FRIENDSWOOD — Clear Creek and Friendswood entered their District 24-6A contest tied atop the league leaderboard with Dickinson at 3-0. The Wildcats took advantage of several turnovers and great field position to pull off a solid 48-21 victory.

The first quarter was an expected battle as both teams scored a touchdown.

Creek got on the board first when Landon Etzel weaved his way through Friendswood's special teams for an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown with 9:02 left in the opening stanza.

The Mustangs answered when QB Brandon Sargent hit Reed Roaher for a 19-yard scoring strike. The PAT by Blake King tied up the game 7-7.

But it would be the second quarter that sparked the Wildcats to score 20 unanswered points for a 27-7 halftime lead.

A fumble at mid-field led to a Clear Creek 44-yard field goal early in the second quarter for a 10-7 lead.

Clear Creek's defense held the Mustangs on downs which led to a 61-yard scoring drive capped off by a 9-yard TD pass from Chase Hildreth to WR Brandon Hower to go up 17-7.

On Friendswood's next possession, Clear Creek's CB Colby Burton picked off a Friendswood pass at mid-field and returned it to the Mustangs 3-yard line.

Click to enlarge.

GREAT CATCH - Friendswood receiver Branson Toney (19) made a great catch from QB Brandon Sargent for a 33-yard touchdown against Clear Creek. This was the final score for the Mustangs as the Wildcats handed Friendswood their first district loss 48-21.

The Mustangs face undefeated Dickinson (7-0, 4-0) on Friday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m. in Dickinson. (Photo by Bob Brown)

Three plays later, Hildreth hit Etzel on a 5-yard scoring toss for a 24-7 advantage.

Later in the second, Clear Creek would add three more points on a 28-yard field goal by Eric Baughman.

Both teams score one touchdown in the third period as Friendswood scored first on a 3-yard run by RB Sam Longbotham to close the gap to 27-14. The drive covered 58 yards in three plays and 52 seconds.

The big gainer was a 54-yard run by Casey Thurman followed by Longbotham's short scoring run.

But the Wildcats push ahead with a 14-yard run by Jayden Woodson to stretch the lead to 34-14. 

Clear Creek took over the rest of the game as they scored on a 1-yard run by Austin Mathews and a 24-yard scoring pass from Hildreth to Etzel.

Sandwiched in between those scores was a 33-yard touchdown pass from Sargent to Branson Toney with 9:38 left in the contest.

Friendswood actually had more yardage with 368 total yards compared to 324 for Creek, but the turnover gave the Wildcats a short field.

Sargent was 13-of-25 for 139 yards and two TDs with one INT.

Longbotham had 120 yards on 22 totes and one score. Longbotham is the district's second-leading rusher with 1,021 on 162 carries and four TDs.

Joey Crespo had six catches for 53 yards while Toney had two grabs for 36 yards and one TD. Roaher had one catch for 19 yards and a score.

Friendswood will travel to Dickinson on Friday, October 24 to face the Gators at 7:00 p.m. Dickinson is 7-0 on the season and 4-0 in district. They are tied with Clear Creek with the league lead.