The Mule Fan

Looking Back:

AH Mules vs. Medina Valley Panthers

“Must have been a great Halftime speech!”

Well, not taking a game seriously can get you in trouble, and Friday night the Mules almost learned a hard lesson. The playoffs are all about showing up to play for 48 minutes or it could be your last time in the pads, and that should be one of the many motivations to play every play like it's your last. Though the Mules pulled out a 23-15 victory, Medina Valley didn’t make it easy from the opening kickoff.

The Panther's game-plan seemed to be to let the Mules know early that you can't just show up and win, and that they were in the playoffs for a reason. The Panthers received the opening kickoff and from their own 25-yard line, drove the ball in 4 minutes and 22 seconds to post 6 points and put the Mules down early 7-0 after the extra point. With our first possession resulting in a punt and down 7-0, you could see the surprise and frustration on the boys and the coaches. After our defense held on their next possession, G-man Hisle returned the punt to the Panthers 40-yard line. The Mules drove the ball down to the 3-yard line and hit a wall. Stern came in and puts 3 points on the board for the Mules (7-3 MV). We traded punches the rest of the half with both sides turning the ball over, which resulted in another Stern FG and a 7-6 halftime score with the Panthers leading.

Our boys were shocked, but our coaches were motivated to communicate the displeasure of the effort in the first half, and again as mentioned in a prior post, the need for a “cranial rectal removal” (which is the head removal from an orifice of the body). The coaches explained at halftime that this procedure should take place immediately in order to stop any score board hemorrhage in the second half, and put them in a position to travel next week for Thanksgiving instead of practicing football for another playoff game.

And than the 2nd half started…… You could see the transformation from “what are we going to do” to “here is what we have to do”. Our opening drive of the 2nd half was impressive. The Mules drove the ball 65 yards in two and a half minutes and 7 plays that ended with a 17-yard touchdown strike from Elder to Richter that put the Mules on top 13-7. This catch by Zach Richter is one you have to see if you missed it...a one hand lay-out in the corner of the end zone. Our defense held again, and from 12-yards out, Andy Brooks took it in for a 20-7 lead after a Stern extra point. Brooks had 51 yards on 9 carries and 1 TD for the night alongside WTT Thompson's 97 yards on 20 carries.

Again this week, we ran the ball on another team with our offense only attempting 12 passes the entire game. The wind and the running game effectiveness had a lot to do with the low number of pass attempts. From there it was back and forth until with a great 4th quarter drive into the wind ended with a Stern 20-yard FG and a 23-7 lead. The Panthers had a lot of fight still left. They saw that they needed only 2 scores and both 2-point conversions to tie the game and put us into overtime. With 3:46 left in the game, the Panthers put the first half of the needed points on the board to make it 23-15, and that’s were it ended.

I am proud of our boys for fighting hard in the second half and coming together to finish Medina Valley. The coaches had a good plan to control the ball and the clock and here we are to fight another day. My thoughts are that we will not start as slow this week against Cedar Park-Vista Ridge as we did last week. This is how we roll!!!

Way to Go Zach!

Zach Richter’s one handed touchdown catch was the Instant Replay Catch of the Week on KSAT 12’s weekly sports broadcast, Instant Replay. It was amazing! Watch it here:

Chirps from the Byrd - Head Coach Byrd, that is:

Mule Fan: What was your analysis of last Friday's playoff win against Medina Valley?

Coach Byrd: I think through the whole first half our guys were waiting for someone else to get the game going - to make the big hit, or the interception, or a big run for a touchdown. I think they were thinking that "when that happens, then I'm going to get excited and we're gonna start playing". I told them, "You need to be that guy! Quit looking around and waiting for someone else to make a play! Our guys worked hard all week at practice and then they didn't go make plays on Friday night. I tell them it's like a job and you wouldn't work all week long and then not go get your paycheck! They needed to be a little hungrier and we're getting there. The boys know now that they're not going to get away with that from here on in. There has been so much talk by the boys about our playoff bracket - that it doesn't have a Godzilla in there like a Lake Travis or a highly ranked state team. I told them, "quit worrying about all that - go out there and play against the team we face this week, and then another team will show up the next week. We don't need to try to figure it out....we don't need to to invite the other team, they will be there so you don't need to worry. We've had success in the playoffs over the years because they have learned to take it one game at a time. And that's where we need to get - focused on the task ahead.

Mule Fan: What was your halftime speech? The guys went into the locker room looking one way and they came out a different team.

Coach Byrd: Well, I had about four aspirins when I got home. I'm too old to get all that blood in my head! I just emphasized the point to the best of my ability that I didn't think they were fighting anywhere near the way they needed to. It isn't just one position or one side of the ball or anything. Guys are falling forward - not enough guys around the ball on defense. On offense we would make two or three plays and then we would fall over or drop the ball, or overthrow the pass, or we don't pick up the blitz. I told them "to me, the best thing I can tell is that you didn't come out in the first half and respect this opponent". "Did you actually think these guys were going to lay down?" The guys didn't really blow any assignments, they really didn't. They just weren't playing quicker than the other team and they weren't playing more physically and with more heart. And I brought that to their attention several times during halftime and it woke them up and they did a nice job in the 2nd half.

Mule Fan: The last two games you have run the ball more and passed only 12 times each game. What was your strategy behind that?

Coach Byrd: Against Clemens, the running game was there. We had 340 yards rushing, so when you see you're having that much success running the ball, it's hard to pass that up. Last Friday, we looked so bad throwing the ball in the first half, I said "heck with it, we can run and win". So we ran the ball in the 2nd quarter. The guys could tell I was mad, because I didn't call many pass plays, if any. In the 3rd quarter, after we talked at halftime, we passed a little more because we had the wind, and then in the 4th quarter we didn't want to throw the ball - we were going to try to let the clock run and every snap on offense was valuable. But, we are going to have to throw the ball this week and be balanced.

Mule Fan: What can we expect from Vista Ridge?

Coach Byrd: They are a very talented team. They have a huge offensive line. They're not as quick as Medina Valley, but very big. I'm hoping our quickness will offset that. Defensively, they run a 50 front. They have a nose guard #90, weighs 295 lbs.. He a huge guy, not real quick, but again, we hope our quickness will offset that. Their linebacker, #21, is as good as we've seen. He's not a huge kid, but he's aggressive and gets to the ball. Offensively, they have two very quick guys, #1 and #5, and they move them around. They will put them in the backfield, put them at receiver. They even put one at QB when they run the Wildcat formation. Their Quarterback does a nice job. Other coaches that have played Vista Ridge have said that they underestimated the running ability of their quarterback. So we're going to have to play hard on defense. They are a spread team, but they run all kinds of formations. But we've seen a lot of those formations by now so we hope we can line-up effectively. They are a well coached team and I think we match up well. It gets down to who plays the smartest and who doesn't make the mistakes and turn the ball over. We are going to have to take care of business, and Friday's game should be a great challenge for us.

Looking Ahead:

AH Mules vs. Cedar Park Vista Ridge Rangers

Friday, November 19th - 7:30 PM

Bob Shelton Stadium, Hays High School, Buda

It's round two of the playoffs and this week the Mules face off against the Rangers from Vista Ridge. Last week, Vista Ridge beat Austin Travis (not Lake Travis) 41-6. But they did lose to Lake Travis three weeks earlier 42-0! The Rangers are coming off their most successful season in school history and were the top seed for Division II in their district with a 4-2 district record. Currently the Rangers are 9-2. Their losses came from Lake Travis and Cedar Park. Cedar Park actually beat Lake Travis this year to win their district. Vista Ridge only lost to Cedar Park by one point, 35-36. So the Mules have their work cut out for them this weekend. This is the Rangers first year back as a 4-A school after having a tough two-year stint in 5-A.

Players to watch are running backs/receivers Chris Showels, #1, and Jaylen Harris, #5, both with 4.4 speed. Showels leads the team in rushing with an average of 84 yards per game. Last week against Austin Travis he had 106 yards rushing - in the first half. Jaylen Harris, #5, was named the outstanding player of the game. A starter on offense and defense, he had 3 tackles and one pass break up. On offense, he caught an 88 yard TD pass. Quarterback Blake Estes, #12, is averaging 146 yards passing per game and 205 total yards per game. On defense, linebacker Mason Thorn, #21, is averaging 11 tackles per game. Nose guard #90, Jon Cryer is tough on the defensive line, weighing 295 lbs. and offensive guard Scott Guillen weighs in at 300 lbs.

These are two pretty evenly matched teams. Both teams have an overall record of 9-2. Vista Ridge has averaged 29 points per game compared to 30 points per game for the Mules. It should be a great game as the Blue and Gold from Alamo Heights takes on the Black and Red from Vista Ridge. Our Mules need our fan support, so make plans to attend. The game will be played at Bob Shelton Stadium at Hays High School in Buda. The Mules defeated Kyle Lehman there a few weeks ago, 63-14, so we have some good experience on that field.

We look forward to seeing everyone Friday night at 7:30 PM. Come early, be loud, stay late! It's win or go home time. Come out and cheer on the Mules!!!