Neighborhood rivalry moves up a notch
If you were wondering about the magnitude of Saturday's Friendswood-Dawson football game, the initial site of choice for the Region III-4A championship was Reliant Stadium.
"Then we wanted Rice Stadium, but it was already taken by Katy ISD because it had two schools still playing," Dawson head coach Eric Wells said. "Deer Park wasn't available this weekend, and at Clear Creek, the fans are just right on top of the field, and we didn't want that.
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"I don't know if that stadium could have held all the people that will be there, anyway. Plus, Steve (Van Meter) and myself both liked North Shore. So that was the choice. It's a great facility."
Thus, two schools less than 10 miles apart will venture beyond the Houston Ship Channel to decide the bragging rights to FM 518, and more importantly, lay claim a state semifinal berth, probably against the state's No. 1-ranked team, Austin Lake Travis.
The Eagles (11-2) bring a six-game winning streak into the contest while Friendswood (10-3) has won seven in a row.
The last time Dawson lost was a 21-6 decision to Friendswood in October. The last time Friendswood was beaten was the week before it played Dawson.
"I'd like to see this develop into a good rivalry," Mustang head coach Van Meter said. "I hope it will. I definitely believe it will be a great atmosphere on Saturday."
Van Meter is certain Friendswood will see a much different and much improved football team when the Mustangs line up against the Eagles for a second time.
"I think they're significantly better," he said. "The first time we played them, Darian Lazard had a bad toe and they had some sickness that week where their kids didn't practice.
"I think they were pretty generic in their game plan against us. They pretty much abandoned their running game that night. Now, they seem to have gone to a more power-oriented attack."
Wells couldn't disagree with that assessment.
"We were so ineffective on offense, but our defense played well," he said. "We had the flu and injuries and the offense played terrible. Darian's thrown two interceptions all year, and both of them were in that game.
"One was a tipped ball and the other was a missed route. But the bottom line was we didn't deserve to win that game and we didn't."
Since that midseason meeting, there's no question both teams are dramatically improved on both sides of the ball.
"On defense, it's taken our kids a while to understand their role," Van Meter said. "We switched from an even front to an odd front, but with that said, defense is 80 percent emotion and mentality more than scheme.
"It's how you run with your hair on fire. All defensive schemes are solid. It all boils down to effort and intensity."
Even on film, Wells says the Mustangs look imposing.
"Their size is unbelievable," he said. "Just sheer physical size, they'll be the biggest team I've played in 10 years. It seems like everybody's 6-1, 6-4, 6-5 on their defense. I think they only have two players under six feet tall.
"We have to be able to control the ball against them. You know, they weren't healthy as well when we played them the first time. Brant Liufau was out that game, and that's when they moved Beau Barnes to the outside. He's one of the best active defensive players around."
Dawson enters the game off a 27-20 win over Crosby while Friendswood cruised to a surprisingly easy 44-22 victory over Beaumont Central.
"That's maybe the best half of football we've played all year," Van Meter said of his team's 37-3 halftime lead on the Jaguars. "As far as emotion and intensity, I don't think we've been that fired up all year.
"We've got to bring that same stuff this week. It's going to come down to blocking and tackling. Can we contain Lazard and their passing game? What can they do to stop Pete Maetzold (quarterback) and (running back) Andrew Cole?
"Turnovers were a big part of our last game against them. I didn't think we played well on offense, just well enough to win."
Bad weather could hamper both teams workout plans this week.
"It'll be nice for Friendswood to walk right out to their field from the fieldhouse during their athletic period and practice," Wells said. "If it rains a lot, we'll go to The Rig. It's not something that's complicated, it's just time consuming. By the time it's done, it's 40 minutes later."
Van Meter said he'll do his best to keep everything normal.
"If it rains, then it'll be uncomfortable," he said. "But if it's just misty or a light rain, we can keep the balls dry. We do have the luxury of an artificial turf.
"We'll just try to have our usual Tuesday through Friday workouts and film on Monday."
Whatever transpires during the week, Wells is just glad to be suiting up one more time on Saturday.
"I think this could be a great rivalry, like Texas City and La Marque or what used to be Pearland and Friendswood," he said. "A lot of these kids know each other.
"There will be a big crowd and a lot of excitement. It's great to be playing Friendswood. But when you're playing in December, I don't think it matters who you put on the other side of the ball."
Ted Dunnam, Houston Community Newspapers, Sports Editor, Pearland/Friendswood Journals