Alamo Heights 53 Seguin 41 October 4, 2013

Mules Prevail in 53-41 Shootout over Matadors

-Heights Shares Top Spot in District 27-4A

All photos courtesy of Mary Candee-Duilce Design Photography

(Seguin, Texas)--In the first quarter of this game, both coaches were wishing they’d set the game up for “make it-take it.”  It took one hour to play the first quarter and when it was over there were 44 points on the board with the Mules hogging 24 of them.  Mules’ senior running back Byron Proctor and Matador running back Colton Applewhite each had two scores.  And each team’s first two possessions resulted in touchdowns on the way to an exhausting 53-41 Alamo Heights win to run their district record to 2-0.

Byron Proctor on Second of Two 70-Yard Scores

Proctor electrified the AH crowd and sideline with a 70-yard bolt around the right side on the very first play of the first series to put the Mules ahead.  Seguin then scored on the following possession on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Walker Franz to Sheldon Whitson.  The Mules began again from the 30-yard line and Proctor tested the left side on play number one this time.  Same result.  Another 70 yard blast and a touchdown with a sensational move at about the 30 which, had the Seguin players been wearing jocks (nobody does anymore), there would have been a steaming pile of them left behind after this particular eye popping pirouette.   Applewhite answered on the next series, after the Mules kicked off, with a 52-yard TD run of his own.  The Mules responded again with a 26-yard field goal from Robert Carter.  Seguin’s turn then and a drive, which finished with a short one yard score from Applewhite, his second of three for the night.

Soooo Big!

Alamo Heights was not ready to come off the boil yet and reeled off five unanswered touchdowns over the next two quarters featuring two rushes of two and seven yards from Brandon Wasson, Proctor’s third TD of the night from eight yards and two touchdown passes from Dalton Banks to Robert Schuler for 12 and tight end Christian Lalinde from two yards out in his first action of the season.  Kicker Wesley Sparr tacked on a 23-yard field goal early in the 4^th to complete the Heights scoring. But Seguin didn’t give up and scored three times in the 4^th quarter to make things interesting if not slightly uncomfortable. 

Byron Proctor’s body of work on the night was 211 yards on 19 carries and three TD’s.  QB Dalton Banks had a good night as well with 21 for 29 for 235 yards and two TD’s.  Banks worked Lalinde for seven catches and 87 yards to lead the Mules.  Jake Osborne caught four for 62 and Robert Schuler hauled in five for 58 yards.  Seguin’s Colton Applewhite was impressive in the loss rushing for 194 yards on 26 carries. 

Other October 4 District 27-4A Results

Kerrville Tivy 34  Buda Hays 31

Lockhart 0  Clemens 23

Kyle Lehman 3  Boerne Champion 47

District 27-4A Standings

The Happy Totals

Alamo Heights        2-0

Clemens                   2-0

Lockhart                  1-1

Buda Hays               1-1

Boerne Champion  1-1

Kerrville Tivy         1-1

Seguin                      1-1

Kyle Lehman           0-2

“His Inside Voice” 

A weekly discussion with Coach Mike Norment

Mule Fan:  Congratulations on the second district win.  What a first quarter against Seguin.  It had a life of its own.  Have you ever been involved in a game where you were trading scores like you had on Friday?

Coach Norment:  We’ve been in games where we were trading scores but I’ve never been in a game where the first two series were one play 70-yard touchdown runs.  I’ve never had that.  And the third series, if we wouldn’t have gotten the holding call we might have even scored a third time and it would have been a two play drive.  It was wild and wooly and I remember thinking “I hope this isn’t the way the whole game goes” or it would have been a five hour game.

Mule Fan: So you were surprised as anyone at the first quarter track meet.

Coach Norment:  Well I always like to think that we can go up and down the field and score.  Our defense struggled a little bit in the first and fourth quarters.  They played solidly in the second and third, got some turnovers and held Seguin in check.  Those were the big quarters when we were able to build a lead.

Mule Fan:  Things did seem to calm down in the second and third quarters. The Mules scored points and shut Seguin down.  You talked about the turnovers.  Were there any other adjustments that you made to quiet them down after the big first?

Coach Norment:  We made adjustments to look at what they were doing.  They were reloading to see what we were lined up in and then making the call.  Their coach was making the call from the sideline.  Their coach has been around.  He was at Ennis when they won a state championship.  So he knew what to do. So we started to show them some different looks.  We did a great job of putting pressure on the quarterback and putting pressure on the running lanes for the running back plus forcing a couple of turnovers and that was probably the difference in the game.

Mule Fan:  Byron Proctor had a superb game obviously with the three touchdowns including the two long runs back to back.  Then he had a long one called back.  What were the keys to his performance on Friday?

Coach Norment:  Well he always runs hard. He doesn’t need big holes. But overall the line did a really good job of staying on the blocks and also downfield blocking. That comes down to receivers.  We pride ourselves in that our receivers know that they have to go and catch the ball but they also need to block.  We take pride in our receivers being physical and blocking.

Mule Fan:  In Film Night you talked about Seguin’s success on getting a lot of yardage on first down during some points of the game, which then gave them more options to run in their second down packages.  What kind of challenges does that situation present to the defense?

Coach Norment:  Well from a defensive standpoint, if you give up a lot of yards on first down, the offense can do anything they want.  A lot of teams try to get a goal of at least four yards on first down.  If you can hold them to less than that then that forces second and long and that makes a difference in the plays that they can call.  So when Seguin picked up seven, eight and nine yards, then they can do anything on second down and still have third down and possibly a fourth down to get the first down.  So first down is important.  On offense we want to get at least four yards and on defense, we want to stop them from getting at least four yards.

Mule Fan:  Now that we are at the halfway point in the regular season, what feels best about your team at this point?

Coach Norment:  I like the way they play together.  Football is one of the most team oriented sports.  Talking about baseball, it is the same nine guys out there with maybe a sub here or there.  Basketball it is the same five guys on the court with a sub here or there.  In football it is 11 guys on offense and 11 guys on defense and special teams, which is a different set of guys.  You’ve got to rely on your teammates and I think we’ve done a great job of coming together.  When the defense has struggled a little bit the offense picks up the slack.  When the offense has struggled the defense has picked up the slack.  And the special teams have been really big.  We’ve won some games because of special teams.  So I really like the fact that the team has jelled and come together.

Mule Fan:  We’re at a really tricky part of the schedule now in a lot of ways.  Teams that don’t have district wins are really hungry for one.  You can find yourself out of the mix if your team doesn’t win in this middle part of the schedule, which is where Lehman finds itself.  What are you expecting from them?

Coach Norment:  They already have two losses and they understand that if they get a third loss they’re probably out of it.  So they’re going to come out ready.  This is the first time we’ve had to travel a long distance.  This is a little bit further than Seguin.  I’m glad we had Seguin before Lehman because it was the first time we’ve had to travel a long way. So we’ve got that.  I expect Lehman to come after us.  They’re well coached.  Their coach has been around and was at Round Rock Stoney Point when they were having a great run and then he went to Austin McCallum and did a great job there.  So we have to be prepared for anything because they have nothing to lose.  We have a lot to lose so we need to start fast, take care of the ball and make sure that we don’t give them any life.

Mule Fan:  They’ve been giving up a lot of points on defense.  Are there any trends you’re seeing which are putting them in that position?

Coach Norment:  You have to realize that a lot of these points are coming late in games.  At least on film so far, we’ve seen they are pretty basic.  But they’re going to make you try to earn your yards.  They don’t give up a lot of big plays.  They did give up some to Boerne.  We have to continue to get better at our up tempo offense.  There were two times we didn’t score last week. I never want to punt and not score on a drive.  That’s our goal.  We’ve got to get a little bit faster and if we continue to do that improve on offense.  Defensively, when we get a lead we can’t get a let down.  But overall we need to keep on improving each week, each day and this is another week to continue to get better.

Don't Look Thurmond Family-It was a heckuva stop in spite of the ouchie! 

Notes:  For the second consecutive week, the Mules swept the freshman, JV and varsity games…the Mules efficiency in the red zone continues as Alamo Heights has converted 16 of 17 trips to the red zone with scores…the 12 point margin of victory over the Matadors on Friday was the largest margin of victory against Seguin in the “modern” era (meaning since Coach Norment can remember)…Mules QB Dalton Banks is in the top 20 at #20 in total offense in the area with 1,156 yards…Running back Byron Proctor is ranked 7^th in total area scoring with 66 points.

Kyle Lehman Lobos Next Up for Alamo Heights at Bob Shelton Stadium

The Mules will try to add to their four game win streak this Friday October 11 as they travel up IH 35 to Kyle to take on the Lobos at 7:30pm.  Lehman is 1-4 this season and winless in two district tries.  Their only win was against Austin Anderson.  The Lobos have struggled and are scoring less than 15 points per game while allowing nearly 42½. 

The varsity game will be played at Hays CISD Bob Shelton Stadium, 4800 Jack C. Hays Trail
 Buda, Texas  78610

Freshmen will play Thursday at Lehman High School campus, 1700 Lehman Road, Kyle, Texas 78640 at 5:00 and 6:30pm.

JV will play Thursday at Harry B. Orem Stadium at 5:30pm.

Ticket Office Hours for the Week of 10/7 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 to 100 years of age at the gate.  If you’re older than that, we trust you can cut your own sweet deal.  If they’re younger than kindergarten, try and sneak ‘em in.

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!

Cliché Corner – Cuz learnin’ is gud!

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

Choose the football cliché.

A.  Porous Line    B. Chorus line

Answer:  A. weak line against which running is easy or being run on is easy

Editor’s question:  Since we are at the end of the six weeks, we should conduct a test to see what you’ve learnt.  Be prepared for a quiz. 

Introducing….. What You’ve Been Waiting For

We hinted about it last week.  The Sunday Refugio Morning Times speculated in its pages about it.  The Hoof Print camped at our door trying to get the scoop.  Water coolers all over Alamo Heights were drained while folks speculated as to what the Mule Fan had up its sleeve on the well placed “tease” in last week’s edition.  All that stood in the way of this announcement was a Mule Fan board of directors and management layer that rarely parts with tradition and sits on the editorial staff the way Teddy Roosevelt sits on Mount Rushmore.

Presenting the icon that will be presented for outstanding Mule play and leadership on a weekly basis, wait for it, the Alamo Heights Canned Ham Award......

 This aluminum encased sugar-cured delicious pink chunk of porcine goodness is the one meat or meat byproduct that the Mule Fan staff could easily associate with exemplary Mule achievement.  The Mule Fan considered the spiral sliced variety but management quickly rejected this purely on the basis of cost. They directed that pushing the case further would result in the staff being forced to choose the meat of another animal with cloven hoof or settling for deviled ham which is yucky.  So your Mule Fan editorial staff is going “whole hog” (couldn't resist) for the award.  

So in all seriousness, this week the Alamo Heights Canned Ham Award goes to senior running back Byron Proctor who had a stellar night against Seguin piling up 211 yards on 19 carries and three touchdowns including two consecutive scoring gallops of 70 yards each in the first two possessions of the game for the Mules.  Congratulations Byron! 

Inside Story:  The truth is that your editor is also a huge baseball fan whose favorite Japanese team is the Nippon Ham Fighters.  The editor would love to have a jersey or t-shirt from these folks.  In fact, this editor aches for it.  It is true that Ham never stops fighting.  This is reason that it was determined that the feisty meat must be restrained in vacuum-sealed aluminum.