NEDERLAND -- Double overtime obviously has to be life's only appropriate existence for a Nederland-Friendswood game. The two look-alikes repeated last year's insanity Friday night.

You couldn't blame the Bulldogs offense for looking a bit fresher than the Mustangs' attack unit by the second extra session. Because it seemed as if Friendswood's offense had stayed on the field all night.

This memorable Friday Night Experience ended with Dogs defender Jace Stukey stripping the ball free from Mustangs quarterback Cory Benavides and fellow NHS soph Dravannti Johnson recovering the fumble to preserve a 34-27 Bulldogs victory that could have continued until Saturday morning's cartoons shows.

About 7,000 saw a real game of keep-away as Friendswood clearly won every statistic except the only important one. The Mustangs thoroughly dominated possession time, 29:09-18:51; first downs, 24-17; rushing yards, 190-165; passing yards, 272-218; and fewer turnovers, 3-2.

That's quite acceptable for Nederland's Larry Neumann who saw both teams end the night with identical records of 2-2. That's the stat Neumann cared about the most, as his young squad wrapped up its preparations for the 2005 District 20-4A race.

Nederland really could have surrendered in this one without a determined will to win from Ron Mohica and Micah Mosley, a pair of leaders who stepped up to be counted.

Making his season debut, the junior tailback Mosley practically watched the entire first half but still led all rushers with 24 carries for 117 yards and a five-yard scoring run in overtime.

This did not constitute Mosley at his all-time best, but that's quite understandable, because he had not played all season due to a jaw fracture.

The Nederland running star fumbled three times and did not feel real good about it afterwards, either. Especially in the last two minutes of regulation when Dogs teammate James Law had to recover a Mosley fumble to keep Nederland's victory chances alive.

Moments later, Clint Whitaker booted a 21-yard field goal true as the 48 regulation minutes expired.

By then, coaches Neumann of Nederland and Friendswood's Steve Van Meter understandably could smile at one another and pat each other on the back as they met at midfield with the officials to cover their "annual" overtime arrangements.

"We said to each other, 'this is unbelievable'," Neumann said. "We can't play a regular game against each other. It's a great rivalry and I hope we're able to continue it in future years."

And so they kept on playing, under NCAA overtime rules.... just as they did when Friendswood prevailed 32-29 in two extra sessions last year.

Nederland had to answer Friendswood's touchdown to continue at 27-all after the first OT. Friendswood had to do the same in the second OT. When Stukey finally stripped the ball from Benavides, the victory finally belonged to Nederland.

It may have been appropriate that junior quarterback Alex Moshier sneaked home for the winning touchdown in this affair, capping a 25-yard, eight-play series in Big Ned's second overtime possession.

Moshier completed 9 of 19 passes for 218 yards and two touchdown passes. Neumann called it Moshier's biggest game to date.

"Obviously that was the biggest game of his career," Neumann said. "To keep his poise like he did in that situation was outstanding."

Moshier and Clint Whitaker truly turned the early proceedings in Nederland's favor with a terrific play call early in the second quarter.

After Joe Jordan forced a Benavides fumble to the waiting mitts of NHS defensive tackle Conner Brennan, Moshier went for broke on the first play from Nederland's 22. Whitaker hauled it in at Friendswood's 47 and dashed away from Mustangs' corner Jared Myrick on a 78-yard scoring play for a 9-0 lead.

That's fine but this Friendswood team would not go away easily. They responded with 17 unanswered points for an eight-point lead by deep into the third quarter.

Benavides completed 23 of 33 for 272 yards and added 18 rushes for 73 yards with his elusive feet. He ran 33 yards for a third-quarter touchdown on a keeper as a few NHS defenders ran into each other, trying to catch him.

Moshier responded on the very next possession with a 37-yard scoring toss to Garrett Butler, who escaped Myrick on the Nederland sideline. When Moshier and Danny Nguyen hooked up on a successful two-point conversion toss, the teams had reached a 17-17 stalemate with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

Poor tackling practically spelled fourth-quarter doom for the hosts, but the Nederland defense had an iron-clad alibi at that point. The Dogs' defenders had remained on the field all night.

Mohica and company refused to wilt midway in the fourth quarter, forcing Friendswood kicker C.J. Stam to settle on a 36-yard field goal for a 20-17 Mustangs lead with 2:47 to play.

Mohica could have sat out this night. He said that his parents would have preferred that option because his shoulder would hurt through much of the game.

"I knew I needed to come back and play this game for the team," he said. "We worked real hard for this win."