The Mule Fan

LOOKING BACK:

MULES DOWN LAREDO UNITED 30-16

DEFENSE, OFFENSE, SPECIAL TEAMS UNITE AGAINST LAREDO UNITED

The Laredo United Longhorns forced the Alamo Heights faithful to travel down IH‑35 on a rainy, cool Thursday afternoon in a rematch of last year's Thursday non-district finale. While the forecasters called for a 70% chance of rain in Laredo, about two-thirds of the way to Laredo (mile marker 45 – there are no towns between here and there, just mile markers), the skies cleared, leading the way to a beautiful football evening. The team, Band, Spurs, and Cheerleaders departed at 1:00 with the fan bus departing at 2:30. The kids received "ABX" excuses from afternoon classes on Thursday, and rumor has it, a few "un‑ABX" excuses for the Friday morning classes, as the student buses rolled back to the school about 2 a.m. The fans bus returned by about 1:30 a.m. and plans for a post-game, celebratory greeting were unanimously voted down when it was determined that the students were more than ten minutes behind. It seems that the players' post-game return trip was delayed by a stop at Whataburger in Laredo, while the parents' post-game bus contained all necessities onboard for the return trip.

The Mules actually had decent fan support in Laredo, considering the Thursday kickoff. [The Mule Fan cannot stress how great the Band, Spurs, and Cheerleaders are at the game. Hearing the Band through the game reminds the team how much support they actually have. Thanks to the administration for allowing all of these groups to make this lengthy trip.] Many others listened on the radio, even though a last minute change to the airing radio station was announced. The advantages of being a Mule Fan subscriber – you were advised of the change in an e-mail blast, while those non-Mule Fan faithful tuned in to 1250 and spent three hours listening to an exciting soccer match broadcast in Spanish [Folks, when you heard the phrase "GOALLLLLLL," you should've realized you were tuned into the wrong event.].

The Laredo United Activity Center is a wonderful stadium with terrific parking, seating and locker rooms. The turf is the old short turf, which did cause for a little excess blood repair to be patched by trainer Mike Post and his training staff. Fortunately, that would be the only injury work for Mike on the evening. As much as we like him, we don't like our boys spending too much time with him.

The Longhorns, dressed in orange and orange (what would you expect, maroon and white?), won the toss and took the kickoff. The Longhorns came out firing in the air – as the Mules and the Coaching Staff expected. The Longhorns were led by QB Tony Salas, a 6 foot junior, starting for the second year. On the initial drive, Salas hit four different receivers, before finding a fifth recipient, Mules SR Philip Massari (number 43), who stepped in front of a Salas pass and returned it, coincidentally, to the Mules 43. The Mules offense mixed it up on the opening drive with SR QB Cullen Mills finding John Cabell on two key passes, including a 3rd and 8 with the Mules churning up a few yards on the ground as well. After a holding call forced the Mules into a 1st and goal at the 18, three unsuccessful plays led to a 34 yard Stern field goal and a 3‑0 Mules lead. Once again, the Longhorns took the kickoff and began racking up yardage – all through the air. Salas passed to Morales, Cardenas and his favorite target, Rick Velasquez, a 6'1" senior. A key play by Stuart Biltz on 3rd and 6 forced a Longhorn punt. The next Mules drive stalled and on 4th down, and the punt was blocked by United and returned by Nathan Barrios for a Longhorn touchdown and a 6‑3 Longhorns lead. [Editorial Note: If the defense blocks an extra point and returns it to the opposite end zone, the defense is awarded 2 points, so in this case 6‑3 would become 6‑5. Read on.] On the extra point, the short kick was fielded in the end zone nicely by Luke Maloy (of All-City, All-Region baseball fame who caught this as though it were a high pop fly back to the mound). Maloy returned the ball to the 20, the 30, the 40, the 50…. "He could go all the way." But suddenly, Luke stumbled to the ground. A great tackle? Yes, Luke's right foot tackled his left foot and down he went. Was he thinking about not getting hurt? Did Coach T. suggest to him before the season that he should not get touched during a game of football? Did one of the 600 high school baseball recruiters tell him he'd never need to sprint more than 53 yards if he came to their college? Oh, if he could only run as fast as he could pitch, none of this would be an issue. But, in the words of the late Howard Cosell: "Down goes Maloy, Down goes Maloy, Down goes Maloy." [Note: The preceding paragraph was pre-approved by Luke by telephone – We would not make fun of a student (except our own sons) without his or her consent. Parents, on the other hand, are fair game!] 6‑3 Longhorns.

The Second Quarter began with the Mules down 6‑3. The Mules drive again stalled and though the Laredo punt return was muffed, the Mules couldn't recover and United took over. The Mules appeared flat and the Mule Fan was thankful that the locker room was far away, because we suspected Coach Norment might have a few words at halftime that would not be simply whispered to the boys. The defense again held. Though they gave up yardage through the air, once again the defense found a way to make big plays at the key moment. The Mules drove to the 50 and had to punt, where Stern backed the Longhorns up to their 10. Ultimately, the defense held and forced another Longhorn punt. The miscue on the Mules return bounced and was fielded by Thomas McSween who flew in to dive on the ball. Though he plays defense and special teams, the Mule Fan gives McSween 100% credit for giving the offense a chance again. The offense drove nicely and Mills pass to the corner was caught by David Garza who out jumped the Longhorn defender on the perfectly thrown ball. The extra point was no good and the Mules were fortunate to go into half time with a 9‑6 lead.

The Mules took the third quarter kickoff with Mills again looking sharp, finding Bryson "I'm not Tyler" Marshall for a 10 yard pass. Justin Rosenthal, sporting jersey #26 since the 22 jersey was ripped between the "2's" in the first quarter, ran for another 20 before the drive stalled. Stern connected on another long field goal – this one from 43 yards and the Mules led 12‑6. United responded with a nice drive off their own. On the drive, Salas hit Ramos on a key 3rd and 4 and Velasquez for 24 yards before finally hitting Cardenas who ran it in from the 10 for a 13‑12 Laredo United lead with 3:53 left in the third. On the drive, it appeared that the defensive line got good pressure on Salas, but he smartly avoided the rush with a deep drop back and a quick release. Suddenly, the Laredo United fans were into the game and on their feet. The Mules needed to change the momentum with a big drive or something special. On the kickoff, the nervous Mules and their fans got the "something special." Receiving the ball at his 15, Justin Rosenthal patiently waited for the wedge to form at the 25 (This Mule Fan reporter wishes he was as patient with his little sister), then found a seam opened up by terrific blocking which allowed him to burst through a hole to the 40, to the 50, past the kicker, post the spot were Luke had previously tripped…. He did go all the way!! The Mules opted to go for two and Mills faked the handoff and found Bryson "Did Tyler Ever Make a Catch Like This?" Marshall in the end zone for a 20‑13 Mules lead, and a shift in momentum that would carry the Mules throughout the rest of the game. The Mules kickoff coverage pinned United at the 18. A key defensive stop by DeLuna forced United to punt. With the Mules at their own 43, Mills found a driving John Cabell who miraculously held onto the ball for a 32 yard gain down to the 25. The Mules faced a 3rd and 18 to end the third quarter, up 20‑13.

The fourth quarter began with Stern connecting on his third field goal of the night (The Junior had a terrific night kicking!!!) and a 23‑13 Mules lead. The fourth quarter was a tale of two drives. The Longhorns started at their own 23 after a Bibb tackle on the kickoff. Sales went to work, especially with his favorite target, Velasquez who caught passes of 21 yards and 30 yards. A screen pass was stopped by Maloy and Cliff Molak. Laredo drove down to the 1 where the Longhorns had first and goal at the one. Incredibly, one run and two passes later, the Longhorns were forced to kick a field goal, since they had to have points, for a 23-16 Mules lead. The Mules defense was spectacular on the drive – from the line on the run, to the linebackers and safeties on the passes. The goal line stand proved again that the Mules don't roll over. The Mules took over at their own 26 with about seven minutes left, clinging to a 7 point lead. Now we need a long drive or something special. This time, the offensive line (obviously recalling Coach Norment and his half time "thoughts") dominated, blowing back the Longhorns defensive line and opening up holes on each and every play. The Mules were able to run Rosenthal and Mills inside and outside, left and right, because the offensive line was determined to show their stuff. The thought of a three hour bus ride with Coach Norment if they did not produce may have also been in the back of their minds. The 74 yard drive was just what the doctor ordered. When Rosenthal finally jumped over the Longhorn defenders and in from the 6, there was only 1:05 left in the game, the Mules led 30‑16, and the Mules could finally celebrate their first win of the season.

Going into the Bye week, the Mules now will have confidence in all three areas. The offense is now a threat to pass and run with one of the best lines in the City. The defense has showed they can play with some of the best running and passing offenses in the City. Though they gave up some yardage in each game, they truly get tough in the red zone and are as aggressive on the line as they are in the secondary, with a tough corp of linebackers in between. The special teams still have some kinks to work out but the game showed they can execute on field goals, returns and kickoff/point coverage. A good way to go into the Bye Week. Bye!

Check out the highlights of the victory on youtube at the following site, compliments of Mike Murphy(see below):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhN006W1zEg

A Few Words with the Head Coach of the Mules – Don Byrd
September 11, 2009

The Mule Fan: It was a big night for the Mules in Laredo last Friday getting that all important first win. A lot of things seemed to go right coach. The kicking game got a lift that they needed getting three field goals, there were some great passing plays featuring some great catches from the receivers, the running game makes another strong showing and you get a kickoff return for a score. Now that you’ve had time to review the film, what were your views of the night for Alamo Heights?

Coach Byrd: Oh I was very proud of our effort. We started a tad flat. After a long trip like that its hard to get the blood moving and going. But after we settled down we played real well. The kicking game we got the field goal and the extra point on the right track. We’re getting better in those two areas. We did get a blocked punt and we can’t have that. I’ve told the kids that is not acceptable. We’ve had four blocked punts since 1988; one against La Marque, one against Uvalde, one against Del Rio and the one last night. So that’s not acceptable and you lose games. Those other three we lost and luckily we got a win here so that’s got to get straight. But then the kickoff return and like I said the field goals and so forth; we’re getting better in those areas and we’ve got to continue to improve.

Mule Fan: The defense turned in a strong performance. There were a lot of personnel on the field. They get an interception and then a huge defensive stand starting with around seven minutes left in the game that saved four points. What was the importance of that defensive stand in particular at that point in the game?

Coach Byrd: Well first of all I want to talk about Laredo United because I’ve been trying to tell people that they were a very talented team. That quarterback was cool under pressure and he did a great job of reading us. But yeah they got down there and our defense held them to three and we saved four points out of that on the goal line. Just a great effort across the board from all of them. They just kept making plays. And then we get the ball and were running it down their throat and they knew we were coming at them and we were able to run out the clock on offense. That’s the way you finish football games. That was probably the highlight of the game the way we finished on both sides of the ball.

Mule Fan: You talked about being a little flat in the first half and then the pivotal second half saw you go away from the “no huddle” offense. Did you see something that Laredo was doing that caused you move away from it or were you just trying to change things up?

Coach Byrd: A combination. Change things up. Our kids were kind of not playing together at times. I thought by huddling them up they’d get a chance to relax, then break it and go. Plus we’d already defined how they were going to line up. The reason we go no huddle is that we see them on film but were not sure how they’re going to work out and line up against us. So we try to make sure we don’t have a bad play called. After we kind of figure out their scheme then we might stay with it or we might go back to the huddling. That was the difference in it.

Mule Fan: We said earlier that you had a lot of different defensive personnel on and off the field all night long. Do you use non-district to look at a lot of different combinations or should we expect to see a lot of different looks on defense throughout the season.

Coach Byrd: Well it just depends on the scene. You know Clark was more or less a condensed formation running team so we’re going to have an alignment that gives us the best advantage we can and put the kids in a position to win. Laredo had one back, no tight end, shotgun and of course that’s going to dictate a whole different type of kid in a lot of areas. So the offenses a lot of times are going to dictate the personnel but we’re happy with what we’re seeing out there.

Mule Fan: We’ve talked often about the ground game being a weapon for you and Justin Rosenthal had a great second half. What were the keys to his effectiveness?

Coach Byrd: We changed blocking schemes just a little bit to give us an advantage. They gave us fewer guys playing the run and more playing the pass. That’s why it was a little hard to throw the ball. They were rushing four and dropping seven and there’s just not a whole lot of zones out there or areas to throw when they do that. So at half time we put in that option pass where we hit Cabell for the big play because the safeties were coming up so much. That backed them off and we hit a couple of other little passes that we saw we wanted to run against them in the second half to spread those guys out just a little bit. Once we hit a few more of those short passes then they got on their heels just a little bit and we were able to run the ball. And that was kind of the difference on offense. Changing the blocking scheme, backing the safety off with the option pass and then hitting a couple of other passes and we went back to the running game which by odds and numbers was there and that’s what we should have been doing the whole time but we had to do a couple of things to get them on their heels and stop them playing so aggressively.

Mule Fan: What will the process be here in the off week before you get to your prep week for the district opener with Clemens?

Coach Byrd: Basically we’ll lift during the athletic periods on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Monday and Friday we’ll give them off after school. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will be regular workouts after school. So we’ll kind of treat it like three intense days but they’ll be in the middle of the week and we’ll give them a little longer time off on the weekend. Hopefully they’ll rest up and get their bodies rejuvenated on both weekends. Then the following week back to normal and getting ready for a tough district run.


SEASON DVDs

If you have not ordered the Season DVD's, it is still not too late to do so. Mike Murphy (Murfman) creates a play-by-play video of each game where you can quickly see each play. If you'd like, at the end of the season (and for an additional charge), Mike will make a DVD of the best plays you select. This makes a terrific gift for grandparents or lifetime memories for your son. If you want to order the season DVD, please e-mail brosenthal@trpsalaw.com. The cost is only $130 for the entire 10 game season (what a deal !!). DVD's of each game are available by Tuesday after the game.