Friendswood crowned District 24-4A champions

November 9, 2010

FRIENDSWOOD — Friendswood head coach Steve Van Meter wanted to see his gridiron warriors become sole possessors of the District 24-4A title this season. With one league loss and Pearland Dawson needing a win over Manvel to get a share of the title, the veteran coach didn't want to share any part of the league trophy.

The Mustangs took care of their business with a hard-fought 35-28 victory over the Stingarees while Manvel knocked off Dawson in overtime leaving Friendswood all alone at the top this season. Friendswood won sole possession of the league title back in 2001.

Texas City (5-5, 3-3) stood between Friendswood and the district title, but Van Meter knew it wasn't going to be easy even after Santa Fe blew out the Stingarees 42-0 the previous week.

"Texas City and Friendswood have always battle one another and I knew that coach Finn would have his team ready as they have a lot of pride," Van Meter said.

And he was right as the Stings were not going to lay down despite Friendswood jumping out to a very easy 17-0 lead with 3:34 left in the opening period.

It was almost too easy as quarterback Pete Maetzold hooked up Matt Kennemer for an 11-yard touchdown strike and then found Jordan Bolton open on a beautiful pass across the middle of the field covering 29-yards for another quick score. Add a 38-yard field goal by Tyler Dement and it appeared that the blowout was in motion.

However, Texas City found their momentum after Joe Johnson scored on a sensational 23-yard scoring run to cut the lead to 17-7.

But Friendswood answered with a 6-yard scoring toss from Maetzold to Jonathan Johnson to up the lead to 24-7 with 6:48 remaining before intermission.

It took less than a minute for Texas City to answer with the old wrap around handoff to Deshaun Rawls who found himself all alone on his way to a 54-yard scoring jaunt to make the score 24-14.

However, Friendswood found a way to add three more points on the board after Dement hit a 36-yard field with only 37 seconds left in the first half giving the 'Stangs a comfortable 27-14 lead. Or so they thought.

The Stings totally dominated the third quarter and the first of the fourth period with 14 unanswered points to take a 28-27 lead with 11:05 left in the game.

However, Friendswood didn't panic and the Mustangs went on a 14-play, 71-yard drive that ate up almost five minutes on the clock. Johnson scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 18-yard run to the right side. Maetzold hit Trevor Stevens on the two-point conversion to give the Mustangs a seven-point lead 35-28.

“J.J. was running so well, and he and Pete were the two best athletes on the field,” Van Meter said. “We said, ‘Let’s do something to make sure the ball stays in their hands.’ That ended up working out for us.”

Texas City couldn’t stop Friendswood’s offense. The Mustangs racked up 485 total yards, including 238 on the ground. Johnson had 193 yards rushing, while Maetzold added 247 through the air and 45 on the ground.

The receiving corps of Bolton (71 yards), Kennemer (67) and Keith Canada (42) were the leading receivers.

Friendswood will take the field on Thursday, November 11 at Angleton ISD Stadium to face the Richmond Foster Falcons (6-4) at 7:00 p.m.

If you can't attend the game - go to: www.reporternewssports.com for the Live Chat/Blog to get the play-by-play action.

Top