On Friday, October 1, 2011 the Dawson Eagles hosted the Friendswood Mustangs at The Rig. Kick off was at 7pm. To start the game, Dawson won the toss elected to receive. Friendswood didn't have any surprises when it came to the players who weren't dressed out, which is a very good thing. Our defense looked good to start. After 3 Snaps, Dawson was in a 4th & 13 position on their 39 yard line. They were forced to punt, and that's where the problems began. The ball bounced out of Holle's hands. He fell on the ball, preventing the approaching Eagles for gaining possession, but we had to start from our 28 yard line. On the second snap of the drive, Johnson fumbled the ball. It was recovered by Dawson on our 30 yard line. That was not the last fumble of the night. Dawson scored on this drive, and never lost the lead.
When it came to defending against the passing game, it looked like our JV squad was playing against Lake Travis for most of the first half. The Eagle receivers were wide open for most of the half. Our defenders were at least 2 steps away, at least. They made some great tackles, after the Eagles caught the ball & got the 1st down. Why allow them to get the 1st before you tackle them? Why allow them to make the catch?
Our offense did get better after that fumble, but was still riddled with problems. I hate that it happens this way, but Wood's stats were not a good representation of how he played. The incompletion goes to him, even though he hit the receiver in the numbers. Or the ball was in & out of the receiver's hands.
By the time we got to half time, the score was Friendswood 0 - Dawson 26.
Unfortunately,. We had to leave shortly after halftime. We really should have left during halftime, but I wanted to see if the coaches & players would make the necessary adjustments, or if whatever chewing the players got was effective.
A different Mustang team came out of the field house. The offense was much more effective after half time. Wood was still under a lot of pressure when he dropped back to pass, but his offensive line opened holes for him to keep the ball and run. One of those holes was good enough for him to run 49 yards for a touchdown! Our defense came out playing much better, too. Once again Dawson ended up with 4th & 13 deep in their own territory on their first possession. As good as that sounds, we did not dominate the second half the way Dawson dominated the first half. There were still a lot of mistakes. One being a fumble by Friendswood that was touched by several players on both teams before being recovered by the Mustangs. There were an uncharacteristic number of fumbles by the Mustangs last night. And too many were recovered by Dawson.
After the Mustangs scored a field goal, bringing the score to 10 - 26, I had to leave and listen to the rest of the game on Sports Talk 790. As good as they are, it's just not the same as being there.
The final score for this game was Friendswood 16 - Dawson 39.
Friendswood is continuing to improve in some areas, and continuing to make the same mistakes in others. They still need to work on catching the ball. It doesn't matter how good the quarterback throws the ball, if the receivers don't catch it. And we shouldn't be "allowing" the other team to catch their passes. It's great that we can tackle them after they make the catch, but they are making those catches all the way into the end zone. And, whoever is calling plays, please don't call plays that continue to fail. What's the definition of insanity? How many times does a play have to fail (every time its run) before you stop running it, or you change it?
Something else Friendswood has been guilty of for years, why always play the same people? We have some awesome 2nd string/back ups players. Not all of them are awesome, but some are. If a starter is having a bad night, or if the other team has obviously prepared for a particular starter; throw a wrench into the opponents' game plan and put in someone else. If a defense seems to have JJ's number, put in Rosales or Longbotham. If an offense isn't letting Lewis or Chidester get within 5 yards of the ball/ball carrier, put Griffith or someone else in that spot. I know we don't have alot of depth, but the coaches/players should use ALL the tools at their disposal to get the job done.
The next game for the Mustangs will be Friendswood's Homecoming . Friendswood will host the LaMarque Cougars. Tim Wright and company will attempt to accomplish something as seniors that they haven't accomplished in their high school careers - beat Friendswood. And our seniors intend to finish their LaMarque/Friendswood rivalry with a perfect record. The game will be played at Henry Winston Stadium on Friday, October 7, 2011. Kick off will be at 7pm. The pregame dinner will be sponsored/hosted by the junior class.
No comments:
Post a Comment