The Mule Fan

MONDAY,SEPTEMBER 8,2008


Laredo United game changed to Thursday at 7:00!!!


Be sure to scroll down for a new feature this week-A section that will allow Mules fans to get to know some of our assistant coaches on a more personal basis.




LOOKING BACK: Clark 24, Heights 17




Alamo Heights continued its rough non-district campaign with a matchup against another highly ranked 5-A opponent. Coming into the game, the Cougars were ranked 6th locally among San Antonio area 5-A teams. The site of Game 2 was Farris Stadium on 1604. Again, this is a shared field and necessitated a Thursday game. For the rest of the season, we're finally playing under Friday Night Lights.


The traditionally late-arriving '09 crowd actually was very smart this week as the visitors side faced the sun and wasn't shaded until shortly after kickoff. A nice crowd ventured out of the bubble (clearly armed with GPS systems and gently used maps) to the Thursday night game "way out there." Actually, were it not for the new upscale Shops at La Cantera (anchored by Neiman-Marcus, of course), it's very possible the many Mule moms might not have known that IH10 and Loop 1604 actually do intersect on the NW side of town. Look, that's what people around town think about the '09ers--we know its not entirely true!! Now that The Mule Fan has likely cut our readership by 50%, we'll move on to the game.


The Mules took the kickoff in the first quarter and traded possessions with Clark, neither team moving the ball extremely well--the two tough defenses battling toe-to-toe. The highlight of the quarter was a 17 yard catch by John Cabell and a missed 32 yard Cougar fied goal that appeared to have more distance towards the nightime sky than it did towards the goal post. The first quarter ended with the Mules at the Cougars 34 after a 15 yard reception by Kyle Flores.


In the second quarter, your Mules appeared to take control of the game (Oh, if they'd only ended the game at halftime). On the first drive, the offensive line gave a nice surge (pun intended) for Sergio to run it in from the 7 for a 7-0 Mules lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Carter Thurmond let the Cougars know that sophmores can play football too as he put a big hit on the Cougars kick returner. The Cougars drive continued until the Mules defense forced a fumble, recovered by #5, senior Terry Andersen. The Mules again drove, getting great protection from the o-line and following a great catch by Andrew Richter, Senior Andrew Bailey split the uprights for a 36 yard field goal with 7:12 left in the half.


On the next Cougar drive, Jr QB Hayden Greenbauer overthrew his receiver but did not overthrow the Mules Carter Thurmond who intercepted the pass and made a nice 38 yard return of the pick....boy, were Big Carter and Sharon happy! On the first play from scrimmage, Sr QB Drew Allen showed the Cougars what Bob Stoops saw as the dropped back to pass and then sprinted to the end zone for 28 yards and a Mules TD. Allen appeared to reach the end zone so quickly his receivers hadn't even finished their routes. Mules 17, Cougars 0.


Your Mule Fan writers considered stopping here and you may stop your reading of this "Looking Back" section too and , instead, skip down to the Looking Ahead, Interview and other sections. The rest of this "Looking Back" section should not be read by pregnant women , the elderly, people with back pain or arthritis or others with a weak stomach--though the authors will focus on the many positives.


After a Mitchell Dan pick (see, there are positives), the Mules drive stalled and the Mules gave the ball back to the Cougars. The turning point of the game may have been the injury to Senior Collin Bibb. Bibb's leadership on and off the field is evident and when he went down, concern spread in the stands. The Mules defense, which to a man played awesome to that point, allowed the Cougars to put together a 1:00 drive and kick a 38 yard field goal as time expired in the half, with the Mules up 17-3.


When the Mules returned to the field, Bibb's ankle was taped but everyone else appeared healthy. Clark QB Greenbauer and RB Tilghman quickly led the Cougars down the field for a score with just under 10 minutes remaining...Mules still up 7 but something doesn't feel right here. The Cougars got the ball back again and quickly drove with the same duo for another score---17-17 with only 4 minutes gone in the 3rd quarter.


That's when the Mules coaches and team huddled and talked before the ensuing kickoff. Not sure what was said but our band suddenly played very loudly at that point, presumably to muffle the "conversation" going on directly below the Mules fans. Whatever was said, the players heard, as from that point on, the Mules calmed down. For the rest of the game, AH played good offense and defense save for a few plays, Andersen picked up the kickoff return duties for the injured Bibb, the defensive line tightened, the offensive line gave Allen time, the punting game was terrific and Mike Warren reminded everyone that he plays a mean defense as his stick to end the 3rd quarter was the hit of the game.


In the fourth, after an unfortunate turnover, the Cougar QB ran it in from the 2 for his 3rd TD of the game and a 24-17 lead. However, our Mules have heart and they were not done. Taking the ball with two minutes left, the Mules seemed determined to drive the field--and almost did. With the fans on their feet (even us old folks, not just the students), the Mules converted two fourth downs, the first to John Cabell and the second to Trevor Lovelady. The Mules took several shots into the end zone but couldn't bring one down before time expired.





LOOKING AHEAD: Laredo United





Next up for our Mules are the Laredo United Longhorns. In case any of you have forgotten, there's a real nice stadium right off of Broadway that hasn't been used for high school football since last November. WELL LA FONDA GET READY---OUR MULES ARE COMING HOME! Don't forget about the road work on Castano and plan your drive accordingly. United apparently brings a fan base with them when they travel to the S.A. area. And, you know that our side of the stands will be filled up as we spread the word...it's home opener time in Alamo Heights.




Something's gonna give here as our 0-2 Mules face a very talented 0-2 Longhorn squad. Don't let records deceive you, both of these clubs had opportunities to win their second game after losing openers to talented 5-A teams. United has played two home games and let's hope that as they hit the long, lonely trail of IH35 between Laredo and San Antonio, they doze off and forget what awaits them. This should be a fun week for our boys as they prepare for the excitement of playing at home (most of them for the first time in a varsity jersey), though the coaching staff will certainly keep them focused on Mules football and working on the minor adjustments needed to move forward. Speaking of jerseys, don't be confused when you see our sidelines as the Mules will roll out the brand new blue home jerseys which supposedly are a shade of blue that Pablo Picasso didn't know even existed--we'll be the judge of that.




Laredo lost its first game to Stevens(a talented San Antonio 5-A school) by a score of 14-0 in a game delayed by lightning that showcased a tough United defense. But for 3 turnovers by Laredo, the Longhorns could've won that ballgame, which was played in the rain. This past weekend, United lost to Corpus Christi Ray 25-19. United is projected second in the pre-season 29-5A and returns 10 starters from a team that was 8-0 in their district in 2007 and DI 5A bi-district finalists. Three returning receivers accounted for 104 catches and four defenders accounted for 140 tackles.




INJURY UPDATE:




Our thoughts are with sophmore JV quarterback Steven Elder and his family as Elder sustained and injury in the JV Stony Point season opener. Elder is out for the season but this tough QB will certainly work hard in the off season as he prepares to continue the string of talented quarterbacks at Heights. Not all of you know just how important the JV boys are in preparing the varsity for upcoming games by running scout on both offense and defense. Get well soon Steven.



Out thoughts are also with Junior Clark Hudnall who was injured during the late summer practices. Hudnall has had a series of injuries but Mules fans hope he recovers during the year as it is anticipated he will be among the top receivers during his senior year. Junior Phillip Massari continues his recovery and hopes to be back for a portion of the Mules District play.



Varsity Co-Captain Collin Bibb status is described in this week's comments from Coach Byrd (read on).

A Few Words with the Head Coach of the Mules – Don Byrd
September 6, 2008

The Mule Fan: You had to be pleased with the way your team played in the first half of the Clark game. Clark seemed to make some adjustments at halftime, came back and grabbed the momentum early in the second half, particularly with their running attack. Then as they often do, the game had some big plays and some turnovers. What was the most important adjustment they made to spring their running game loose?

Coach Byrd: I’m not so sure it was their adjustment. I know we had some injuries and some personnel changes at that time both offensively and defensively and it happened to be in areas where we’re kind of thin. So when we made some changes we went from very good football players to some inexperienced ones. I’m not saying they’re bad, just inexperienced and it hurt us on both sides of the ball. Same with the kicking game. We had to go with some people that haven’t been in those situations and that’s just because it’s the early part of the season. We’re young and everybody out there is gaining experience. But then when you have an injury or something causes you to move some personnel, now you’re putting in a brand new person who hasn’t been in those situations. They grew up and learned a lot. We learned a lot about some things but that’s basically the situation to me. It wasn’t that they really ran anything that was spectacular and overloaded us. It was basically personnel changes on our part.

The Mule Fan: Of course the biggest personnel issue at the moment is the status of Collin Bibb who was injured on Thursday. And we discussed before we started our interview today (Saturday), you’ve got some encouraging news on that.

Coach Byrd: Right it looks like it’s just a sprain (in the ankle and knee). Of course sprains can be tricky. But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s a lot shorter tunnel. We have to be careful with him. He sprained his ankle before the season. If we start playing him too quick, it just lingers on the whole season. We’ve got to get him well enough to play.

The Mule Fan: It’s no secret that Alamo Heights likes to throw the football and as you look over the first two games, what are the particular conditions that have kept you from having the break-out game that we know you are looking for in the passing game?

Coach Byrd: Well two things. One, we have an offensive line that didn’t take a varsity snap as an offensive line ever in their career until now. And number two, besides Victor Givens we really don’t have a receiver that really caught the ball in the main part of a game. We’re very young. And it’s tricky because we want to run the ball more than we have been. Sergio does a great job when he gets the ball in his hands but we’re not executing real well in the other areas and I don’t just mean the line. Sometimes it’s the receivers. But we’re not executing on the running game as well and it has forced us to throw the ball a little bit more. Plus we’ve gone up against two very good defenses. We’ve got to get a lot of little things ironed out. We’ve had some nagging injuries at receiver. We’ve changed positions with them and sometimes it’s looked sloppy. We’ve got to get a better plan of keeping the right guys in and not move them around from positions quite as much as we have. We’ve also got to find some backups because in both games we’ve had somebody get hurt in the offensive line and haven’t had a real good plan for that. It’s just a very young team that’s very fragile right now going against two of the better defenses in the state probably.

We’re not discouraged at all. We spent a lot of time this weekend watching film from the last two games. We’re changing some personnel a little bit. We’re changing some techniques. We’re going to simplify some things and I think we’ll settle down. Offense is tricky. It can take so long to come along because you’ve got 11 guys and they all have to be performing perfectly or the play doesn’t work. One breakdown and the play falls apart. We’re not having major breaks. We’re having minor breaks. We’re protecting well and then we don’t run the route exactly right or our spacing isn’t good with our receivers. Or we run good routes and all of a sudden our line breaks down. And we have to run the ball more. We’re just putting way too much pressure on our passing game by running passing plays as much as we are.

The Mule Fan: You talk a lot about the kids pulling together and relying on one another. It would be natural at this point for some of them perhaps to be frustrated. But it’s a long season with the most important games still ahead of us. Psychologically, what are you focused on?

Coach Byrd: When we watch the film with them on Monday we’ll go over our successes. When a play breaks down to not just get upset but lets correct the play. If this guy was to have stepped this way, if this receiver would have kept his spacing, if the quarterback would have looked this way… Then we have to come up with a good plan to run the ball to take pressure off our passing game. Hopefully we won’t be seeing defenses as tough as the last two. You can’t predict that. Against both of them we moved the ball at times. We had a few breakdowns and would have moved the ball real well and that’s against very good, experienced defenses early in the year so I’m excited about when we gel and come together. I think the kids believe it. They see what we’re talking about. They’re smart kids.

The Mule Fan: You’ve talked about two tough teams that we’ve faced and now another 5A team to face this week. Nobody said this was going to be easy this year. What are the most visible growth areas that you’ve been able to observe looking back from the MacArthur scrimmage through to the first two games that are going to help pay off for us during district?

Coach Byrd: I think defensively. Of course at Stony Point we had some breakdowns but I think the kids are getting very close. We’ve had a couple of breakdowns on containment. We had two guys in the same gap early in the third quarter. We’ve had some personnel stuff. But as we’re learning more about this team I think they’re really taking off. We had two major busts in the kicking game but we did a lot of good things. Drew (Allen) got off some good punts and kept them deep in their territory. Bailey is kicking the ball well. So we need to build on those. Offensively we get on a roll and we’re not a big play offense because we don’t have the speed we’ve had in the past and that’s what makes it tough on them. They’re going to have to be disciplined. Instead of going five plays and getting 80 yards, we’re going to have to maybe go 13, 14 or 15 plays and that means those kids are going to have to execute more plays in a row because we don’t have the speed. But they’re great kids and like I said we’re not discouraged at all. We have grown probably more than any other team at Alamo Heights in the last two weeks. Now we just need to put the whole thing together against United this week.

The Mule Fan: What can you tell us about Laredo United?

Coach Byrd: Coach Sanchez does an outstanding job. He was at Holmes. He came from the Laredo area to Holmes and won a lot of football games and now he’s back at United. He’s a one-back guy. He spreads it out and doesn’t run a tight end at all. They’ll throw the ball around a lot. He’s got an inside receiver (I don’t know the names yet) number nine that looks like he’s played very well. On defense it’s going to be similar schemes to what we’ve been seeing. The difference is that I just don’t see the speed up front that we’ve been going against. We’ve seen some pretty good players. But they play hard and play with a lot of excitement. We’ve got our heads down a little bit so we’re going to have to come up with the right frame of mind to get after them. They’re picked to come in second in a 5A district and I’ve seen them go a long way in the playoffs. It’s a good program there and we’re going to have to take care of business.

Right now in this small window everyone wants to be 2-0. But realistically we had to play two perfect games to do that. With the experience factor and some nagging injuries, that hasn’t occurred. We’re not down at all and I don’t think the kids are. We’ve just got to come out and take care of some more little things and we’re going to take off pretty soon.

Editor’s note: Beginning with this week’s post and hopefully each week of the season, we will try to feature at least one of the Alamo Heights assistant coaches so you can get to know them a little better. These men spend a lot of time with the football players and in preparing and teaching their classes. At this time of year the schedule is grueling. It's seven days per week, a lot of hours and not much free time for them to spend with their families. Not only are they at work during practice and games, but they are breaking down film, scouting opponents, meeting amongst themselves to remain organized, preparing lesson plans and GRADING PAPERS! The Mule Fan and all the supporters of Alamo Heights Football appreciate these guys and what they mean to the program.


Get to Know the Mules Coaching Staff with AH Coach’s Corner
This week-Ron Harris



Name (how many years at Alamo Heights): Ron Harris, 3rd year: Spouse’s Name: Missy
Children (ages): Amy-5 Brynn-3
Hometown: St. Louis, Mo College Attended: California Lutheran University
High School: Quartz Hill HS Quartz Hill, CA
Coaching responsibilities this season: Tight Ends
Career path that got you to Alamo Heights: 28th Year of Coaching- had coached at Texas Tech and University of Houston and had met Coach Byrd when recruiting San Antonio
Subjects you also teach at AHHS: US History
Hobbies: Movies, Music (listening), Golf
The thing you had the most fun doing this past summer: Coaching in the Texas High School Coaches Association All Star Game
High School or College Athletics you played (position): HS FB, Basketball and Baseball College: FB was a center and long snapper
What was your best subject in school: History/Government
What teams do you follow as a fan: Tech, University of Houston, Hawaii, Arizona, TCU, SMU, Baylor, Texas A&M Commerce Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots and of course the Dallas Cowboys
Fondest memory or the greatest moment in your athletic career: Being a part of the 2006 State Championship here at AHHS
Most embarrassing moment in your athletic career: getting cut from the freshman basketball team in high school (worked hard and was never cut again)
Outside of Coach Byrd :) (of course), what coach at any level of any sport do you admire most: Tony Dungy
What is your pre-game ritual or any superstitions: Listen to my mp3 player
First car: Olds F-85 with three on the tree Favorite type of music or favorite artist(s): extremely varied by mood
Musical instruments played?: piano as a boy and none now
Which song from your youth would you consider your favorite: Bad Company by Bad Company
If you were doing one song in an “air guitar” concert, which one you tear ‘em up with?: Anything by The Who
If you were forced to do one karaoke song, what would it have to be: Texas in 1880 (Radney Foster/Pat Green)
Four people alive or dead you’d most like to have dinner with: My father; Abe Lincoln; Muhammed Ali; Eleanor Roosevelt
Favorite food: Italian Most recent book read: The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva
If you were stuck on a deserted island, what three items would you want with you after your survival gear was covered: my wife and two daughters?
Favorite TV show from your youth (not a cartoon): there were many: Alf; Alias Smith and Jones were a couple
Favorite Saturday morning cartoon show from your youth: Mighty Mouse
Favorite movie ever: That’s a hard one but I would probably go with Field of Dreams
What’s the best thing that you cook: French Toast
Favorite breakfast cereal from your youth (or now if it still applies): Captain Crunch
At what kind of trivia contest would you be invincible? Let's put it this way I’m not smarter than a fifth grader ...lol
If Alamo Heights Offensive and Defensive coaches squared off in a game of flag football, who would you most fear and why? Randy Osborne... still in good shape and would be a triple threat (run/throw/catch)
What do you like most about coaching at Alamo Heights: The quality of character the athletes have coupled with the passion and support of the parents
What advice do you have for your players at this point in their lives: don't be in a hurry to grow up....adulthood and real life will be here soon enough...enjoy these days and create lifelong memories and friendships you will cherish always

PICTURES:

In case you haven't heard, Mary Candee has posted pictures of the Mac Scrimmage, the Stony Point game and the Clark pictures will be posted shortly. Normally, pictures of Varsity, JVA and JVB are available. Visit Mary's site at http://dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com/

OTHER MULES FOOTBALL ACTION:

The JV takes to the road this Thursday for an A and B game at Laredo United. This should be a late night for the boys and their fans so hopefully no major exams are scheduled for this Friday. The Freshman teams line up at home against United on Thursday. Coach Mark Bond reports that the Junior School boys will split up into teams early this week, have their kickoff BBQ and practice on Tuesday and play Driscoll (7th at home, 8th away) on Wednesday.

Mules on Radio This Week

The Mules change radio homes this week to KKYX-680AM and should remain there for the rest of this season. Follow the action with Ed Suarez and Dave Parker. Airtime for tonight's game is 6.30 p.m. Don't forget to patronize and thank the sponsors for their commitment to Alamo Heights!

MULE MATCH-UP:


We continue to advertise the big match-up in Houston on Saturday, September 27th as Gio Vizza and UNT square off against Chase Clement and the Rice Owls. Ron Mills still has many tickets available in a section surely to be full of Mules fans.

GET ADDED:


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GO MULES!


Bob Cohen/Bobby Rosenthal