Boerne Champion 17 Alamo Heights 41 September 27, 2013

Chargers Declined at Checkout

-Mules Blast Boerne Champion 41-17

In a big district opener featuring two top five ranked sub 5A area teams, Alamo Heights continued its mastery of Boerne Champion on Friday at Harry B. Orem Stadium winning its fifth straight against the Chargers 41-17 and an early share of the top spot in District 27-4A. They did it with an effective blend of all three phases of the game-offense, defense and special teams.  Boerne Champion has never beaten Alamo Heights.  Alamo Heights improved its season record to 3-1 and has won three straight after dropping the season opener to O’Connor. 

Photos courtesy of Mary Candee-Dulce Design Photography

The Mules overcame a heavily penalized first quarter to run to a 31-3 lead at the halftime break including an impressive opening scoring drive after Zach McConnell recovered a game opening onside kick to Boerne.  A balanced passing and running attack from the Mules offense stacked up three scores from senior running back Byron Proctor on runs of 12 and seven yards and a pass reception and run of 10 yards which featured an athletic jump move into the end zone.  Proctor finished with 72 yards on 15 carries.  Brandon Wasson added 48 yards on seven carries.  Junior Mule QB Dalton Banks was impressive again in the victory passing for 240 yards and two TD’s hitting 24 out of 35 attempts.  Banks added a one-yard touchdown plunge in the third quarter as well.  The Mules offensive line was impressive on the night leaving Banks plenty of time to work and was efficient on seven scoring drives.  Of particular note was a withering 12-play drive in the 2^nd quarter where Banks and senior receiver Robert Schuler connected on several pass plays including a four yard scoring pass from Dalton Banks and a diving catch earlier to set it up.   The Mules no huddle offense worked to near perfection on the drive as the Boerne defense was visibly exhausted by the end of it.  Schuler finished the night with 10 catches for 101 yards and a score including a play featuring a jackknifing leap out of a double team to snare a dart from Banks (featured in the photo to the right).  Mules’ receiver/QB Scotty Uhl collected four passes from Banks for 58 yards and a nifty over the shoulder sideline grab.  Noah Hernandez had four catches for 35 yards and Jake Osborne, Jeffrey Dubrof, Bruno Fontana also had grabs for Heights.

The Mules defense was nastier than a liver pizza on this night and continues to impress.  After studying film on Boerne running back Travis Pospisil’s 305 yard-six touchdown night the previous Friday against Marble Falls, the Mules were well prepared and having none of it locking down the Express News offensive player of the week to a pedestrian 18 yards on 10 carries.   Senior defensive end Ben McSween made life miserable for Chargers’ quarterback Josh Green with 2 ½ sacks.  Green managed only eight completions on 10 attempts and 87 yards.  Other defensive standouts were sophomore defensive lineman Stone Tarver and linebacker Zach McConnell.  The defense held Boerne to 181 yards of total offense.  Boerne’s most impressive play of the night was a nuclear 50-yard field goal off the leg of kicker Clayton Hatfield as time ran out to give the Chargers their only points of the first half.  Hatfield was recognized with a game ball from the San Antonio Express News for this blast.

Photos courtesy of Mary Candee-Dulce Design Photography

            After three straight games at home, Alamo Heights hits the road this Friday to take on Seguin at 7:30 at Matador Stadium.  The Matadors dropped their district opener to Lockhart 24-21 last week.  It was Seguin’s first loss of the young season after jumping out to a 3-0 start. 

“His Inside Voice” 

A weekly discussion with Coach Mike Norment

Mule Fan: It is great to open district with a win against Boerne Champion and the Mules did it using all three phases – offense, defense and special teams – and got it all rolling with special team play.  How did that opening kickoff and drive affect the game?

Coach Norment:  We really talk about trying to win all three phases.  We started off with an onside kick and were able to get it so that sort of set the tone.  And then the offense was able to use that and go down and score.  Then the defense was able to stop them.  So that definitely set the tone for the whole game.  We got a stop, stole a possession and were able to score and were able to continue that throughout the game.

Mule Fan:  A lot was made of Boerne’s running back Pospisil getting over 300 yards rushing the week before, six TD’s, Express News Player of the Week and you guys kept him to 18 yards on 10 carries.  What did you do specifically to bottle him up?

Coach Norment:  The defensive staff did a great job of game planning and looking at what they did and coming up with a game plan to not only stop him but also to be able to stop the other phases of their offense because they had thrown the ball before that.  Also our defense just executed it very well.  They were able to push the line of scrimmage back and gave him fewer running lanes to run through.  That’s the key for running backs.  If the line of scrimmage is going towards them and they don’t have the running lanes then they can’t make the cuts and get up the field.  He was not able to do that.

Mule Fan:  It was impressive that your offense was able to roll up 31 points in the first half with a lot of penalties to overcome.  How did you secure that focus when you momentum was being interrupted by penalties?

Coach Norment:  Well the kids just did a great job.  And there were some discussions on the sidelines (Editor’s note:  A discussion is generally understood to include an exchange of ideas.  However, from having studied the Book of Norment, the Mule Fan doubts that many of these aforementioned sideline “discussions” featured much exchange but rather were decidedly more one-sided as penalties approached the century mark.) that were a little heated (Editor’s note:  See what we mean?) to make sure we cut that out and at the same time we just went over the basics and remember how we’re supposed to do these things.  So they themselves overcame what they were doing.  And looking back, some of those penalties we actually did hold or jump and that is something we’re going to have to address because in a tight game in the future that’s going to come back and bite us so we had to address it.  But I do like the fact that if you look at the second half, we had very few penalties.

Mule Fan:  There was a 12-play drive in the second quarter that ended with a nifty little jump touchdown pass from Banks to Schuler from four yards out.  It ate up a lot of clock and it was noticeable that the Boerne defense was gassed.  Did that stick out in your mind as being one of your best drives out of your no huddle offense this year?

Coach Norment:  Well there were a couple of drives that toward the end of the drive where it was obvious that maybe our conditioning was a little bit better than theirs in the fact that we weren’t showing any outward signs of fatigue and some of their players were.  That’s something that we preach throughout the year that we need to be in great shape to run this type of offense.

Mule Fan:  Are you seeing that you’re getting any sort of clear differentiation of the number of plays your offense is running in a game vs what your opponents are seeing on average from other opponents before they play Alamo Heights?

Coach Norment:  Well that depends on the game.  It can be deceiving.  If you have a big lead you’re going to slow down.  If it’s a close game you’re getting the plays in as quickly as you can.  It depends on what the defense is doing. If they’re on the field a lot, we’re going to slow it down a little bit.  So we’re going to change the tempo based on the game situation and what needs to be done. But I like the fact that at halftime last Friday we had right at 50 plays.

Mule Fan:  You talked in our Film Night that the Mules have scored now in 13 of 14 trips into the red zone.  What’s been the key to that efficiency?

Coach Norment:  We’ve always worked the red zone but we’ve done a really good job of executing. Because when you get in the red zone the field gets condensed.  We are a spread offense, a one back offense.  So we’re not going to be able to power you most of the time.  So we have to come up with some other ways.  We’ve looked at the competition and see what we think we have in our arsenal that will work and work on it that week.  The kids have gone out and executed.  The fact that we haven’t had any turnovers in the red zone has definitely helped. 

Mule Fan:  So looking now towards Seguin.  They suffered their first loss against Lockhart last week.  What was Lockhart able to throw at them?

Coach Norment:  Lockhart runs an offense that is going to be difficult to contain.  We’re going to have a hard time when we play them.  They run a slot wing T.  They run the ball using different blocking combinations.  It is something that is hard to reproduce in practice because no one runs it anymore.  When I was playing everyone ran it but now no one does so it gives them a unique advantage in the fact that it is hard to recreate it in scout team so you don’t get a true look at the speed.  We can sort of recreate the blocks.  But it is going to be hard.  So Seguin had difficulty with that offense and a lot of teams are.  At the same time, Seguin really had a pretty good game.  They had a lead and just let it go at the end.  And so Seguin is still a very good team and is dangerous. They know that two losses in league play will put them in a hole so they’ll come out knowing that their backs are against the wall.

Mule Fan:  Seguin has always had big boys.  What does it look like this year?

Coach Norment: They have big kids again.   They’re big on both lines.  Of course, they’re athletic.  They have a quarterback that was all district or second team all district last year. This is their homecoming so they have a lot of reasons to have a great game.  We’re going to have to be ready for a huge game against them.

Last week’s other District 27-4A Results

Buda Hays 56  Kyle Lehman 34

Clemens 27  Kerrville Tivy 0

 

District 27-4A Standings

Alamo Heights (1-0)

Lockhart (1-0)

Hays (1-0)

Clemens (1-0)

Seguin (0-1)

Kerrville (0-1)

Boerne (0-1)

Lehman (0-1)

Notes: Alamo Heights is averaging 38.25 points per game and giving up 26 per game…The Mules remain at the #2 spot in the Express News Sub-5A area rankings behind Brennan.  Clemens and Boerne Champion are also in the top 5 from District 27-4A…Film Night returns to the regular Monday night schedule this coming week October 7 in the Oaks-COME OUT AND SUPPORT FILM NIGHT (Especially you varsity parents.  You cannot call yourself a complete Mules Fan without doing film night.  If nothing else, you must come to learn the secret handshake and drink from the magic waters where many Mules have slurped before you.)

Express News Honors:

Senior linebacker Zach McConnell was given a game ball from the San Antonio Express News this week for his efforts against Boerne Champion.  McConnell, who has been all over the place for the Mules on defense, recovered three fumbles including two on special teams.  Congratulations to Zach!

Photos courtesy of Mary Candee-Dulce Design Photography

Mules Dine Out Days

Cheesy Jane's will have a Dine Out Day on Wednesday October 2nd from 11:00am until 9:00pm. Dine in or take out just put your receipt in the Mule bucket. They are donating 20 percent of the total receipts! Get your business or office to buy lunch.  Grab dinner here after the game.  There is construction on Broadway so you can drive down New Braunfels and make a right on either Allensworth or Pershing and then make a right onto Broadway. This is our first time to do a Dine Out Day at Cheesy Jane's so let's have a huge turnout! 

Mules on Radio and Online

If you can’t get out to the stadium, follow the Mules on KBUC 92.5/93.3 FM or www.TSRNsports.com.  Dave Parker and Albert Gonzales will call the action.  And don’t forget to patronize the broadcast sponsors and tell ‘em thanks!

Seen and Heard

Little Karis Moody, daughter of Heights Defensive Coordinator Luke Moody and former Mules assistant trainer and Health Fitness Specialist Adriana Moody, made a splashy appearance in the stands in Momma’s arms at halftime looking fabulous and wearing Stella McCharmley cheerleading togs embroidered with golden thread spelling out Lil’ Moody. We don’t know what she was wearing on her feet because by halftime she was barefoot. (But her toes were cute!).   

Who’s Your Patty??

            -Get your tickets in advance; read on

-Tickets for Seguin on sale through Friday at 3:00p.m.

The Mule Fan editorial staff has learned through the years that if you want some official information, you go to Athletic Department Manager Patty Juarez in the AH Athletic office.  As a an old bearded gentleman once told us, “If Patty don’t know it, it ain’t known.”  Patty says tickets for this week’s district clash with Seguin are available in the AH athletic office at the reduced price of $6 for adults and $3 for students.  Tickets are $7 at the gate in Seguin. In these challenging economic times, why leave money on the table? Get your tickets early and save! 

Ticket Office Hours for the Week of 9/30 are Wednesday and Thursday from 8:30am-12:00pm and 1:30pm-3:00pm and Friday from 8:30am-3:00pm. 

Seguin Pregame Tailgate

Photos courtesy of Mary Candee-Dulce Design Photography

Steve Thomas, daddy of Mules senior offensive tackle Zander Thomas, and his crew (to be featured in a future Mule Fan edition) are "men of the flame" and lovingly prepare all of the hot dogs and Kiolbassa Sausage Wraps that are consumed at Harry B. Orem Stadium for all home games, after they wash their hooves and put on hair nets of course.  But when the Mules travel, daddy Steve becomes the Guy Fieri of Alamo Heights pre game activity (without the spiked hair) carefully selecting where the Mule faithful shall dine before our boys dine on the opponent. This week Thomas has selected El Ranchito in Seguin as the place where the good ship Mule will drop anchor.  El Ranchito is at 983 N. Hwy 123 Bypass directly across from the stadium.  The Mule Fan staff remembers this location from earlier trips and can support Thomas' selection.  El Ranchito provided the Mules traveling circus with more than the required minimum daily dose of carbohydrates, fats and vitamin tex-mex. A good time was had by all.  Hungry varsity families plan on circling up between 5p-6p.  Join us!

Schedule Note for JV and Freshman Mules-Games are Wednesday this week; not Thursday to accommodate Seguin Homecoming Week Activities

The Junior Varsity plays at home this week on Wednesday at 5:00pm.  The Freshmen hit the road to play at Seguin on Wednesday at 5:00pm and 6:30pm.  Try and make it out and support our upcoming Mules.  The Mule Fan editorial staff will be fanning out to staff the Junior Varsity game.  We hear both JV and Freshman squads are a salty bunch. 

  

Cliché Corner – Cuz learnin’ is gud!

Impress your friends; baffle your enemies with all this nawlidge.

Choose the football cliché.

A.  He’s a rolling ball of butcher knives    B. Ginsu Knife

Answer:  A. Strong, fast, beast-like running back that is difficult to tackle

It’s Coming – A Weekly Award Acknowledging Fine Mule Play……

            Watch this space.  A coveted symbolic icon will be rolled out and presented weekly, or whenever the Mule Fan staff is inspired to do so.  The Mule Fan searched far and wide for an appropriate item to recognize fine play.  It has been decided.....