Last night, the Friendswood Mustangs traveled to Texas City to take on the Texas City Stingarees. The Mustangs entered the game 5-0 (2-0) and Texas City entered the game 3-2 (1-1). I think everyone expected this to be a night that Texas City sought revenge for their one point loss to the Mustangs last year that sent the Mustangs to the playoffs and forced Texas City to end their season earlier than they had hoped. Many people said that this would be the game for second place on the district. I was hoping that they were wrong, and they still may be, but it looked as though they were right.
Before I get to my thoughts on the game, let me hand out some well deserved "atta boys". Some of the players who made good things happen last night were Wood, Faulk, Faulk (yes, there were two Faulks who played well), Bertlesman, Hill, Vandersypen, Montalvo, Camarillo, and the "Brian Cushing award" goes to Longbotham.
Friendswood did not have the game they were hoping for last night. I wish I could say that our offensive line didn't play up to their usual standard, or that our defense didn't do what they needed to, and leave it at that. Both of those statements are true, but there was something else going on last night. I wish I could put my finger on it, but something was off. Vail & Wood were not in sync on all of their snaps, and it wasn't just one snap that was bobbled or low. Holes were not opened they way they usually are. Players did not block for the ball carrier they way they usually do. I'm not sure . . . Maybe there are some players who were sick; or maybe some of them pulled an all-nighter cramming for school on Thursday night (and if that's the case, shame on whoever put them in that position); maybe they didn't prepare for this game the way they should have; or maybe they came to Texas City with a chip on their shoulder (and if so, it's a good thing the Stingarees knocked it off before the Mustangs travel to The Rig in two weeks). I'm not looking to make excuses for the Mustangs. Texas City has a good football team and they played well last night. After what they did in Pearland last week, everyone expected them to come out and play hard for a full 48 minutes last night. But I wish I knew why the Mustangs weren't playing as well as they can. I'm not trying to make excuses for poor play. I'm just saying that there was something else going on as well.
Friendswood still struggles with a weak (almost nonexistent) secondary. This is a problem that seems to have gotten worse over the last few years instead of better. It took a "play" by a determined Friendswood sophomore to bring our defense to life near the end of the first quarter (maybe the beginning of the second). And they played better for the rest of the game afterward. This play led to Longbotham's "Brian Cushing award.". After being hit so that his helmet came off, Longbotham continued to play and was the only Mustang to chase down the ball carrier (I think it was one of the Foremans) to prevent a touchdown. Longbotham didn't know that there was a penalty for an illegal block that was bringing the ball back anyway. And he received a personal foul for continuing to play without a helmet. But he obviously was doing everything in his power to prevent that touchdown. I heard later, from a reliable source, that when Longbotham's helmet came off, it didn't even come unbuckled. When he went back to pick it up, all the straps were still secure. I wish I'd seen that hit. But that brings up an interesting real world application issue. Obviously, it's incredible dangerous for players to be playing without helmets. But when a helmet is knocked off during a play, what should happen? If the play continues, and the player removes himself from the action, the team who hit a player hard enough to cause that is rewarded by having one more active player on the field than it's opponent. Another player cannot be substituted in during the play, and if he could, he would not be in the right place to be effective. However, allowing the player to continue to play without the helmet puts him at risk of serious injury. So, what to do? I disagree with the ruling made last night - a personal foul (15 yard penalty) against the player who no longer has a helmet. His lack of helmet was not his fault, and with the straps still being secure while the helmet was on the ground, it would appear that he did nothing to put himself in that position. Would a personal foul penalty against the player who caused the helmet to come off be more appropriate? That would discourage players from giving those kinds of hits. But would "dirty" players "accidentally forget" to secure their helmets before a play to "draw the foul"? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Now, to the aspect of the game that should never have happened; was wrong in every way; and should not be tolerated - unfair officiating. The officiating last night was not as poor as the playoff game between Friendswood and Dawson a couple of years ago, but it was obviously biased. Waiting seconds after a player was down to blow the whistle, and then declaring a fumble long after the ball carrier was down? Watching one team repeatedly cross the line of scrimmage and leaving the flag in the ref's pocket? Allowing pass interference? Watching obvious holding and doing nothing about it? There were several times during the game that I wish we had the NFL's replay, zooming, and slow motion capabilities. If so, those officials would no longer be working in high school football. It was terrible. And what was also upsetting was our coaches reaction to the poor officiating. I know that we all try to teach our kids to respect authority, and that booing or arguing with officials is wrong. But what does it teach them when we don't stand up for them? It looked like of the of the players felt like his coaches wouldn't do it, so it was his job to make the officials aware that he was being illegally held during a play. I'm not sure what Friendswood ever did to any of the officials to cause them to blatantly dislike Friendswood, but it became obvious a few years ago, and while it has gotten better, it still shouldn't be happening at all. There is absolutely no excuse for unfair or poor officiating.
But, I must also give credit to the way the Mustangs handled the bad calls. They never gave up. They continued to play hard and work to win. It would have been very easy to throw in the towel, but they never did. Good job boys.
The next game is Friendswoo's homecoming. The Mustangs will host the Goose Creek Memorial Patriots. I am hopeful that the team will not be sidetracked by all the homecoming activities and think that becuase Goose Creek doesn't have a good record, they are not worthy of adequite preperation. The Mustangs cannot overlook the Patriots and start thinking about Dawson. The rest of the season must be taken one week and one team at a time. I'm sure that the coaches and players will work to fix whatever problems the players were struggling with last night, Let's see some real Mustang football this week.
Friendswood 7 7 7 0 21
Texas City 21 14 21 7 63
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment