Goose Creek Memorial vs. Friendswood - October 19, 2012

Tonight, the 5-1 (2-1) Friendswood Mustangs celebrated their homecoming and hosted the Goose Creek Memorial Patriots 3-2 (1-2). The was the first ever meeting between the two schools.

Homecoming activities first - The Homecoming Queen is Jillian Bergeson. The Football Sweetheart is Anna Griffith. Anna received a standing ovation when she was named Football Sweetheart, and anyone who knows her, or knows of her, will know why.

My first thought when I saw the team tonight, even before the kick off, was that the team was in the black pants again. I have said from the first time I saw the team wearing black pants - the blue and black uniforms are bad juju. And while we did win tonight, there were several aspects of the game that need work. I'm not sure if I didn't notice before because of the style of play we've been facing, or if this is a problem that is getting worse instead of better.

Before I get into all the details, let me hand out some props to some of the players who made good things happen tonight. Wood, Montalvo, Williams, Dooley, Bertlesman, Vandersyphen, Longbotham, Hill, Vail, Camarillo, Alexander, King, Wenzel, and Langston.

The Mustang offense played well most of the time tonight, but I think our coaches need to sit down and come up with a plan B, C, D, E & Plan F. Having 3 of the top rushers in the district on your sideline, and with the news that Wood made over the first few games of the season means that everyone knows how to stop our offense. If the O-Line can't open holes for Wood, and the ball carriers can't get around the opponents-D-line, our offense is going no where. Wood is getting better at the passing game, but he's not consistently accurate enough to depend upon that aspect of the game. Wood has earned a majority of his yards by running up the middle, then moving to the outside. That strategy isn't working anymore. Wood is a great athlete, he is agile, faster than many other players and can jump over obstacles, but he can't make a hole to run through. He needs the rest of the offense to block for him and create the necessary holes. That actually goes for anyone who's carrying the ball. Longbotham has become the little engine that could. I don't think the boy knows how to stop; and that's a good thing. Vandersyphen is one of the most agile players I've seen. But none of them can win alone. Our offense needs to work on becoming more diverse. That said, tonight, they did what had to be done to win the game. There was one trick play that worked (we haven't seen many trick plays this season). Wood pass the ball (laterally) to Williams, who passed it back to Wood. They passed the ball almost the width of the field each time. Wood was able to make it to the end zone, but a penalty called the play back.

There were too many penalties tonight as well. I think our team was get frustrated. I know it's hard to stay calm when things aren't going well, but you have to. That's when mistakes are made.

Now to the Mustangs inconsistent defense. For as long as I can remember, our defense has struggled to defend against the pass, and it's an issue that seems to be getting worse instead of better. It seems that the strategy is to be sure to give the opponent as much room as possible to catch the pass, then try to stop him from running to the end zone.  This is a stupid strategy, for many reasons.  How many first downs and yards has the team given up by doing this?  The answer is too many.  And how many points have been given up, I don't even want to count.  I understand wanting to prevent pass interference calls, however, . . . .  At one point this evening, One of the Mustangs who was lined up to defend a receiver ran away from the receiver toward the quarterback.  This left 1 Mustang to defend against 2 receivers.  I think anyone can see this problem with this set up.  We're just lucky that the pass was dropped.  And if he thought that the Patriots were going to run the ball, he needs more practice at reading an offense.  I think it was fairly obvious that the Patriots were going to pass the ball.  Camarillo usually does the best job of all the Mustangs at defending against the pass, but . . . .  And Camarillo and Longbotham both do a great job of getting to the receiver after he has the ball, but again; but . . . .

I do however, need to give props to Dooley for recovering 2 fumbles tonight.  And props to everyone who helped make those fumbles happen.

How many interceptions have the Mustangs caught this year?  How does that compare to years past?  How many opportunities did the Mustangs have for an interception?  And hoe many of those opportunities did a player make the attempt?  These number would be very telling.

If they don't already do it, the coaches need to go over the game film with the players.  I think they all would be surprised if they paused and measured just how open the receivers are.  That kind of defense will get crushed at The Rig next week. 

Dawson is not going to drop passes all night long.  Neither are they going to miss passes.  Dawson is ranked #1 in the state for a reason, and it's not because the don't take advantage of every opportunity given by their opponents.  You can bet that Dawson will make Friendswood pay for every mistake they make, whether it's a mistake in execution or strategy.  And the one thing I do not want to listen to all night next week is that screaming Eagle.  Last year, that eagle screeched every time Dawson scored or earned a first down.  That was like fingernails on a chalkboard and we heard it way too many times last year.  I truly hope that the players and coaches do everything necessary to shut that thing up,  Or better yet, just make sure it doesn't make any noise all night long.
I will be at The Rig cheering for the Mustangs next week.  Will you?

Tonights boxscore
Goose Creek     0     7     0     0     7
Friendswood     0     14   0     10   24