Mustangs continue dominance over Dayton 36-33

September 8, 2009

   

DAYTON — Friendswood hosted Dayton last year when the Broncos were ranked No. 1 and Friendswood was No. 2. The result was a bronco-busting 42-21 lopsided Friendswood win.

In 2009 - Dayton was ranked No. 3 and Friendswood was No. 4 -- but the outcome was the same -- a clear win by the Mustangs 36-33 despite the misleading final score.

Friendswood has beaten Dayton seven straight times dating back to 2000 - which includes playoffs and regular season games.

Friendswood led 36-20 with less than three minutes left in the game, but the Broncos managed to score on a 14-yard run with 2:43 left in the game and a 17-yard pass with 1:00 showing on the clock to narrow the final score to 36-33.

While the end of the game brought some anxiety -- the bottom line is that the Mustangs ran up 352 yards and 17 first downs on last year' 4A Division II state finalists. Of course - the Mustangs weren't too shabby themselves since they are the defending 4A Division I Region III champions and state semifinals.

The biggest question entering the season was who was going to replace Friendswood's all-time leading passer Jacob Karam (Texas Tech) and the star-studded receivers?

Answer? Junior quarterback Pete Maetzold who passed his first major test against a very good football team. The new signal-caller hit 15-of-25 passing for 242 yards and three touchdowns. But he also suffered three interceptions.

"We played well on offense in certain situations," head coach Steve Van Meter said. "However, when you have five turnovers it’s hard to say that we played a good offensive game. We did make big plays at the right times. Pete Maetzold, in his first varsity start, played well in the first half. His second half was solid except for the turnovers."

Despite the first-game miscues - Maetzold showed a lot of poise and potential in leading the offense to a great win. He also has a good stable of receivers.

Maetzold hooked up with Chris O'Bryan for a 27-yard scoring pass. He found Austin Ratcliff open for a 37-yard scoring toss. Maetzold flipped a short pass to running back Andrew Cole who scampered to the end zone for a 31-yard scoring play. Add Sam Giamfortone's three-yard run to put the Mustangs first on the scoreboard and you have a solid 28-14 lead with 6:26 left in the third quarter.

Friendswood was ahead 21-14 at intermission.

Dayton closed the gap to 28-20 at the 2:24 mark of the third period, but Friendswood added another score on a 20-yard scoring dash by Cole with 8:12 left in the game.

"We held Dayton to 260 yards of total offense," Van Meter pointed out. "This is a team that has averaged 460 yards per offense. Brant Liufu, Sam Giamafortone, Beau Barnes, and Hunter McAfee all had outstanding games."

Cole led the ground attack for the Mustangs with 20 carries for 74 yards and one score. Austin Ratcliff had five catches for 57 yards and one TD.

Friendswood will travel to Freeport on Friday, September 11 to face Brazoswood at 7:00 p.m. at Hopper Stadium.

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