40 yard line.
The Mustangs staarted this possession from their 34 yard line. The Cavalier fans were booing, but I never saw or heard a reason for the boos. The first quarter ended during this posession and the score was Lake Travis Cavaliers 0 - Friendswood Mustangs 3. For both teams, during the 1st quarter, the defense played better than the offense. Our offense definetly was playing better than Lake Travis'.
The 2nd quarter didn't start well. Maetzold threw his first interception of the game. Thankfully, his intended receiver was there to make the tackle and the interceptor didn't get far. Our defense took the field, but it seemed as if they made some sort of change at the quarter and the change wasn't an improvment. We almost sacked their QB, but he was able to get a pass off that was caught and run for a first down. Their 3rd of the game. The Cavaliers continued to march down the field, and with 9:57 left in the half, Lake Travis found the end zone. The score was Lake Travis Cavaliers 7 - Friendswood Mustangs 3.
Kennemr caught the kick off and brought it out to the 34 yard line. He was close to breaking free for a touch down. Maetzold threw a nice pass to Kennemer, who had room to run, but the pass slipped right threw his hands. Then, Maetzold made a great throw, and the receiver made a great catch, but it was called back due to holding. I never saw any holding. Neither did the fans around me. The fans were screaming that there was no holding and that the refs were calling an unfair game.
The ball ended up going back to the Cavaliers. And our defense started tackling very poorly. I didn't have my roster and I didn't have a good view of the players numbers, so I don't know if that was usual starters or someone else who looked like they were playing flag football. During this drive, the Cavaliers landed their first penalty - holding. Bergeson made 2 great plays to prevent pass receptions for long yards. Thanks to those plays, the Cavaliers had to punt deep in their own territory. Kennemr caught the punt but had two defenders blocking his path and no one blocking for him. They danced a little, but ended up going no where.
On 2nd down, Maetzold was able to find a hole, but only gained 3 yards. We didn't see much of "Sneaky Pete" during this game. On the next play, we were called for an illegal shift. That's the first time I've ever seen that call in a high school football game. The Cavaliers had trouble tackling Johnson during this drive. At one point, it looked like they were trying to undress him. When I posted this on facebook and twitter, I got a laugh or two. Later, I learned that they actually did rip his jersey and someone on the sideline had to sew it back up. I didn't know that a sewing kit was something that was kept on the sidelines of a football game. The Mustangs used a time out on this drive, and decided a "trick" play that ususally gets lots of yards and often a touch down. Maetzold handed off to JJ, who took a few steps and then made a backwards pass to Maetzold, who threw an interception! This was his second interception of the day (not his last). This was close to half time and we were within field goal range.
The Cavaliers weren't able to do anything major before half time. The teams went to the locker rooms with the score board showing Cavaliers 7 - Mustangs 3.
Due to region band auditions, the Cavalettes (sp?) had to dance to a CD and the Cavalier band didn't even take the field. Our band was much smaller than usual, but did play "Sleigh Ride" for the Wranglerettes. Then they formed the word "Blue" and played the horse, and the drum line played the trash cans during that song (loved it). Then they formed "FHS" while the crowd cheered.
So, with Friendswood behind 7-3, the Mustangs would put my prediction to the test. I said that if the Mustangs were ahead, or no more than 14 points behind and half time, then we would win. To start the 2nd half Demet kicked off the ball that he probably could have put through the goal posts if he'd wanted to. I'm not sure if he had been given a green light, or if something changed in practice, but it was nice to see that he can still kick that far.
Whatever happened in the second quarter with our defense, the downward slide continued. It took the Cavaliers only 4 mintues and 3 seconds of playing time to find the end zone again. At this point in the game, the scoreboard showed 7:57 left in the 3rd quarter. Cavaliers 14 - Mustangs 3. The Lake Travis offense never felt the pressure that Montgomery's offense felt. I wish I could explain what happened.
Lake Travis kicked off to the Mustangs, who tried again to find the end zone. Several fans around me became very vocal during this drive, and remained vocal throughout the rest of the game. They were calling for flags on a late hit. But this is not the point at which I noticed something odd going on with the refs. We went through our first 3 downs and were 4th and 5 near the 50 yard line. The ball was thrown and it appeard that both a Mustang and Cavalier caught it at the same time. Both falling on the ball. I would like to have seen it from the other side, as I saw it from behind. It was ruled an incomplete pass and the Cavaliers took over on downs.
And them something happened that I haven't seen in quite a while. The Cavalier quarterback ran with the ball, after deciding not to throw it. There were Mustangs all around him, but none of them were able to get their hands on him. It was like they weren't even paying attention to him. So, in that moment, were the Lake Travis linemen that good, or was our defense that bad? Thankfully, our secondary was able to stop him before he made it all the way to the end zone. On the next play, a ref threw his flag for something that no one but him saw, false start against the defense. How was he able to see that, since he was behind the defense??? This is when someone around me voiced something he noticed about the refs. I began to pay attention to this, and the fan was right. The refs wouldn't even look at Coach Van Meter. They would go talk with the coaches from Lake Travis, but wouldn't even look at our coaches. I wonder why that was. And why it continued throughout the game.
The ball came back to our offense on downs, but we didn't get far down the field. This time, when the ref should have thrown a flag, he didn't. I'm not sure how they missed that horse collar foul, but they did. Then, Maetzold handed the ball off to JJ. He made a great run. It looked very exciting; until you saw where he ended up and realized that he had been running parrallel to the end zone instead of toward it. On the next play, Maetzold threw his third (but still not last) interception of the game. I do not know why Maetzold chose to throw to Kennemer, who was under double coverage, when Bolton was open and only a few yards away.
When the Mustang defense took the field after that third interception , they were a completely different defense. They looked like they did when we played Dawson last year in the regional title game - like a team who had given up. If you read my twitter and facebook feeds, it's clear that I was not happy with the way the team was playing. And if you saw them you wouldn't be happy either. Especially knowing what they are capable of. If they had given up, then I fault the team leaders for allowing that to happen, and the coaches for not putting in players who had better attitdues. The Cavaliers had no trouble getting into the end zone again. With 1:38 left in the third quarter, the score was Lake Travis 21 - Friendswood 3
The Cavalier's kicked the ball to the Mustangs, and our offense started again. Things weren't looking up. Our offensive line wasn't protecting Maetzold very well. I saw our quarterback get sacked while his offensive line wasn't paying attention and not doing anything to protect him. I saw people lined up to protect him, but only watch one direction and not notice that he was getting sacked from the other side. I also noticed that Maetzold wasn't moving around as much as he usually does. He didn't roll out of the pocket, he didn't move around in the pocket much, and he didn't give up on the pass and try to run much either. In fact, the only time I saw him try to do that, he slipped and lost serval yards.
The third quarter ended and the fourth began with the Mustangs still missing in action. Amazingly, we did manage to get a first down without a flag being thrown. But of course, I commented on this, and jinxed them. We were called for false start when no one moved. But that was the way of the day. Bolton had made a beautiful catch for that first down, but was hit hard. He didn't get up for a bit, but it looked like he just got the wind knocked out of him. A few mintues later, Maetzold threw his fourth and final interception of the game. He was trying to throw the ball away as he was about to be sacked, and it was caught by Lake Travis.
Our defense was able to prevent another Lake Travis touchdown. But they were able to score a field goal. So, with 3:01 left in the game, the score was Lake Travis 24 - Friendswood 3.
Not much exciting happened during the remainder of the game. Friendswood got the ball, had to punt, Lake Travis took a knee and that was that. Final Score Lake Travis Cavaliers 24 - Friendswood Mustangs 3
To say this is a disappointing loss is an understatement. I was told, by a somewhat reliable person, that the team had formed the nasty habit of getting loaded on Red Bull and Monsters before the games. The person who told me this did not know that I had made the same comment last week. If it's true, then they wore off in the 2nd quarter and by the 2nd half they were in a full on sugar crash.
I don't know what the mood was on the field, but in the stands there was quite a range of emotions. First it was excitement as the team played well in the first quarter. Then that excitement turned to frustration as the team didn't play to the level we've seen them play, and the level they needed to play. There was anger against the refs for not calling a fair game. There was disagreements with the play callers, as people around me didn't like the plays being called. There was disappointment as it began to look like the team had thrown in the towel. Have you ever noticed that a bad attitude is more infectious than the a good one? If the team really had given up, then the team leaders should have encouraged the team to not give up. And if that didn't work, or if the leaders were the ones who had given up, the coaches should have pulled the players with a bad attitude and let the other players who were just itching to play at such an awesome stadium have a turn. You never know, one of those younger players may have surprised everyone.
I wish I could say that our team played a good game and was beaten by a better team, but I'd be lying. I wish I could say that the team brought their A-game, but I can't. There are some players who stopped every player that needed to be stopped, moved every player that needed to be moved, and got the ball where it needed to go every time he stepped onto the field, but not every player can. In order for the Mustangs to have won Saturday (which was very possible), every player would have to honestly say he gave his best effort on every play.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Montgomery Bears vs. Friendswood Mustangs at Rice Stadium December 4, 2010
On December 4, 2010, at Rice Stadium in Houston, TX, the Montgomery Bears played the Friendswood Mustangs for the AAAA Region 3 Division 1 title and a trip to the state semi-final play off game against Lake Travis (who had defeated Cedar Park by 1 point earlier in the day). Kick off was at 7pm.
Immediately upon finding our seats, I noticed something different about this game. There was no inflated helmet for the players to run through. Friendswood's famous (or infamous) horn was also absent. Of course, Montgomery didn't have any inflatable for their team to run through either. Friendswood, who is normally very loud and proud during football games was shown up by Montgomery in that department - a first. But that's okay, our team spoke through their actions.
To start the game, Montgomery won the toss and decided to defer to the second half. Matt Kennemer caught the kick off and returned it to the 26 yard line to begin the game. Within the first three plays, it became obvious that the refs were not going to call a fair game. Now, I'm not going to say that this particular ref was biased. But I will say that he made several mistakes. First, he missed a face mask that was right in front of him. Then, he missed an offsides by the Bear's defense.
During Friendswood's first drive, Maetzold made his first off target throw. He overthrew Kennemer on a pass that would have been a touch down.
A few plays later, we learned that the lazy ref was actually carrying a flag. But I only saw him throw it when the offsides was so blatent that the defender was behind the offensive line before the ball was snapped (happened twice).
A few plays later, the first points were put on the board. Friendswood ticked two minutes and fifty seconds off the clock to make the score Bears 0 - Mustangs 7. Now it's time for Friendswood's defense to get their first look at Montgomery's star running back Leroy Dobbins.
Montgomery's first turn with the ball didn't go very well. They punted the ball away. Friendswood began on the 44 yard line. They marched down the field, but ended up trying for a field goal. For where I was sitting, Dement's kick looked good. From where the coaches were standing, the kick looked good. But the refs said no good, and the players didn't argue. I'm sure the players would have argued if they thought it was good, so I'll trust them on this. This was the first of a few plays that had me wishing for instant reply. Unfortunatley, I couldn't hit rewind the way I would on my DVR.
So, after Dement's failed field goal, the Bears took over on their own 20 yard line. This time the Bear's offense was a little more effective. They marched down the field and found the end zone with 1:18 left in the first quarter making the score 7-7.
With the kick off, Kennemr caught the ball and faked a hand off to Battle before running with the ball. This fake hand off, unlike the ones they did a few weeks ago, did not eat any time off the clock. But, he's only able to get to the 21 yard line before he is brought down. A couple of plays later, JJ breaks free and runs about 50 yards, dances with a few receivers and is brought down at the Bear's 29 yard line. On the next play, Maetzold overthrew Justin Battle (another overthrow). A few plays later, Maetzold looked to be in trouble, but managed to find Scott in the end zone. Dement's kick is good. So with 0:00 remaining in the first quarter, the score was Bears 7 - Mustangs 14. Of course, there were more officiating mistakes in this drive. Coach Van Meter was madder than I've seen him in a while, and he had good reason to be. I wish I had made more detailed notes on these plays. I remember very clearly seeing Coach Van Meter yelling at the official. And I remember believing that he was right and that the lazy official needed to read the rule book again. But I don't remember what happened during that play.
It took The Bears just under 3 minutes with their version of the spread offense to get into the end zone again. Score 14-14.
Two minutes later, Maetzold threw the only interception of the night. The Bears were able to run it back for a touchdown. 7:55 left in the half. Score 21-14 Bears.
Time for the Mustangs offense to try again. It seems that, at least on this night, Maetzold made this best plays while under pressure. During this drive, he made another great pass under pressure. Scott made a great diving catch near the 50 yard line. A few minutes later, Battle caught the pass on the screen play and was able to make it to the end zone. So, the score was tied again. Time left in the first half - 6:39.
Now, the Bears knew that the Mustangs were gunning for Leroy Dobbins, so they faked a hand off to Dobbins and went the other way with the ball. It was a very good fake. So good, that they tried it again on the next play. This time, it didn't work. After a few plays I would like to have seen again, the Bears got into the endzone again. Now the score was 28-21 Bears and there was 1:32 left in the half. Again, Kennemer faked a hand off to Battle. This time it only got him to the 18 yard line. But that's okay, 2 plays later, Battle made it to the end zone. The score was tied again, at 28, with less than a minute left in the half. Whoever said this would be a high scoring game was right.
This time, Dement kicked the ball to start the next set of plays. We noticed that Hardy and Dement were both kicking the ball to the same location each time. To the kicker's right near the 30 yard line. If anyone knows why the kickers were favoring this spot, please let me know.
The score didn't change in that 43 seconds before half time.
Montgomery chose to perform their half time show for their own crowd. Generally, manners dictate that half time shows are performed for the home crowd. But, I won't hold that against them. Friendswood's band always puts on a great half time show and this game was no exception. The sousaphone players were great while playing "Super Fly For a White Guy." The band played more tunes and worked the get the crowd involved (but weren't as successful as last week). And I won't mention that the pit and the drumline were about measures apart for a while (oops, just did). During half time, I got a tweet from Evan Mohl from the Galveston County Daily News that said that Pete Maetzold had surpased Jacob Karam's record for yards in a single season. Congrats, Pete.
Hardy kicked off the second half by kicking the ball to the same place. This drive by the Bears included some great tackling (Manning had a great one) and a few more plays I'd like to see again. However, due to a some mistakes by the Bears and some awesome defense by the Mustangs, this possession by the Bears did not earn them any points. Friendswood took over possession on downs at our 20 yard line. 2 plays later we were 40 yards closer to our end zone. But then, we earned a personal foul. I wasn't able to see what we were accused of doing, so I can't say if we deserved that 15 yard loss or not. Next play, Friendswood tried something they haven't done in a while. And it worked (again). Maetzold passed the ball to JJ, who ran parrallel to the line of scrimmage (not unusual), then threw the ball to the back corner of the endzone where Canada was waiting to catch the ball. 5:30 left in the 3rd quarter and the score was Bears 28 - Mustangs 35.
The Bears tried to march down the field again. But, our defense was ready, again. Four plays later, Montgomery punted the ball back to the Mustangs. Two minutes and eleven seconds after the last score, the Mustangs were in the end zone again. Dement's PAT kicks kept getting lower and lower, but it was good, and that's all that mattered. New score: Bears 28 - Mustangs 42.
At this point in the game, I take my youngest daughter to the rest room and we decide to grab some ice cream from the Marble Slab cart while we're up there. By the time we get back to our seats, the Mustangs have the ball near the goal line. The play is called a quarter back sneak, but I don't think it's much of a sneak when everyone knows what's going to happen. They should rename the play "line up behind Pete and push." The push worked. With 10:46 left in the game, the score was Bears 28 - Mustangs 49.
Time for Hardy to kick off again. Would he kick to his right and to the 30 yard line? If you said yes, you'd be wrong. This time he kicked it to his right and to the 35 yard line. Once again, the Bears offense is unable to capitalize. They have to punt. Kennemer caught the ball at our 35 yard line and is able to run 39 yards to the Montgomery 26 yard line. Where we were called for a personal foul. I was talking to someone and didn't see what happened. I tried several times to find out who did what, but was never able to find out. It ended up being 4th and 30 for the Mustangs deep in Bear territory. The Mustangs took a delay of game penalty to give themselves an extra 5 yards between them and the end zone. Even though he tried for a short kick, Maetzold's punt still bounced into the end zone. The Bears were able to try again, starting from their own 20 yard line.
Our offense almost got a very short rest; Gardner almost intercepted a pass. On the next play, Dobbins got open, but only made to the 1st down marker before he was chased out of bounds. That was the last 1st down the Bears would get. They had to punt. Kennemr caught the ball and was immediately brought down.
At this point, there was 1:04 left on the clock. 2 "knees" later, the game was over.
Montgomery was unable to score single point in the second half. I don't take stats (that's other people's jobs), but I think I can count on one hand the number of 1st downs Montgomery earned in thesecond half. One of the coaches said that they made one tiny defensive adjustment during half time. Whatever that tiny adjustment was, it worked very well. Our defense is continuing to improve. They are playing better than ever. Our offense isnt' looking their best (a few over thrown passes and a few missed assignments), but they are looking pretty good.
Next up, Friendswood will take on Lake Travis. This year, Lake Travis suffered 2 defeats after being unbeaten for (I think) 44 straight games. Cedar Park and Aledo beat Lake Travis. Both of those teams made it to the play offs. Lake Travis beat Cedar Park by 1 point this week, and I think Aledo is still playing. I have already suggested that our coaches study the films of those games in order to see what those teams did to stop Lake Travis.
This will be a rematch of the state semi-finals in 2008. That game featured Jacob Karam and the Friendswood Mustangs against Garrett Gilbert and the Lake Travis Caveliers. That game was also played at Kyle Field on the Saturday of Friendswood's Christmas parade and kick off for that game was 2pm. We are hoping for a different outcome to this game.
One other thing. Someone at church told his 2 year old daughter the Mustangs were playing the Montgomery Bears. She was confused, thinking they were playing the Gummy Bears. :)
Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I am watching the game and "taking notes" by twittering and facebooking during the games. I am at each game with at least one of my kids, if not both. Sometimes, my husband is able to attend with usand sometimes I have other family with me as well. My football education is from attending high school football games for 30+ years and sitting between my dad and my grandpa for the first 12 of those years. I was 3 when my parents bought my first season ticket. I missed 2 home games from the time I was 3 years old through junior high, and started traveling (not missing a single game) during high school. I started taking my kids to games before they could walk and have been taking them ever since.
Immediately upon finding our seats, I noticed something different about this game. There was no inflated helmet for the players to run through. Friendswood's famous (or infamous) horn was also absent. Of course, Montgomery didn't have any inflatable for their team to run through either. Friendswood, who is normally very loud and proud during football games was shown up by Montgomery in that department - a first. But that's okay, our team spoke through their actions.
To start the game, Montgomery won the toss and decided to defer to the second half. Matt Kennemer caught the kick off and returned it to the 26 yard line to begin the game. Within the first three plays, it became obvious that the refs were not going to call a fair game. Now, I'm not going to say that this particular ref was biased. But I will say that he made several mistakes. First, he missed a face mask that was right in front of him. Then, he missed an offsides by the Bear's defense.
During Friendswood's first drive, Maetzold made his first off target throw. He overthrew Kennemer on a pass that would have been a touch down.
A few plays later, we learned that the lazy ref was actually carrying a flag. But I only saw him throw it when the offsides was so blatent that the defender was behind the offensive line before the ball was snapped (happened twice).
A few plays later, the first points were put on the board. Friendswood ticked two minutes and fifty seconds off the clock to make the score Bears 0 - Mustangs 7. Now it's time for Friendswood's defense to get their first look at Montgomery's star running back Leroy Dobbins.
Montgomery's first turn with the ball didn't go very well. They punted the ball away. Friendswood began on the 44 yard line. They marched down the field, but ended up trying for a field goal. For where I was sitting, Dement's kick looked good. From where the coaches were standing, the kick looked good. But the refs said no good, and the players didn't argue. I'm sure the players would have argued if they thought it was good, so I'll trust them on this. This was the first of a few plays that had me wishing for instant reply. Unfortunatley, I couldn't hit rewind the way I would on my DVR.
So, after Dement's failed field goal, the Bears took over on their own 20 yard line. This time the Bear's offense was a little more effective. They marched down the field and found the end zone with 1:18 left in the first quarter making the score 7-7.
With the kick off, Kennemr caught the ball and faked a hand off to Battle before running with the ball. This fake hand off, unlike the ones they did a few weeks ago, did not eat any time off the clock. But, he's only able to get to the 21 yard line before he is brought down. A couple of plays later, JJ breaks free and runs about 50 yards, dances with a few receivers and is brought down at the Bear's 29 yard line. On the next play, Maetzold overthrew Justin Battle (another overthrow). A few plays later, Maetzold looked to be in trouble, but managed to find Scott in the end zone. Dement's kick is good. So with 0:00 remaining in the first quarter, the score was Bears 7 - Mustangs 14. Of course, there were more officiating mistakes in this drive. Coach Van Meter was madder than I've seen him in a while, and he had good reason to be. I wish I had made more detailed notes on these plays. I remember very clearly seeing Coach Van Meter yelling at the official. And I remember believing that he was right and that the lazy official needed to read the rule book again. But I don't remember what happened during that play.
It took The Bears just under 3 minutes with their version of the spread offense to get into the end zone again. Score 14-14.
Two minutes later, Maetzold threw the only interception of the night. The Bears were able to run it back for a touchdown. 7:55 left in the half. Score 21-14 Bears.
Time for the Mustangs offense to try again. It seems that, at least on this night, Maetzold made this best plays while under pressure. During this drive, he made another great pass under pressure. Scott made a great diving catch near the 50 yard line. A few minutes later, Battle caught the pass on the screen play and was able to make it to the end zone. So, the score was tied again. Time left in the first half - 6:39.
Now, the Bears knew that the Mustangs were gunning for Leroy Dobbins, so they faked a hand off to Dobbins and went the other way with the ball. It was a very good fake. So good, that they tried it again on the next play. This time, it didn't work. After a few plays I would like to have seen again, the Bears got into the endzone again. Now the score was 28-21 Bears and there was 1:32 left in the half. Again, Kennemer faked a hand off to Battle. This time it only got him to the 18 yard line. But that's okay, 2 plays later, Battle made it to the end zone. The score was tied again, at 28, with less than a minute left in the half. Whoever said this would be a high scoring game was right.
This time, Dement kicked the ball to start the next set of plays. We noticed that Hardy and Dement were both kicking the ball to the same location each time. To the kicker's right near the 30 yard line. If anyone knows why the kickers were favoring this spot, please let me know.
The score didn't change in that 43 seconds before half time.
Montgomery chose to perform their half time show for their own crowd. Generally, manners dictate that half time shows are performed for the home crowd. But, I won't hold that against them. Friendswood's band always puts on a great half time show and this game was no exception. The sousaphone players were great while playing "Super Fly For a White Guy." The band played more tunes and worked the get the crowd involved (but weren't as successful as last week). And I won't mention that the pit and the drumline were about measures apart for a while (oops, just did). During half time, I got a tweet from Evan Mohl from the Galveston County Daily News that said that Pete Maetzold had surpased Jacob Karam's record for yards in a single season. Congrats, Pete.
Hardy kicked off the second half by kicking the ball to the same place. This drive by the Bears included some great tackling (Manning had a great one) and a few more plays I'd like to see again. However, due to a some mistakes by the Bears and some awesome defense by the Mustangs, this possession by the Bears did not earn them any points. Friendswood took over possession on downs at our 20 yard line. 2 plays later we were 40 yards closer to our end zone. But then, we earned a personal foul. I wasn't able to see what we were accused of doing, so I can't say if we deserved that 15 yard loss or not. Next play, Friendswood tried something they haven't done in a while. And it worked (again). Maetzold passed the ball to JJ, who ran parrallel to the line of scrimmage (not unusual), then threw the ball to the back corner of the endzone where Canada was waiting to catch the ball. 5:30 left in the 3rd quarter and the score was Bears 28 - Mustangs 35.
The Bears tried to march down the field again. But, our defense was ready, again. Four plays later, Montgomery punted the ball back to the Mustangs. Two minutes and eleven seconds after the last score, the Mustangs were in the end zone again. Dement's PAT kicks kept getting lower and lower, but it was good, and that's all that mattered. New score: Bears 28 - Mustangs 42.
At this point in the game, I take my youngest daughter to the rest room and we decide to grab some ice cream from the Marble Slab cart while we're up there. By the time we get back to our seats, the Mustangs have the ball near the goal line. The play is called a quarter back sneak, but I don't think it's much of a sneak when everyone knows what's going to happen. They should rename the play "line up behind Pete and push." The push worked. With 10:46 left in the game, the score was Bears 28 - Mustangs 49.
Time for Hardy to kick off again. Would he kick to his right and to the 30 yard line? If you said yes, you'd be wrong. This time he kicked it to his right and to the 35 yard line. Once again, the Bears offense is unable to capitalize. They have to punt. Kennemer caught the ball at our 35 yard line and is able to run 39 yards to the Montgomery 26 yard line. Where we were called for a personal foul. I was talking to someone and didn't see what happened. I tried several times to find out who did what, but was never able to find out. It ended up being 4th and 30 for the Mustangs deep in Bear territory. The Mustangs took a delay of game penalty to give themselves an extra 5 yards between them and the end zone. Even though he tried for a short kick, Maetzold's punt still bounced into the end zone. The Bears were able to try again, starting from their own 20 yard line.
Our offense almost got a very short rest; Gardner almost intercepted a pass. On the next play, Dobbins got open, but only made to the 1st down marker before he was chased out of bounds. That was the last 1st down the Bears would get. They had to punt. Kennemr caught the ball and was immediately brought down.
At this point, there was 1:04 left on the clock. 2 "knees" later, the game was over.
Montgomery was unable to score single point in the second half. I don't take stats (that's other people's jobs), but I think I can count on one hand the number of 1st downs Montgomery earned in thesecond half. One of the coaches said that they made one tiny defensive adjustment during half time. Whatever that tiny adjustment was, it worked very well. Our defense is continuing to improve. They are playing better than ever. Our offense isnt' looking their best (a few over thrown passes and a few missed assignments), but they are looking pretty good.
Next up, Friendswood will take on Lake Travis. This year, Lake Travis suffered 2 defeats after being unbeaten for (I think) 44 straight games. Cedar Park and Aledo beat Lake Travis. Both of those teams made it to the play offs. Lake Travis beat Cedar Park by 1 point this week, and I think Aledo is still playing. I have already suggested that our coaches study the films of those games in order to see what those teams did to stop Lake Travis.
This will be a rematch of the state semi-finals in 2008. That game featured Jacob Karam and the Friendswood Mustangs against Garrett Gilbert and the Lake Travis Caveliers. That game was also played at Kyle Field on the Saturday of Friendswood's Christmas parade and kick off for that game was 2pm. We are hoping for a different outcome to this game.
One other thing. Someone at church told his 2 year old daughter the Mustangs were playing the Montgomery Bears. She was confused, thinking they were playing the Gummy Bears. :)
Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I am watching the game and "taking notes" by twittering and facebooking during the games. I am at each game with at least one of my kids, if not both. Sometimes, my husband is able to attend with usand sometimes I have other family with me as well. My football education is from attending high school football games for 30+ years and sitting between my dad and my grandpa for the first 12 of those years. I was 3 when my parents bought my first season ticket. I missed 2 home games from the time I was 3 years old through junior high, and started traveling (not missing a single game) during high school. I started taking my kids to games before they could walk and have been taking them ever since.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)