Friday, October 4, 2013

Friendswood Mustangs vs. Santa Fe Indians October 4, 2013

     Tonight, the Friendswood Mustangs traveled to Santa Fe to take on the Indians.  And while Friendswood did win tonight, I have to say that the habit of playing up to the good teams and playing down to the not so good teams still exists.
     But before I get into why I say that, let me acknowledge all the things that went right.  Each week Sargent improves as a quarterback.  His decision making is getting better and he is getting braver with running the ball when the situation calls for it.  Sargent's offense doesn't give up and grinds every yard out of every play.  The kickers have really learned to use those leg muscles.  And the defense's technique is continuing to improve. 
     I have heard that there is a stomach bug going around FHS, and that could have played a factor in tonight's game (as evidenced by the player who was puking on the field), but the team did not play as well tonight as they did last week.  There were a few missed assignments tonight; not many, but a few.  There were a few missed passes, due to both the receivers and the quarterback.  There were a few missed tackles.  And there were a few emotional mistakes (resulting in flags and lost yards).  If we weren't playing Texas City (who just beat Dawson 44-14) next week, I probably wouldn't be as hard on the team after tonight's win.  But, what we saw tonight won't cut it against the Stingarees.  Nothing less than the Mustangs' best will get the job done against Texas City.  Can the Mustangs beat Texas City?  Yes.  But not if they don't focus, work hard and fix those mistakes.
     One of those mistakes - turnovers.  By my count, Friendswood lost possession of the ball three times due to fumbles.  One of those was recovered in the end zone for a touch down.  A fourth fumble was recovered by the Mustangs.  I also counted five penalties against us.  And these weren't little five yard losses, at least three of them were close enough to the goal line that they got half the distance to the goal instead of the fifteen yards that are due for those penalties.  Those mistakes have got to be fixed before next week. 
     Another mistake was incomplete passes.  Some of the passes were overthrown or thrown wide.  Some the receiver should have caught but didn't  There were also some great catches tonight (Holle in the fourth quarter).  But I have seen this offense pass better than they did this week.  Just a suggestion - the quarterback(s) should put together a backyard football game with their receivers.  Go out, throw the ball around in a place where you don't have a full stadium watching your every move or coaches watching everything. Have fun.  I bet those mistakes will fix themselves in that type of environment and you'll have a place to mentally go to if you get flustered during a game. 
     Defense - although they got the job done, tonight wasn't as good a night for them either.  They didn't penetrate the offensive line as often.  There was a missed tackle or two. There were a couple of almost interceptions.  But the defense allowed Santa Fe to complete too many passes.  I'm going to say the same thing I said last week.  Whoever has the idea that the best strategy is to play a few yards off the receivers and stop the ball once the catch is made needs to rethink his strategy.  Once the ball is in the air, both the offense and the defense have a right to try to catch that ball.  Why not go for those interceptions?  Why not bat the pass down if you know you can't catch it?  Why do you play like you're worried about pass interference calls.  Go for the ball.  How many less yards would Santa Fe's offense have if they hadn't completed those passes?  And I'm mainly talking about the second quarter. 
     Oh and special teams, I didn't forget about you.  The kickers are just getting better and better.  I would love to watch y'all warm up one day.  Can the place kickers kick a field goal from the 50?  I wouldn't be surprised.  However, all the great kicking in the world won't help if you don't stop the guy who catches that kick.  One kick was brought out approximately 50 yards.  That is something the Mustangs of old would do.  Not the new and improved Mustangs. 
     I know I sound harsh after a win.  And I don't mean to sound harsh.  I just know that Texas City will be in town for homecoming next week and I do NOT want to walk out of the homecoming game having just been handed our first loss in district play.  I wouldn't bother pointing out all this stuff if I didn't believe in the Friendswood Mustangs.  I know you can do it.  I have faith that this team could play in Dallas in December if they really want it.  Remember, drive, determination, heart, focus and emotion.  Fix your mistakes.  Do those things and you could be handing Texas City their first loss of the season next week.  I know it's homecoming, but don't get caught up in all the hoopla and festivities.  If you lose that focus for one second, next Friday won't be pretty.
     This week's "attaboys" go to Sargent, Longbotham, Vandersypen, White, Makransky, Holle, Bertlesman, Lockwood, Williams, Faulk, Faulk, Stewart, Thurman, the entire o-line, Lowe, and Robinson.
     Again, I feel like I'm being really harsh on a team that just won.  And I promise, I don't mean to be overly harsh.  I've seen some great football from our boys in blue this year.  I believe this team is better than the teams we've had the past few years.  But I know how tough this district is, and I know that for the season to have a happy ending, the team must continue to improve every single week.  No going backwards.  "Keep moving forward"; "Just keep swimming" or whatever mantra you use to keep motivated. 
     It was great to hear the fans cheering tonight.  We filled the visitor's side of the Santa Fe stadium.  I hope we, as fans, will do a better job cheering for the team at home next week than we did at the last home game. 
     The final score for tonight's game was Friendswood 34 - Santa Fe 16

     Next week, Texas City will be in Friendswood for Friendswood's homecoming game.  Kickoff will be at 7pm at Henry Winston Stadium on Friday, October 11, 2013.

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