First, please allow me to act like my teenage daughter for a minute - OMG! OMG! OMG!
Okay, I think I might have gotten that out of my system. Where do I even begin with tonight's game. How about with my pregame research. Since two of the best sports writers the Galveston County Daily News have ever had left Galveston County and now have a much larger audience, I haven't been able to find nearly as much good information on our opponents. That is, unless our opponent is a team I already know about. For example, I tried to research Rosenberg Terry this week. I found a small amount of information on the Fort Bend Herald's website. And a little more on the Houston Chronicle's website. But I didn't find nearly as much information as I would have liked. I was able to find out that, depending on which poll you read, Terry came into this game ranked as the #8 or #13 4A team in the state. Although, I think I may have come across something that our coaches didn't see. That little pitch play they ran that gained them yards every time and points sometimes - well, someone posted video of them running it against Clear Falls. It worked against them, too. Other than that video, I was able to deduce from the information on the Chronicle's website that the Rangers like to run the ball, run it well, and don't pass very often. And we saw some of that tonight.
Terry had obviously did their homework on Friendswood. The first quarter was very rough for Friendswood. It took Terry about two play to run right past Friendswood and find the end zone - 63 yards from where they started. Friendswood spend most of the rest of the first quarter trying to get some points on the board. After a lot of hard work, the boys had to settle for a field goal and three points. A couple of snaps later, Makransky recovered a Terry fumble at the Terry 8 yard line. 1 minute 39 seconds after the first field goal Friendswood has to settle for a second field goal. And 45 seconds later, Terry found the end zone; however, they had already had their only extra point success of the night. So to end the first quarter, the score was Terry 13 - Friendswood 6.
During the second quarter, Terry continued to do what they'd been doing. Why change what's working? I can't pin point any real changes that Friendswood made, but I would say that the defense continued to learn the Terry offense. Each team scored during the second quarter, but Terry scored twice and Friendswood scored once.
The third quarter was where Friendswood began to make their intentions known. They intended to win. The Mustangs were no longer just keeping things close - Friendswood scored 21 points during the third quarter, while Terry only scored 13. This was now a 5 point game.
I think most of the stadium spent the fourth quarter on their feet. Friendswood took the lead for the first time with 7:06 left in the game and never gave it back. With a score of 39-40, Friendswood decided to go for 2 after the touchdown. The conversion was good, but there was a penalty on the play - never did find out the cause for that penalty. On the second try, Friendswood was called for illegal motion. Third attempt - I guess Wood's line of sight was blocked, because he had an open receiver near the 1 yard line. However, by the time he threw the ball, the receiver was at the back of the end zone and under heavy coverage. The pass was overthrown and incomplete. Terry got the ball back, but wasn't able to do anything with it. Thanks to the Friendswood defense, the ball went back to Friendswood on downs. With 1 minute 49 second left in the game, Friendswood found the end zone again. This time, Friendswood chose to kick; which I admit is not what I thought they would do. The kick was good, and the score was Terry 39 - Friendswood 47. Terry managed the clock well and made some good plays to get them back to the end zone with 14 seconds left on the clock. The game came down to the two point conversion attempt. After a delay of game penalty against Terry, the pass was incomplete. The final score for the game was Rosenberg Terry Rangers 45 - Friendswood Mustangs 47.
Yes, you read that right, the non-ranked Friendswood Mustangs defeated the #13 ranked Terry Rangers.
Thoughts from the game:
This is my 6th season to watch the Friendswood Mustangs. Friendswood has always done a good job of learning their opponent during the half and making the necessary adjustments at half time. The Mustang's strength has always been the ability to find the end zone, over and over again. And the place where the team has struggled has been the defense. Our offense has had to run up the score to overcome all the points the defense allowed. So far, this year is no exception. Our defense has improved over the last week. And they were facing an offense that averaged almost 400 yards/game over the first two games. I was very worried coming into the game, and the first half of the first quarter seemed to validate my fears.
And. I don't know why, but the Mustang offense suffered from a severe case of slippery hands syndrome tonight. What happened? Did someone bring a jar of axle grease and tell everyone it was rubber cement? I don't remember the last time I saw the Mustangs drop that many passes and fumble that many times. Just before Terry's first turnover, I told my husband that if Terry mishandled the ball Friendswood would take advantage of it. I never imagined that Terry would be taking advantage of so many of the Mustangs' mistakes.
Our offensive line did a great job of protecting Wood tonight. I don't recall any really hard hits he took tonight. That is a good thing.
Our defense improved throughout the game when it came to stopping the run, however, our pass protection seems to have gone backwards.
Some of the players who made good things happen tonight were: Wood, Longbotham, Vandersypen, Williams, Holle, Hill, Varner, Makransky, Montalvo (I think he is the faster sprinter on our defense), Camarillo, & Langston.
Scoreboard 1st 2nd 3rd 4th final
Terry 13 13 13 6 45
Friendswood 6 7 21 13 47
Next week, the Friendswood Mustangs have a Bye Week. The next game for the Mustangs will be against Galena Park at the Galena Park ISD stadium. As of right now, I don't know if I'll be able to attend, due to my oldest daughter having something that night. I'm trying to decide if I can leave Friendswood at 6:30 and be back before 11pm. And if I do, how much of the game would I have to miss.
Something Fun:
Tonight was the annual Wranglerette Pre-game dinner. I always love this dinner. I was able to watch my daughter dance with the other Fall Clinic participants. Hopefully, next year she'll be dancing in a Drill Trainers uniform.
Being the Wranglerette Pre-game Dinner night also means that it was the annual Daddy Daughter Dance during halftime. This year, the dads dressed up as super heroes. If you're my friend on facebook, I posted a video of the dance there.
Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I am watching the game and "taking notes" by twittering 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 us and 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.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Dickinson vs. Friendswood - September 7, 2012
This week was an interesting game for me. This week, Friendswood (my current home and favorite place to live) hosted Dickinson (where I grew up and went to school). I had family sitting on both sides of the stadium, and both were cheering for both teams. Like I said, interesting. It was nice to not only see some good football, but I also got to watch my nephew march in the gator band from the comfort of my stadium seat in my home stadium.
Before the game, one of my relatives told me that unless the Mustangs "roll over and play dead", the game would be an easy win for Friendswood. During the first half of the first quarter, I told her that the Mustangs did have a weakness that the Gators could exploit. Then I asked her how fast the Gators were. On the very next snap, one of the Gators went through the hole and made it to the end zone. I guess I need to remember to keep my mouth shut. It was not pleasant to see the Gators on the board first after they got stomped last week. It seemed like it took the Mustangs a while to get going, but once they did, . . . I've always said that the Mustangs improved throughout the course of a game, and we're usually more of a second half team.
Before I get into too many details, let me dole out some well deserved "atta boys". Last night, some of the players who made good things happen are; Wood, Camarillo, Longbothom, Vandersypen, Hill, Bertlesman, Williams, Montalvo, Horner, King, Dooley, Wegner, Makransky, Holle, & Simmons. And props to King for stripping the ball from the Gators after his fumble was recovered by them.
I think last night could be summed up as a game of penalties. According to my count, there were a total of 22 penalties last night - 12 for Dickinson and 10 for Friendswood. It felt like every other play there was a flag on the field. The Gators got most of their penalties in the first half, while Friendswood waited until the second half to start raking in those flags. However, Friendswood was called more than once for a kick going out of bounds without being touched. While I understand the reasoning behind that rule, I don't think it's right for a team to be penalized when their opponent watches the ball bounce out of bounds without trying to catch/stop it. But then that gets into subjective officiating, and no one wants that.
I would also say that Dickinson watched the tape from our game against Alvin, because they knew what they needed to do to get on the score board. The first half of the first quarter, I was really concerned that Dickinson would run all over the field last night. And while they did get too many big runs, our defense is better than last year. Our defense is definitely improving. (But some of those holes were still big enough to drive an 18-wheeler through.) The Mustangs still need to practice stopping the run game.
It was really nice to see the improvement in the pass coverage. That is something that has gotten under my skin for the last few years. There were a few times that our pass coverage was looking like the past, but the Gators receivers had butterfingers last night, so we didn't have to pay for those mistakes. The defense played tight on the receivers more last night than they did in games past. THANK YOU!! Camarillo did a great job with this last night!
It was interesting to watch Longbothom and Vandersypen run the ball. I'm glad we will get to watch them for more than just this season, as they are both sophomores. They are both good, but they are good in different ways. I wish I had the stats on this, but going on memory, I think the Gators sacked Wood more than the Yellowjackets did last week. However, those sacks looked less painful. I'm not sure if it was the way Wood was sacked, or if he was feeling better, or a better actor, but he seemed to get up quicker this week than last. I hope that our offensive line continues to improve in this aspect.
I haven't read the stats from last night, but I think more Mustangs got their hands on the ball last night - and with the number of times the Mustangs were in the end zone, that's a good thing. One stat that was announced last night - total yardage during the 3rd quarter (combined Gators and Mustangs) was 300+. I don't remember the exact number, but it was either 328 or 348. That was probably the longest quarter I've ever seen. I wish I knew exactly how long it was, but according to my twitter posts from last night, it was at least an hour long. And you could tell by the way the boys were playing that they were ready for it to be over (and that better not be because some one's Monster wore off. I hope they've learned their lessons about drinking those before a game.)
While the final score last night was a difference of 3 touchdowns, it also highlighted things that the Mustangs have improved and things that still need to improve (of course, there's always room to improve, even for the pros).
The score board from the night was:
Gators 7 0 14 7 28
Mustangs 0 21 21 7 49
If you want to read my play by play from the game, you can follow me on twitter, @momrod2000
A final thought - and this is for all coaches, everywhere - Pay attention to who is around you when you're talking game strategy. I don't think any coach would want their opponents to know if they were planning to do something a little different.
The next game for Friendswood will be Friday, September 14, 2012, at Henry Winston Stadium. The Mustangs will host the state ranked Terry Rangers. Before the game, the Wranglerettes will host a pregame Chick-Fil-A dinner in the cafeteria beginning at 5pm. Performing at the dinner will be the Wranglerettes, Drill Trainers and Fall clinic participants.
Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I am watching the game and "taking notes" by twittering 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 us and 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.
Before the game, one of my relatives told me that unless the Mustangs "roll over and play dead", the game would be an easy win for Friendswood. During the first half of the first quarter, I told her that the Mustangs did have a weakness that the Gators could exploit. Then I asked her how fast the Gators were. On the very next snap, one of the Gators went through the hole and made it to the end zone. I guess I need to remember to keep my mouth shut. It was not pleasant to see the Gators on the board first after they got stomped last week. It seemed like it took the Mustangs a while to get going, but once they did, . . . I've always said that the Mustangs improved throughout the course of a game, and we're usually more of a second half team.
Before I get into too many details, let me dole out some well deserved "atta boys". Last night, some of the players who made good things happen are; Wood, Camarillo, Longbothom, Vandersypen, Hill, Bertlesman, Williams, Montalvo, Horner, King, Dooley, Wegner, Makransky, Holle, & Simmons. And props to King for stripping the ball from the Gators after his fumble was recovered by them.
I think last night could be summed up as a game of penalties. According to my count, there were a total of 22 penalties last night - 12 for Dickinson and 10 for Friendswood. It felt like every other play there was a flag on the field. The Gators got most of their penalties in the first half, while Friendswood waited until the second half to start raking in those flags. However, Friendswood was called more than once for a kick going out of bounds without being touched. While I understand the reasoning behind that rule, I don't think it's right for a team to be penalized when their opponent watches the ball bounce out of bounds without trying to catch/stop it. But then that gets into subjective officiating, and no one wants that.
I would also say that Dickinson watched the tape from our game against Alvin, because they knew what they needed to do to get on the score board. The first half of the first quarter, I was really concerned that Dickinson would run all over the field last night. And while they did get too many big runs, our defense is better than last year. Our defense is definitely improving. (But some of those holes were still big enough to drive an 18-wheeler through.) The Mustangs still need to practice stopping the run game.
It was really nice to see the improvement in the pass coverage. That is something that has gotten under my skin for the last few years. There were a few times that our pass coverage was looking like the past, but the Gators receivers had butterfingers last night, so we didn't have to pay for those mistakes. The defense played tight on the receivers more last night than they did in games past. THANK YOU!! Camarillo did a great job with this last night!
It was interesting to watch Longbothom and Vandersypen run the ball. I'm glad we will get to watch them for more than just this season, as they are both sophomores. They are both good, but they are good in different ways. I wish I had the stats on this, but going on memory, I think the Gators sacked Wood more than the Yellowjackets did last week. However, those sacks looked less painful. I'm not sure if it was the way Wood was sacked, or if he was feeling better, or a better actor, but he seemed to get up quicker this week than last. I hope that our offensive line continues to improve in this aspect.
I haven't read the stats from last night, but I think more Mustangs got their hands on the ball last night - and with the number of times the Mustangs were in the end zone, that's a good thing. One stat that was announced last night - total yardage during the 3rd quarter (combined Gators and Mustangs) was 300+. I don't remember the exact number, but it was either 328 or 348. That was probably the longest quarter I've ever seen. I wish I knew exactly how long it was, but according to my twitter posts from last night, it was at least an hour long. And you could tell by the way the boys were playing that they were ready for it to be over (and that better not be because some one's Monster wore off. I hope they've learned their lessons about drinking those before a game.)
While the final score last night was a difference of 3 touchdowns, it also highlighted things that the Mustangs have improved and things that still need to improve (of course, there's always room to improve, even for the pros).
The score board from the night was:
Gators 7 0 14 7 28
Mustangs 0 21 21 7 49
If you want to read my play by play from the game, you can follow me on twitter, @momrod2000
A final thought - and this is for all coaches, everywhere - Pay attention to who is around you when you're talking game strategy. I don't think any coach would want their opponents to know if they were planning to do something a little different.
The next game for Friendswood will be Friday, September 14, 2012, at Henry Winston Stadium. The Mustangs will host the state ranked Terry Rangers. Before the game, the Wranglerettes will host a pregame Chick-Fil-A dinner in the cafeteria beginning at 5pm. Performing at the dinner will be the Wranglerettes, Drill Trainers and Fall clinic participants.
Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I am watching the game and "taking notes" by twittering 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 us and 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)