On Friday, November 4, 2016, the Friendswood Mustangs hosted the Alvin Yellowjackets for the final regular season game of the 2016 football season. Alvin was already out of the playoff picture. For Friendswood, this game would determine if the team would be playing their first playoff game at home or away.
This game was senior recognition for Friendswood and to the best of my knowledge, all the senior football players got to play at some point during the game.
To start the game, Alvin won the toss and elected to receive the kickoff. With their first possession, Alvin went 3 & out thanks, in part, to Yurachek, & Follis. The punt was brought across the 50 and into Alvin territory by Halata. Friendswood didn't get off to the quick start the offense normally does, taking 6 plays to reach the end zone. While the offense was not as explosive as they were earlier in the season, the blocking for this game was much improved over games past. Several times in my notes I complimented Whitaker, Swaney, Bell, & Blackburn on their blocking. There were also some members of the defense who had a great night. Ford tipped a punt and nearly got his hands on a second punt. Hermes had another interception.
During most games, the offense is the unit that gets all the glory because they are the ones putting points on the scoreboard. This week, I think the defense deserves more recognition. If you've read my blog before, you know that I don't keep up with stats. If you're interested in stats, I would recommend you check out http://www.chron.com/sports/highschool/ You can search by team, player, sport, year or other filters to see plenty of stats. I haven't seen a breakdown, but I think that Alvin earned less than 100 yards total during the first half. Friendswood's defense knew exactly how to handle Alvin's offensive style. In fact, if you took out kick returns, their total yards in the first half would probably be around 50.
During the second half, seniors who don't normally play got their turn under the Friday Night Lights. Those seniors whose names made it into my notes during the last half of the game were Blackburn, Garza, Mueller, Iniguez, Riggs, Scott, Slaughter, Lucarelli, and Martinez. I know there are other seniors who played during this time, but those are the names I noted for one thing or another.
The boxscore for the game was
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q FINAL
Alvin Yellowjackets 0 0 0 7 7
Friendswood Mustangs 17 17 0 3 37
This week, several players earned a pat on the back. In addition to the senior mentioned above, this week's atta-boys go to: Yuracheck, Follis, Halata, Bell, Page, Hall, Boddie, Horman, Hermes, Willis, Ford, Blackburn, Page, Nemecheck, Dobard, Whitaker, Lynch, Nickerson, Roher, Redding, Karam, Dobard, & Williamson.
Friendswood (7-2, 5-2) will have huge test after huge test from here on out. Playoffs start this week. There will be no easy weeks and the first game is against last year's 5A D1 State Champs, George Ranch (7-4, 4-2). These two teams have faced other twice, each ending in favor of the home team. Friendswood is considered to be the underdog in this game - a position they are very familiar with. For at least the last 2 years Friendswood was expected to lose the first game in the playoffs. Both were great games that didn't turn out the way the sports "authorities" expected. Hopefully this will be true again this year.
This game will be played at Henry Winston Stadium on Friday, November 11, 2016. Kickoff will be at 7pm. The stadium will open at 5:00pm for season ticket holders who have purchased a ticket for this game. All other ticket holders will be able to enter the stadium at 5:30pm. FHS CTE will host a pregame dinner of Joe's BBQ for $10/person. Friendswood hasn't hosted a playoff game in 7 years and I hope the stadium is just as packed as it always is.
Seniors - From here on out, you are not guaranteed next week. Play your heart out, leave it all on the field, and say your prayers that you get another week of playing the game you love.
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