Kerrville Tivy 32 Alamo Heights 28 October 18, 2013

Mules Drop a Close One to Kerrville Tivy

            -Alamo Heights part of a crowd at top of District 27-4A

This one had everything but weather even though at the beginning of the night you would have thought that was also going to be in the mix.  Thankfully the rain stopped early so a wet field did not complicate matters. What did challenge the Mules was a run-pass total offense coming out party of 493 yards for Kerrville Tivy that handed Alamo Heights its first district loss 32-28 at Harry B. Orem Stadium last Friday night. Tivy also had to overcome an institutional sized order of penalties themselves as they were flagged 14 times for 145 yards. 

Tivy’s sophomore quarterback Cade Dyal connected 18 times in 28 attempts for 227 yards while giving the Mules fits with his scrambling and running back Adrian Medran broke loose for 184 yards in 27 carries and four TD’s.  Medran’s last two scores were for eight yards each and some collective gut-sizzle for the Mules in a frenzied fourth quarter in which the Mules were unable to score or stop Kerrville.  As one dad at Film Night said, “if we could have banked a couple extra minutes or cut it short three or four, who knows.”  A last minute drive to get the Mules close enough to at least try a field goal went to ground before they had the chance. 

For the Mules, a mixture of turnovers and penalties, and the timing of same, didn’t help their cause along with more chasing on Tivy first downs than they are comfortable doing.  Still, a resiliency was evident as they retained the lead going into the late stages of the game.  The Mules passing game shined through the loss.  For the most part, it was an effective night from the offensive line giving protection for quarterback Dalton Banks to connect on 21 of 47 passing attempts for 266 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions.  Banks and running back Byron Proctor connected nine times for 116 yards and a touchdown.  Scotty Uhl, Christian Lalinde, Jeffrey Dubrof, Robert Schuler, Jake Osborne and Noah Hernandez all made some impressive grabs for Alamo Heights in the loss.  Defensively the Mules produced three interceptions from Mitchell Abramson, Cameron Dawley and Jay Hargrove.

The loss for the Mules dropped their season record to 5-2 and district to 3-1, which along with other district 27-4A developments resulted in a Saturday morning four-team crowd at the top of the standings.  The road calls again this week as Alamo Heights will trek up to Lockhart which is 3-4 on the year and mathematically still alive for the playoffs with a 1-3 record and has won eight of their last nine home games.  Lockhart runs an old school offense, which Coach Norment talks about in his section.  Bottom line is it wouldn’t be much fun to be a receiver up there and the quarterbacks never have to ice their arm.  They’ve thrown 28 passes all year!   The Mules do that in a half.  It’ll be an important district clash for Alamo Heights and all are encouraged to attend.

 

Mule Notes:  Lockhart has a natural grass field, which will be the only time in the regular season the Mules play on grass.  They barely practice on it.  Hope  nobody has allergies…Sub-5A area rankings have Alamo Heights at #3 behind Clemens at 2 and ahead of Boerne Champion at 4 with Brennan undefeated and #1…Bryon Proctor moved into the lead in area scoring this week with 108 points…Dalton Banks is ninth in total offense with 1,837 yards, 6^th in passing with 1,583 yares (just a notch or two away from a kid at Somerset named Detmer-yep same bloodlines)…Robert Schuler is 6^th in area receiving with 38 catches…Byron Proctor needs to average 70.33 yards in his remaining three regular season games to achieve 1,000 rushing yards for the season.

“His Inside Voice” 

A weekly discussion with Coach Mike Norment

Mule Fan:  Coach, the Antlers probably put up their best game of the year in terms of total offense.  Match that with four Mule turnovers, penalties and a banged up defense yet they still had to make a time consuming 4^th quarter drive to pull ahead and make plays to win the game.  Yet we still had a chance to win it and it came down to the last portion of the game.  How did you see this one on balance?

Coach Norment:  You have to take your hats off to Tivy because they played very well.  Their backs were against the wall and they came out.  We had our chances in the first half.  We played really well overall in the first half and had our chances to get a big lead, at least a two or three touchdown lead, and we weren’t able to do that.  With that, the longer Tivy hung around, the more confidence they got and by the end of the game they were playing with a lot more confidence and lot more intensity than the Mules were.  We had our chances but it wasn’t to be.  So we’re going to have to regroup and get ready for Lockhart.

Mule Fan:  You talked about confidence and a lot of things happen in a game to swing that back and forth.  At the end of the second quarter the Alamo Heights turnover at the end of the long drive had to require some psychology in your locker room while Tivy was using it to their advantage in theirs. But you still had the lead.  What did you say to the guys at halftime to make sure they kept it in perspective?

Coach Norment:  Well we reminded them that in the first half, Tivy hadn’t done anything to stop us.  The Mules stopped themselves.  Now in the second half Tivy played a lot better.  But we played better in the first half and we just needed to continue to do that offensively.  Our defense came up with some big stops in the first half. They had one drive that we had opportunities to stop them and they ended up scoring.  But we still had a lead. So we were playing well enough and at halftime we were better off than when we started the game so we were feeling very confident at halftime.

Mule Fan:  In the end they were the making plays and had an intensity that was difficult to overcome?

Coach Norment:  They had an opportunity to win the game and they took it. The Mules had an opportunity and weren’t able to take it.  Like I told the kids it was a team effort from the coaches down to the scout team and that we needed to do a better job.  So this week that’s what we’re planning on doing.

Mule Fan:  You’ve talked a lot this year in these chats about the kids facing adversity and what that prepares them to do.  Well here’s a little bit of adversity coming off a loss at home to a district rival. How will the earlier experiences of this season help them bounce back?

Coach Norment:  Well we’re going to find out.  That’s what I told them.  I think having faced that adversity throughout this year, and we’re still going through it, it can’t do anything but help.  We’re not going to be surprised.  We’ve had a lot of players that have had to step into positions that aren’t natural to them.  We’ve had to move some people around.  We’ve had second and third string people moving up and getting a lot of playing time.  And overall they’re getting better.  So if nothing else, we have a lot more depth. When we start getting some of these hurt players healthy and back, we’re going to have a lot more depth at the end of the season than we started the season with.

Mule Fan:  Let’s talk about Lockhart. This is an important game for them. They play a traditional offense.  This is a team that is difficult to prepare for during the week and it is also difficult for them to prepare for us.  They don’t run anything like the Mules do so it is foreign territory for them.  What is your preparation like for Lockhart?

Coach Norment:  It’s going to be challenging because they really DON’T run a traditional offense.  It’s an “old-timey” offense in the fact that it is a run offense with a slot T and a wing T and basically all 22 players are going to be right there by the football.  It is a running offense.  It’s a ball control running offense. Their goal is to get three and a half yards per play.  If they only get three and a half yards, they’re happy.  If they get close, they’ll go for it on fourth down.  It’s a challenge to recreate that because it is something so foreign to our kids.  We actually had to sit down and come up with two scout teams and pick players that we wanted to play certain positions.  Whereas what we usually do is get the guys out there with basically our offense and we make a few changes. These are wholesale changes that we have to do.  The first day we did it was Monday and overall it looked pretty good.  Our kids gave the defense a good look. The challenge for them is we are a true spread offense that runs and throws the ball.  We do both and we’ve checked it. We are basically a 50-50 pass to run. Not exactly but real close.  So that poses a challenge for them because they have to recreate our offense.  So it’ll be a challenge for both teams of trying to do a good job getting the defenses prepared to face each other.

Mule Fan:  Just on that, you’ve got a team in Lockhart that tries to keep its offense on the field for a long time.  What does this do for your planning in terms of substitution and personnel?

Coach Norment:  We just have to realize that we’re going to try to stay fresh.  We can’t let them make a lot of yardage on first down because that’s the key.  If they make a lot of yards on first down then they’re ahead of the sticks.  If we can get them for a loss or no gain then they’re behind the sticks and they can’t average their three and half yards per carry and get the first down.  So that’s going to be key.  The defense needs to get as many three and outs as they can.  The disadvantage of this offense is that if we can get a lead, a two touchdown or three touchdown lead, they have a hard time catching up.

 

Other District 27-4A Results October 17 & 18, 2013

Buda Hays 38 Clemens 28

Kyle Lehman 24 Seguin 21

Boerne Champion 50 Lockhart 13

District 27-4A Standings

Alamo Heights        3-1

Clemens                    3-1

Buda Hays                3-1

Boerne Champion  3-1

Kerrville Tivy          2-2

Lockhart                   1-3

Seguin                       1-3

Kyle Lehman           1-3

Upcoming District 27-4A Schedule 10/25/13

Alamo Heights at Lockhart

Buda Hays at Seguin

Kyle Lehman at Kerrville Tivy

Boerne Champion at Clemens

Management Tricks Writers into Halloween Assignment

Union bosses who led our recent negotiations with management to get us back into these grimy and squalid offices and generally miserable working conditions to write for you each week, surprised us with a “little detail” about our new deal.  We were “asked” by management to crank out some “holiday pieces” whenever our schedule coincided with a major holiday.  They liberally included such trivial Hallmark events such as Arbor Day, Bosses Day and National Donut Day amongst other more easily recognized ones like Salamander Appreciation Day and Fun with Velvet Week.  Well, since we missed Bosses Day, we are already in breach.  We were basically tricked into this.  We would have gladly agreed to writing something Thanksgiving week since we all know that means the Mules would still be playing and fingers are crossed for that!  So in order to take some heat off of a worn out writing staff, we agreed to write Halloween stuff starting with emotionally moving, but scary and spine-tingling poems.

There once was a Mule Fan named Mary,

            whose armpits were hairy and smelly.

But loudly she cheered in spite of a beard that was sticky

            and filled with grape jelly.

Alternate Halloween version….

There once was a Mule Fan named Sean,

            Who spent too much time in the john

From there he cheered loudly, and shouted out proudly,

            My love of the Mules is just scary!

Halloween trivia:

Worst all time Halloween themed song:  “The Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt Kickers

Best Halloween song that also has reference to the economy:  “Gouls Just Want to Have Funds” by the Alfred Hitchclock and His Digital Timer Band

           

What is the one thing that can scare a Mule?  A saddle

What is the most misunderstood part of a candy bar:  The nougat

Happy All Hallows Eve from the Editor and staff of the Mule Fan.  Remember to brush your teeth.

  

Cliché Corner – Cuz learnin’ is gud!

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

Choose the football cliché.

A.  Shut down corner  B. Bargain Hunter

Answer:  A.  Skillful defensive backfield player

   

Dulce Designs Snaps ‘Em

When there are Mules in motion, Mary Candee is not far away.  We appreciate all the wonderful photos that Mary provides for the Mule Fan.  The Mule Fan would draw pictures of all the action but photos seem so much better and we just don’t have enough pens.  But truly great photos come from the keen eye and 750 pound lenses that Mary hauls around.  There is a shot of every movement at a game and not just players.  There are photos of the band, cheerleaders, bus drivers, grandparents sneezing, and more.  Check out all her shots each week at www.dulcedesigns.photreflect.com.  

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.  Ed Suarez and Dave Parker will call the action.  And don’t forget to patronize the broadcast sponsors and tell ‘em thanks!

Ticket Office Hours for the road trip week of 10/21 are Wednesday and Thursday from 8:30am-12:00pm & 1:30pm-3:00pm and Friday from 8:30am-3:00pm.  Tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students.  Tickets are $7 from kinder and up if you buy them at the gate.   

Offensive Line Collects Ham

After looking at game film with Coach Norment, it was clear that the offensive line had a pretty nice night against Kerrville.  We know they'd like to have a few series back for a do-over late in the fourth quarter to make it a spotless effort but we'll still toss them a ham.  They'll have to share it.  Notably this won't be easy when you consider the caloric capacity of your typical offensive lineman.  Just look at the main course that Big Lou's Pizzeria served up to the Mules offense last Thursday night.  It would take two schools of anchovies to cover those things.  Big Lou's features small, medium, large and man-hole cover sized pizzas.  Worth noting that to-go boxes were not necessary.  These had to be lowered in by crane.

Mule Fan Mail Bag:  As part of our community outreach program, the Mule Fan would to like to always remind the Mule Nation that we will consider your input from story and topic suggestions to cruel criticism.  We bend but don't break.  The person who suggested that we write using all emoticons and no vowels we say thanks but the little emoticons make us laugh too hard to write productively. They're so silly, right? Especially the ones where the little eyes are winking.  Cracks me up! So we cannot do it.  But it was a good idea.  Please feel free to make any suggestions to make your Mule Fan experience a pleasant one to bobcohen@sbcglobal.net.  After all, you've paid the subscription which line the pockets of our disgustingly greedy publisher and board of directors who have not even attended a game this year. 

Go Mules!!! See you in Lockhart.