A Few Words with the Head Coach of the Mules – Don Byrd
November 4, 2008
The Mule Fan: The Mules keep their district unbeaten streak alive with a breathtaking come-from-behind win over Kerrville putting up 28 unanswered points to win 28-21. It really was a tale of two halves. A few penalties, turnovers and missed tackles got the Mules into a hole that seemed pretty deep at the time. Coach you’ve been doing this a long time and experienced some dramatic wins. Where does this one rank?
Coach Byrd: Oh shoot, over the years of being at Heights so long this ranks as high as a lot of the big games we’ve played. When you’re playing a top-ranked team at their field and they get on you with a lead like that it just takes a lot of composure and lot of belief for your defense to hold them and your offense to start putting points on the board. The kids just came through and did a beautiful job. We really were proud of how well we played because we stopped ourselves in the first half and in the second half, Kerrville wasn’t getting penalties or turnovers really when we scored. We were out there earning everything. It’s a shame that we weren’t quite as crisp as we needed to be in the first half but once we settled down and started playing, the kids did a phenomenal job.
The Mule Fan: Kerrville had no shortage of athletes or speed on their side. They had a lot of weapons yet your defense held them to season lows in points and yardage. There were some great individual efforts as well. Terry Andersen did a great job of keeping Logan Vick to three catches for 21 yards. Philip Massari made a big pick at the end. What was the plan defensively for clamping down on their offense?
Coach Byrd: Well our defensive coaches I think did a great job of mixing up some blitzes and changing the coverages a little bit. A little bit of man and a little bit of just reading routes and spying a lot on Vick. The kids just came out and performed well. The defensive coaches came up with the plan and the kids just went out and executed it at a great, great level.
The Mule Fan: We all know what happened there last year coming from behind with the 17 points in four minutes. When the Mules got their first points up just before the half, I think I know what was going through your mind. What do you think was going through theirs as they went to the half time locker room?
Coach Byrd: We wanted to make sure we did something, when the momentum got to our side that would bring back memories. That’s all (Tivy QB) Palmer talked about in the paper all week was how they let down (in 07) and how he wasn’t going to let that happen again. For him to talk about it, you know that was something that he was going over in his mind and if something is in your mind, there’s always a possibility of it recurring. But again, it was just our kids started to settle down, didn’t get the penalties and make the mistakes. As we gained confidence you could see the other side was kind of doubting a little bit.
The Mule Fan: With the score tied at 21 at the break between the third and fourth quarter, you had the team gathered up on the field in front of you. Do you remember what you told them?
Coach Byrd: I told them that we were on a roll and we were executing and that they could not stop us and that the only thing that had stopped us this whole game was ourselves. The lack of execution and taking care of the football and things like that and that we just needed to settle down and keep playing in the same groove. The kids just played the whole second half like that.
The Mule Fan: This win certainly had to do a lot for your confidence but it probably says as much about the increased level of maturity that these guys are playing with now versus the early part of the season when you had a lot of inexperience.
Coach Byrd: Yeah we’ve really talked about that since Stony Point and even the Clark game. We can see on film how we stopped ourselves. Other teams have not stopped us. Other teams really haven’t made that many plays. Anytime they get something on us it’s usually a broken assignment here or there. As the season goes on we’re getting better and better at our execution. That’s showing up and that’s why we’ve been able to so far run the table in this district and it’s a very tough district. Everyone wants to talk about Kerrville but there are a lot of good football teams in this district. Many of them went in with undefeated records at the start of district beating a lot of playoff teams in other districts. It’s been a grind and I’m proud of our kids to step up and play to that level.
The Mule Fan: As we’ve said all year and you just mentioned, there are no weekends off in this district and our win last week sets the table for another showdown game this week with Steele. It’s a battle of the top two teams in the area in the Express News Sub 5A rankings. They’ve got some weapons as well. This will be another brawl won’t it?
Coach Byrd: It’s going to be another game with playoff atmosphere. Two teams fighting it out. A chance for us to win the district championship outright, the make it three years in a row without a district loss and Steele wanting to get a share of the district championship and make their claim this season. They lost to Kerrville and this would salvage their district season a lot. They’ve already had a great season by making the playoffs and it would make things even better to have part of the district championship. They have really no weaknesses. Their offensive and defensive lines have a lot of size to them and they’re athletic. Skilled guys on offense across the board that can really run. They have good size and tall receivers, powerful, good-sized running backs. On defense they’re again very talented with a lot of size. They have two safeties that will probably go Division I, one’s a sophomore and one is a senior. They have a very fine middle linebacker. Solid kicking game with no frills in that but they play solid with their kicking game. They’re just a talented, talented football team.
CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THE COMEBACK OVER TIVY?
There isn't much more that we can write but The Murfman has given us two minutes worth of highlights--big plays on both sides of the ball by the Mules. Click on the video below. Sit back and enjoy these plays again.
The day of the Kerrville game was one of the most spirited of the season. Everyone driving to school, or driving through Alamo Heights for that matter, saw the huge banner made by Erik Andersen in his backyard. The banner hung directly in front of Tuxedo on Broadway, getting the day off to a festive start. And then, after first period, the Cheerleaders led an awesome Pep Rally. This was not your ordinary pep rally from our younger days---three cheers, a song and we're done. This was an elaborate set up including a light show and numerous skits. Since most of you did not attend, the Mule Fan thought you'd enjoy this picture which was provided to us. Needless to say, this certainly got the team focused. Take a look and you too will be amazed at how quiet and attentive this group of 50 boys was when they are being entertained by the beautiful and talented A.H. pep squads. Surely, they are as attentive in class or at family functions----NOT!!! The Pep Rally was a huge production but made AHHS a very spirited place for the morning and into the afternoon. We know that several groups put on the Pep Rally and thanks to those who helped---Cheerleaders, Spurs, Band, Faculty and others. And thanks to the H.S. administration for allowing this Pep Rally to take place---what an amazing sight to see the entire High School pulling together for a rare occasion. Though some unnecessary chanting about Freshmen may have occurred (a tradition we will work to break), it is obvious that school spirit is important and is healthy for the community. While there are many more important things, high school football in Texas seems to pull kids and communities together. This is not a political statement, BUT The Mule Fan hopes that more than one pep rally can occur during the season in future years---even a 20 minute rally in The Oaks with the band and a few cheers would get everyone together for a brief time so the kids can remind themselves...Where do they go? Alamo Heights...and...Who do they love? Alamo Heights?
MORE ON STEELE:
As noted in the posting Monday of this week, this huge game pits the #1 vs. #2 seeds in the Sub 5A --San Antonio area according to the SA Express News. This Steele team is very good. Offensively, in District games, Steele rushed for 251 yards against San Marcos, 270 yards against Clemens and 321 yards against N.B. Canyon before they became more balanced later in the season. Most recently, the Knights rushed for 200 yards and passed for 138 yards against Boerne, rushed and passed for 190 yards each against Tivy and then passed for 267 yards last week against Seguin. The Steele rushing attack has been led by Malcolm Brown, an awesome sophomore who has missed the last two games. Had Brown played in those games, he'd likely be among the City's top rushing leaders---something next year's defense won't want to think about. It appears from yesterday's Express-News that Brown may be out again this week after an MRI revealed a hairline fracture in his foot. Obviously, Mule fans don't want anyone injured and this certainly will be a blow to Steele if he truly is out of the game. Without Brown though, Steele played Tivy well and but for an amazing game by Tivy QB Colton Palmer (30 of 36), Steele very likely might've won that game. Last week, without Brown, Steele pounded out 38 points on offense against Seguin.
Defensively, Steele is one of the best Heights faces all season, certainly since the Clark and Stony Point games---were those games actually this season? Steele has given up only 181 points this season, best in the district. If you take away Tivy's big night by Palmer, Steele has allowed only 147 points in the other 8 games--around 18 points per game. And, with the exception of the Tivy game, Steele's defense has gotten stronger as the season has progressed (so has the Mule defense, by the way, as noted in Tuesday's Express News-congrats boys). In the first two district games, Steele gave up some rushing yardage, especially to the running machine out of San Marcos, but don't expect to run much against this team. Last week, Seguin ran for only 65 yards on 30 carries and Tivy only rushed for 95 yards on 23 carries against the Steele defense. Canyon and Clemens gained a little over a 100 yards on the ground, but also carried the ball for 20-30 times each. The match up between the Steele defense and Drew Allen and the Mule offense should be interesting.
Kickoff is 7:30 Friday night--again predicted to be a perfect football evening. Come support the Mules in what may be the final game at Harry B. Orem Stadium for the senior class, depending on the location of the first round playoff game.
PLAYOFF UPDATE:
The playoffs will begin for the Mules the weekend of Thurs.-Sat. November 13-15. We believe that the brackets will be finalized this Saturday, though the Mule Fan is unsure whether the Fox Tech/Lanier game on Saturday night will have an impact on the opponent, and we will not know this until after Friday's games (our coaching staff certainly knows more---we are just trying to figure this out on the fly). Suffice it to say that if the first round game is an "away" game, it will likely be the closest away game the Suburbans and Tahoes have traveled all year--likely at Alamo Stadium since 27-4A faces a 28-4A team in the first round. As mentioned earlier this week, the winner of the Friday Steele/Heights game will be the #1 seed out of 27-4A in the 4A -DI(Large School) bracket (27-W on the attached bracket). Though Heights is the 3rd smallest school in the district, we go "Large" because Clemens and Tivy are the two smaller schools in the district and both are in the playoffs. The winner likely will face either Jefferson, Edison or Fox Tech. The Edison squad averages over 400 yards per game, in the top 10 in the City. The loser of the Steele/Heights game will be Large #2 (27-R on the attached bracket) and likely will face Brackenridge, a team giving up only 139 points (15 points a game) on the season and giving up only 80 yards passing with an offense led by a running back who has a huge average yards per carry. Please note that the first round match up against the 28-4A team is entirely speculation at this point. The blank bracket is on the attached site if you scroll to 4A-DI, though its like the March Madness bracket without the teams listed, except the District and the W and R are listed here.
http://www.uil.utexas.edu/athletics/brackets/football/index.html
Except for the Saturday morning film session with the coaches--and we're not invited--nobody can capture your Mules on video like The Murfman. Before you know it, that little Mule of yours will be kicking his way out of the house. Let him relive his high school football days forever. More importantly, let his girlfriend or future wife (what a thought) see what a stud he was (or thought he was) or let his grandparents relive the memories. Contact The Murfman and you can get the full season on DVD. While you are at it, you can talk to Murf about a special DVD he will create for you capturing all the great plays your Mule made during the year, with the ability to edit out the holding penalty or the dropped ball. This is probably the most reasonable gift you can buy and don't forget about extra copies for your household. In 10 years, instead of saying "Remember when?", you'll be able to say "Look at this." You can contact Murf at Michael@Murfman.net or mikepmurf@sbcglobal.net or at 210-216-1865.
Who is that at every event you've attended in the last year with any Mule squad involved? Why, of course, it is Mary Candee taking photo after photo of every event. She's like Santa---she's at every mall and every event. Mary snaps about 500 pictures a minute so there definitely are some good pictures you can find to savor the moment. Mary will also create a collage of photos of your Mule. You can order one picture or 100 pictures but whatever you do, you've got to order them. You know you always order the Class Pictures in the posed position with 1 5X7, 2 3X5 and 600 wallet sized photos. Well, don't you think these will be better than that? And as a gift in a frame?...Uncle Ralph will like it more than a new tie and Aunt Irma will think its even better than fruitcake.....So contact Mary at (210) 241-3112 or http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/storecontact.aspx or macandee@aol.com
By the way, these are not two mutually exclusive options---why not do both?
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