FRIENDSWOOD — The Mustangs got the bitter taste out of their collective mouths.
After last week’s disappointing loss to Brazoswood, Friendswood put together its most complete game of the season on Friday, both offensively and defensively, to run Nederland out of Henry Winston Stadium, 42-7.
And it came at a good time. District 24-4A kicks off next week, and the Mustangs travel to always-tough Texas City.
“We wanted to get that feeling of losing to go away,” Friendswood coach Steve Van Meter said. “We were better on defense, on offense, and left no doubt who was the better team. That’s how you want to go into district because we got a tough run coming up.”
Andrew Cole scored three times and rushed for 131 yards to lead the Mustang offense to six touchdowns and 435 total yards — 224 rushing and 211 passing.
The Friendswood defense dominated all evening. The unit smothered the Bulldogs offense, limiting Nederland to a jaw-dropping 62 total yards, including -18 yards on the ground.
The Mustangs were a bit fortunate, too. The Bulldogs, without their No. 1 and No. 2 quarterbacks due to an injury and the flu, made things easy for the Friendswood defense. Nederland fumbled seven times in the first half and lost two.
“I know (Nederland) was struggling, and you never like to see that,” Van Meter said. “But I really thought our defense played well. They had some enthusiasm and just played really solid.”
Both turnovers set up Mustang touchdowns.
Kyle Brady coughed up an apparent first down on the Bulldogs’ first drive, and Friendswood, set up with great field position at the Nederland 37, scored five plays later. Quarterback Peter Maetzold connected with Jonathan Johnson on a screen pass for 15 yards.
Nederland’s second turnover came on a kickoff with 1:40 left in the second half just after Andrew Cole ran 31 yards for his first touchdown. Maetzold rolled out and found Cole wide open in the flat, and the running back sprinted 17 yards to the front pylon for a 28-0 lead.
“This just feels great,” Cole said. “We needed this. We practiced so hard this past week because we wanted to play better.”
Beau Barnes and Cruz Hernandez recovered the fumbles for the Mustangs. Barnes had several good plays on the night, including a pair of tackles for a loss and a pass breakup.
Sam Giamfortone added the other score in the first half, a 15-yard rumble on a fourth-and-1 play.
Friendswood opened the second half with its longest drive of the night. Maetzold found Austin Ratcliff in the back of the end zone to cap a 78-yard drive.
Maetzold finished with 170 yards passing, completing 12-of-22 passes. Cole put the finishing touches on the game when he ran in from 4 yards late in the third quarter.
“I thought Andrew ran with great authority,” Van Meter said. “He stopped going from side-to-side and went north-south. That’s what you want to see.”
