The Mule Fan

MULES TAME WILDCATS 28-14

VICTORY OVER GREGORY PORTLAND SETS UP STATE QUARTERFINALS MATCH-UP AGAINST #1 LAKE TRAVIS

On the Friday night during Thanksgiving week, nobody knew for sure what type of crowd would show up 120 miles away in Calallen. Thanks to some hard work by many, especially Patty Juarez in the AH athletic office, Mules fans headed south in planes, trains and automobiles. The team had a good week of practice while most students were taking the week off. Lest we forget, the Band, Spurs and Cheerleaders were unable to spend Thanksgiving time with Aunt Bessie and Uncle Fred at the farm in Ohio, as they too committed to the week by supporting the football team. The Gregory-Portland fans took a short trip to Calallen for the game played in their backyard. Judging from the number of folks in the GP stands, the two towns must've shut down for the evening, sending everyone to cheer on the Wildcats. But, Mules fans made themselves noticed. Starting with a team send-off and a police escort out of town, this community seemed focused on the day. By game time, four busloads of fans and several hundred other cars, helped fill the Heights stands. This clearly was a key as the Heights team was able to lean on fan support when the game was on the line.

GP won the toss and deferred to the second half. Heights moved the ball on the ground and in the air. Cullen Mills, looking spectacular on the night, completed three consecutive third down passes to Bryson Marshall, who himself had a great evening. Hollye Marshall and her parents were thrilled. Brent was busy trying to keep Tyler calm as he reassured him that he had played just as well last year, no matter what Bryson said. The drive stalled and the field goal attempt just missed. GP took over and attempted to move the ball under the Slot-T formation, a set the Mules had a tough time containing in the second half of the San Marcos game. But on this night, the defense again showed it was able to step up to the plate. Early in the drive, James Uhl and Forrest Hagar caused a fumble giving the ball back to Heights. A few plays later, Justin Rosenthal carried it in from the 9 for a 7-0 lead with 3:04 left in the first quarter. The defense again held, thanks in part to a 7 yard loss caused by a Thomas McSween sack. The Mules took over at the 29 yard line at the end of the first quarter. Heights 7, GP 0

The Mules continued to move the ball on offense. Mills was on target on this drive, given time provided by the offensive line. He connected with Marshall, Garza and Cabell. The Mules moved all the way to the Wildcat 6 and a tough helmet hit to the ball caused a turnover, giving the ball back to the Wildcats at their own 6 with 10:57 left in the second quarter. Before the Mules knew what hit them, the Slot-T worked to perfection as Joey Sanchez scampered 78 yards for a touchdown and a 7-7 tie with 8 minutes left in the second quarter. This would be the only big run the defense gave up on the night. The Mules took over and on a 3rd and 7, the Wildcats looked to be in good position if they could hold and force a Mules punt. That would be a big "if" as Mills lofted the ball deep to a streaking David Garza who hauled it in for a 65 yard touchdown and 14-7 Heights lead with 6:03 left in the second quarter. The rest of the quarter was fairly uneventful as the defense continued to hold the Wildcat offense and the Mules offense could not put together a drive. Halftime-Heights 14, GP 7.

At halftime, Mules fans seemed a bit nervous. The Mules seemingly had outplayed the Wildcats but the scoreboard only reflected a 7 point lead. The Wildcats would get the ball first, so the defense needed to come out strong again. With both teams moving the ball and the clock, the game was on a quick pace. Stand in the concession line too long and you might miss the entire third quarter.

The quick game continued in the third quarter. The Wildcats received the kickoff and though they drove to the 46, the defense held. The Wildcat punt pinned Heights at the 8. The Mule got the ball out of the danger zone with running and passing. Again, Mills found Bryson Marshall for some key third down receptions. The drive stalled but the Stern punt pinned GP at their own 10 with 4:42 left in the quick moving third quarter. This was becoming a game of field position and the Mules were moving the field in their favor. The defense again held, with Mike Warren making a huge stop. The Wildcat punt forced the Mules to start from their own 30. Mills to Marshall for 20 and Rosenthal for yardage on the ground. The quarter ended with the Mules at the GP 30. It appeared that the awesome offensive line was wearing down the Wildcats defensive line. End of the Third Quarter: Heights 14, GP 7.

A couple plays into the fourth quarter and Mills, on his best play of the night, rolled left behind great protection, and threw back across the middle to Garza in the end zone. Heights 21, GP 7 with 11:23 left in the game. The Wildcats were down but not out. With quarterback Fishbeck apparently stopped in the backfield, the shifty junior found daylight for a 50 yard gain. A few plays later, running back Sanchez carried it in from the 5 and the score was 21-14. With 5:25 left in the game, the Mules lined up expecting the onside kick. Have we seen more onside kicks than normal this season, or is it just me? With only Thurmond deep and 10 on the line, the Wildcats did, in fact, opt for the short kick. Fortunately for Heights, it took a high bounce up and out of bounds. Mules ball at their own 49. Time to run some clock and get a few first downs. That's exactly what the Mules did. On eight consecutive running plays, the Mules offensive line was downfield on every play opening up holes or moving the line. Rosenthal carried it in from the 15 with only 1:43 left in the game. The defense finally could relax, forcing GP to use the remaining clock without getting to the endzone. Final: Heights 28, Gregory-Portland 14.

Once again, the Mules played good ball. Any win in the third round of the playoffs is a good win. The Mules have some things to work on in the upcoming week but the key thing is, they will be working on plays into December---the true goal when the season started in August. Thanks to the Coaches, Staff, Gene, Patty, the Trainers (Mike and Adrianna) and the Manager (Trey). These people and their families gave up their Thanksgiving break to prepare the boys for this game. It would've been easy to look back to the Killeen game or look ahead to the Lake Travis game, but the important issue was to have the boys prepared for, and focused on, the Gregory-Portland Wildcats. The preparation is evident. This defense has seen a greater variety of offenses than Elizabeth Taylor has seen in husbands. And the defense has been able to adjust to each of these offenses. On the night, the offense was balanced in the air and on the ground, racking up 457 yards. The line, as always should get the lion's share of the credit. The special teams again were great. Good victory and on to the Quarterfinals.


LOOKING AHEAD

Lake Travis Cavaliers – San Marcos 7:30 p.m. - Friday at Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Texas State University

The Lake Travis Cavaliers. Okay, where do we start. Well, here's where we start. How about this? The Mules are in the State Quarterfinals of the 4A Playoffs, Division I. To break that down, this Mules team is one of only 16 4A teams in the State playing football in December. This is what we dream of. Lots of statistics and numbers on Lake Travis. We all know that. Now our boys can go play with their heart and see how they match up with the very best.

Did we say the very best? Yes, Lake Travis was picked by most to win the 4A, Division I, State Championship. Not a bad pick considering they had won thirty (yes 30) straight games coming into the 2009 season – a streak that now stands at an incredible 43 consecutive wins. Not a bad pick considering Lake Travis has won back-to-back State Championships. Not a bad pick considering 10 starters return off of last year's State Championship team. The Cavaliers have a program that many colleges envy – including an indoor practice field. The program is incredible, and the talent continues annually, much in the way that Southlake Carroll dominated the 5A scene for several years. Maxpreps lists Lake Travis as the 12th best team in all of Texas (including 5A teams) and 94th in the country.

On defense, the Cavaliers returned Crow and Lazarus who combined for 300 tackles last year, twenty of those for a loss. With last year's Quarterback Garrett Gilbert graduated to UT, this year's QB is Junior Michael Brewer, whose father was himself a quarterback at UT in the early 1980's. The Cavaliers also returned several offense linemen, receivers and their kicker, Kramer Fyfe, who has booted a ton of extra points and kickoffs for the scoring machine.

Prior to this past weekend's game, Quarterback Michael Brewer was averaging 300 yards passing per game and he had thrown for 34 touchdowns. Brewer has completed over 71% of his passes for a total of 3,572 yards. Brewer has also rushed for 427 yards and another 15 touchdowns. Running Back Andy Erickson has run for 786 yards and 18 touchdowns and caught 47 passes for 1116 yards and 11 touchdowns. Conner Floyd has caught 53 passes for 1,034 yards and 8 touchdowns. Three other receivers have at least 20 receptions. Obviously, Lake Travis is a solid team. Since the Kerrville game, Heights has had stretches of good quarters but has not really put together a solid 48 minutes. The Mules will have to have a performance like the Kerrville game to have a chance to hang with Lake Travis.

On Defense, Quinton Crow averages 11.3 tackles per game, Austin Williams averages 10.1 tackles per game and Ian Lazarus averages 9.1 tackles per game.

Lake Travis rolled through its regular season undefeated. Lake Travis beat Killeen by 25 points and Austin Westlake by 21 points. Lake Travis was only tested once this year by Steele in the second round of the playoffs. Lake Travis won by 7, but the game may have served as a wakeup call for Lake Travis, which soundly beat Flour Bluff in San Antonio this past weekend. The Cavaliers have scored over 50 points 10 times this year and were held under 40 points only once (by Steele). In six games this year, Lake Travis gave up 7 points or less.

Have a nice day.

A Few Words with the Head Coach of the Mules – Don Byrd
November 30, 2009

Mule Fan: Congratulations on the 28-14 win over Gregory-Portland and now you move on the 4th week of the playoffs. For the second time this year you faced the Wing or Slot T offense, they broke one long one on you but by the third quarter it looked like the Mules defense had the Wildcat’s offense figured out and held them scoreless in the 3rd. It has to be hard to simulate that offense in practice. How much did it help that you had seen it against San Marcos?

Coach Byrd: I think it helped a lot. We made some mistakes scheme-wise against San Marcos that we straightened out this week. That helped out a lot. Having seen it once before meant that it wasn’t a big learning curve for the kids and they actually had some reps going against it. The alignments and some of the game plan was similar so it helped out a lot.

Mule Fan: The Mules got a TD run early from Rosenthal and then two outstanding touchdown passes from Mills to Garza. GP then made it a little scary with a time consuming scoring drive in the 4th. They followed that with an onside kick which of course was not successful. With the way the Mules offense was moving the ball did Gregory-Portland really have any other choice but to try the onside kick?

Coach Byrd: No I would have done that too. They needed a shorter field and they needed something to try to keep our offense off. We went down the first drive and we had a key miss on third down and we should have gone in and scored. Then we scored. Then we got down in the red zone and had a turnover. And even though we only got the one touchdown out of those three drives, we sure kept the ball away from their offense for a long time and we made them have a long field. That’s huge making them have to go that far. It’s hard to put 18-20 plays together to be able to score so it helped out our defense tremendously.

Mule Fan: The offense took over from there and closed it out by moving the chains and protecting the ball. What more could you have asked for on that final drive?

Coach Byrd: You start with the offensive line always and they had a great game. And then Justin (Rosenthal) runs so hard. He’s getting so many carries but he’s able to handle it. Now he had a little problem with the asthma. The climate down there probably hurt him more than anything. But he still had 190 yards. I’m not upset I’m just worried that we probably should have substituted a little more in this game because of the asthma problem.

Mule Fan: Did the game unfold the way you thought it might and in the way you prepared during the week?

Coach Byrd: Right you know offensively we scored 28 points. We had two other opportunities which would have put us at 42 and we missed a field goal. So that is about where I was hoping to be. We had the yardage we needed but we just didn’t finish the drives. We overcame some penalties which we haven’t done in the past so that was a plus. Defensively we started out against that offense a lot stronger and yes we did give up a run there and missed a few tackles here and there but all in all it was a great effort. And then our kicking game, besides the missed field goal, we were creating some long fields for the other team and that’s huge from here on out.

Mule Fan: We’ve talked about this a couple of times this season that this group of seniors with all the playoff runs in their careers have been around the game 13 extra weeks which is more than a full season. What does it mean to have that kind of senior leadership and experience in the locker room and on the field this deep in the playoffs?

Coach Byrd: Well the first thing that comes to mind with these seniors is that we have 41 of them still out. Of course only 11 of them can be on the field at one time. So that’s such a tribute to the kids showing us that they respect and they enjoy what we’re doing here at Alamo Heights with the football program. And they grew up and as freshman on campus seeing a state championship. We worked them out those five weeks in nothing but fundamentals. Then as sophomores we worked them out two extra weeks and they were going against varsity kids and older kids. I think a lot of times the kid’s light comes on and they say “Hey this is fun but I’m not having success against these older kids because I’m not strong enough or quick enough.” I think that really ups the tempo and the intensity in the off-season which carries over to each and every season.

Mule Fan: Now on to the state quarter finals and the Lake Travis Cavaliers. They come with a pre-heated reputation is pre-heated of a long winning streak and two straight state titles. But a lot of the boys had a chance to see them in person the last two weeks at the Alamodome. Did that help to demystify them a little?

Coach Byrd: Well I think so. Don’t get me wrong Lake Travis is an outstanding program. Coach Morris does a great job. They have unbelievable community and school support for the football program up there. You can tell by the facilities and the things they’ve accomplished that it’s a complete package. But our kids have been in big games. We’ve played Stony Point and they’re still playing. We’ve played Clark and they’re still playing. Steele is as good as anybody in the state. Everybody in our district challenged us so we’ve been in some big games and we’ve been in big games over the years. So I’m hoping that the kids will believe. The state championship year we had to spend a lot of time with kids and parents and community talking about the fact that “Yes we can take Lamar, we can take Copperas Cove.” It’s been a neat week because I get a feeling that everybody now has bought into it after beating a Calallen and the two games that I just mentioned and even back in the 80’s when we beat New Braunfels and shut them out up there, that we’ve come up against some teams that are at the top in the state and we’ve had success against them. So the mystery and the intimidation by going against a good program I hope is over with. We’ve got to go out and play a perfect game and do some things but half the battle is believing.

Mule Fan: We had a chance to see both of those games in the Alamodome and above all they look to us to be a very patient and disciplined team. What do you think is Lake Travis’ key strength and how will you prepare for dealing with it?

Coach Byrd: They have many weapons on offense. It’s a sound offense. They spread things out. Their running back/receiver is a big play guy. He’s a Manziel (Kerrville QB Johnny) and they’re smart enough to give him the ball a lot. Then they have a well coached offensive line and they have two receivers that are big “go to” guys and a quarterback that makes good decisions. They don’t get penalties and they don’t turn the ball over and they take what the defense gives them. They’re patient on defense. They’re very aggressive. They have some stunt packages that are real sound. They don’t give up the big play. They tackle well in space so you’re going to have to earn what you get. Probably the best part of their team that I’ve been impressed with is their kicking game. Every opponent I’ve seen they start the drive from the 20 or inside making an 80 yard field. That takes a lot more out of your offense to move the ball. Their punt team too. Everything’s sound. They’re a well coached team. They’re like anybody else. They’re human. Their defense does have weaknesses and every play they line up just like every defense. Their offense does have big play guys but they have to execute. We have some things going. I don’t think they’ve seen defensive ends as quick and as big as ours. Michael Warren’s played solid in the middle. Our safeties have done well. Then on offense we’re as balanced as you can get. Out kicking game has done well. So there are some things that Alamo Heights is bringing to the table too.

Mule Fan: We’ve seen some good quarterbacks this year. Their quarterback, Michael Brewer, likes to run a lot of fakes, mis-direction, likes to go to his left and throw and there seem to be lots of plays designed for him to read and create. How do you simulate that in practice?

Coach Byrd: We’ve got three or four films on him and we’ve watched him in person now. You just try and simulate what you think they’re going to try to attack us with and show our players. You can’t show it all but you can show enough of it and hopefully they can shut down what you show them. The stuff that you can’t hopefully they’ll recognize and be able to get better at defending as the game goes on.

Mule Fan: Lots of schools turn out good teams from time-to-time. But these two schools have good programs. There’s a difference in those two things aren’t there?

Coach Byrd: You know it’s hard to pinpoint where the differences are and what it takes. I know we have a great work ethic here at Heights and I know that they have a great work ethic there. I know that their coaches spend a lot of time in the off-season learning technique and schemes to put their kids in a position to have success. You have to work immensely hard on the weights and quickness. And you have to make sure the kids believe in what you’re doing. So there are a lot of things. But being there and doing different things in big games gives you the credibility to be able to get that kind of program.

Mule Fan: We were talking before we started this interview that there have only been this Alamo Heights team and a couple of others that have been this far in the playoffs. It’s early in the week but could you give us a sense of the vibe, the atmosphere in here and can you compare it to the 2006 and 2004 teams that had success at this time of year?

Coach Byrd: There’s a certain air where somewhere along the line the kids decide they just want to be good at playing the game of football. Then it becomes an atmosphere of no mistakes in practice and intense. Then you go out and most of the drills are game-like tempo. The kids are really getting after it and they’re pushing each other and they’re taking pride when they make mistakes of trying to get it corrected. It takes a lot to have that special ingredient that makes a team want to be good. That’s what I’ve been sensing with this team just like we did when we went against Lamar in that year in the Astrodome and had a nice run and then of course the state championship team.

Mule Fan: Good luck this week. It’s a big game for Alamo Heights and we know the kids are cranked up and ready to play.

Coach Byrd: Yeah it’s going to be a lot of fun. I was proud of the crowd we had go down to Corpus and looking forward to having just an unbelievable high school atmosphere Friday at 7:30 in Bobcat Stadium.

Ticket Sales Information for AH vs. Lake Travis on 12/4/09

Tickets are on sale at the Alamo Heights Athletic Office at these hours this week:
Tuesday 8:30 a.m. - Noon & 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday 8:30 a.m. - Noon & 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Thursday 8:30 a.m. - Noon & 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. (Athletic Ofc)
4:45 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. (Muledome)
Friday 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Ticket Prices: Adults - $8
Students - $4 (kinder thru 12th)

AT GATE ALL TICKETS - $10

Mules Playoff Radio: ESPN 1250 The Zone

The Mules really need your support in San Marcos on Friday. So if you can come to the game, please do. But it you cannot make it you can follow the action on ESPN AM 1250 The Zone. Airtime for the pre-game show this Friday is at 7:00 p.m. Ed Suarez and Dave Parker will call all the action. Please say thanks and patronize all of the generous sponsors. If you’re not in town, you can listen to the live broadcast on the internet at www.tsrnsports.com/index.html.


Flash from the Past

Thanksgiving week was a perfect time for a motivational visit from some familiar members of the 2006 Alamo Heights state championship team. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Giovanni Vizza, Sam Dibrell, Adam Bridgeman and Bobby Broadnax stopped by to watch as the Mules prepared for Gregory-Portland, renew some old friendships and take some of the younger boys' meal money. After the workout, the 2006 Mules had a few words of wisdom for the 2009 Mules who want to be where these guys have been. We have a few highlights for you in our video below. You'll hear from Vizza, Broadnax and Bridgeman. Dibrell's comments, while inspirational, have been saved back by the Mule Fan editors for inclusion on the "Bootleg-Uncut Sessions" version which is scheduled to be released just prior to Christmas.






GO MULES!!!!!!!