Alamo Heights 28, Buda Hays 35 November 8, 2013-Playoff Edition

Mules Come Up Short in Quest for 27-4A Crown; Buda Hays takes title 35-28

            -Lanier First Hurdle in Playoff Bracket

            -Mules Get Home Field Friday at Harry B. Orem

Photos courtesy of Mary Candee
http://dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com

(Kyle, Texas)—You’ll hear coaches talk about the turnover battle as usually a key to a game.  And so it went for Alamo Heights on a high octane effort from both teams last Friday at Bob Shelton Stadium as the Mules came up short in an effort to take the district 27-4A crown and become outright champion with Buda Hays coming out on top 35-28.  It’s tough for all involved to see a hot performance go by the boards but the boys woke up on Saturday morning, the world keeps turning and now there’s a playoff bracket to deal with and a “do over” of last season’s early playoff exit as the final standings shook out a home game opener for the Mules this Friday against Lanier. 

            For most of the night against Buda, the Mules offensively looked like all they had to do was press “enter” and a scoring drive was produced.  Once the Mules got revved up, they put together several withering multi-play drives putting Hays back on their heels. But on this night, the bugaboo was the turnover score with Buda giving back one to the Mules four. And Buda made plays, which converted those turnovers to 21 of its 35 points. 

            Offensively the Mules produced over 500 yards of total offense, 408 of which came through the air.  Alamo Heights ran over 90 plays, the most of the season, which netted down to 85 after penalties, but unquestionably a prodigious output.  Quarterback Dalton Banks netted his biggest output of the year completing 39 passes on 56 attempts and three touchdowns. He kept the ball 18 times for 39 yards and a two-yard touchdown in the third quarter.  But he’d trade it all to have back a fumble and three picks, the last of which occurred with 2:55 left in the game with the Mules driving.  Buda snared a Banks’ pass at the 21 yard line and began a quick scoring drive that ended with a the Rebels’ Cody Gandy scoring his third touchdown of the night to put the final points on the board and the winning margin.  Still it was an impressive night and gave one confidence that the Mules’ offense arrived at a new level of explosiveness, which it will need for the next phase of the season. 

            The receiving corps was active all night with Jake Osborne and Christian Lalinde stacking up 117 and 109 yards respectively and one TD each.  Scotty Uhl was also impressive with seven catches for 67 yards and score.  Noah Hernandez chipped in and pulled down some clutch passes on his way to a 64 yard total on six snags. 

Injuries got in the Mules way again.  Senior running back Byron Proctor watched on the sidelines in street clothes and was quickly joined in the first half by lineman Matt Wilkes, receiver Robert Schuler, and defender Zach McConnell, which added to the challenge.   But depth and the experiences of the season helped the Mules overcome these game exits.

Defensively, the Mules came up with big stops and key plays including timely sacks by tackle Stone Tarver, free safety Cameron Dawley and an interception by Mitchell Abramson.  They held Buda to 150 yards passing and 17 first downs to the Mules 25.  But Buda was able to peel off some big rushes in crucial moments again making the plays that became ingredients to a win.

It was a tough trip home for the Mules as they waited for Saturday SAISD action and subsequent coin flips to help determine their slotting into the second seed position behind Kerrville Tivy out of District 27-4A.  But the slate is wiped clean and the Mules are back in the playoffs. 

Game and Playoff Notes:

Buda Hays scored first on Friday, which was the first time a Mules opponent had scored before Alamo Heights since the opener against O’Connor...Hays had some talent on their time that will be playing on Saturdays according to one source…As previously noted, the Mules must get through the Lanier Voks who finished the season with an overall record of 4-6 and 4-2 in district 28-4A play.  They finished third in their district behind Brennan and Brackenridge.  They come into the game this Friday off of a 41-0 stomping of Burbank.  After starting the year with a four-game losing streak, the Voks won four of their last six to get into the playoffs.  They were 1-4 away from home and averaged 17.4 points per game while giving up 26.7…Since this question is asked all the time, the mascot Vok is short for “vocational student” and is about Lanier being San Antonio’s first vocational school. 

“His Inside Voice” 

A weekly discussion with Coach Mike Norment

Mule Fan:  The Mules had a good night defensively and the offense was in warp speed with the up-tempo, no huddle visibly taking a toll on Buda’s defense.  For most of the game, you seemed able to impose your will on them but in the end the Mules lost the turnover battle and had a couple of costly penalties.  What do you believe the kids learned from this game?

Coach Norment:  I told them after the game that we’re fortunate that we’re going to be able to play next week and a lot of teams aren’t.  So we can’t have any more games like that.  Because if you make that many mistakes in games in the playoffs and there’s a good chance you’ll be going home and putting your stuff up.  So we have to realize that mistakes now are going to be magnified.

Mule Fan:  Dalton Banks had a brilliant night except for a few plays he’d like to have back.  Alamo Heights has always preached that the most important play is the very next play.  How do you make sure that he and the offense look ahead and not dwell on what’s done?

Coach Norment:  We just keep on practicing.  We talked about learning from the mistakes.  We show them the film and all of a sudden, we can’t worry about that.  We have to make sure that we learn from the mistakes so we don’t repeat them.  At the same time, kids are resilient.  They’re much more resilient than adults right now. They have a short memory.  They realize the importance of learning from the mistakes but they also understand that we have a game coming up and we need to execute.

Mule Fan:  With the playoffs beginning, how does the routine change for playoff preparation if at all?

Coach Norment:  Basically we try to keep it close to the same as possible.  Today we did the exact same thing that we did last week and the week before.  There will be some minor adjustments because we’re not getting the Freshmen and the JV ready for a game.  So we’ll practice them.  We’re advantaged that during the playoffs, we’re gaining a week of spring training in November.  So we’ll work the JV and the Freshmen out so they’re getting some reps so we’ll save some time there.  But basically we’re not going to do anything differently than what we have in the past.

Mule Fan:  You mentioned that the players get a lot of extra practice during the playoffs.  I calculated that my oldest son got more than a full season of extra workouts just from Alamo Heights playoff weeks during his high school football career here a few years ago.  What has all the extra weeks of playoff practice meant to this program over the years?

Coach Norment:  I think that gives us a huge advantage.  Like I was telling the kids today; Boerne is not practicing right now and we are.  So we’re gaining a week of practice and if we’re fortunate enough to win this Friday then we’ll get a second week.  Spring training is basically only three weeks long.  And we’re guaranteed to get at least one of those so we’re guaranteed at least four weeks of playing football that other schools don’t.  It becomes a cumulative factor in the fact that like you said, you get extra practices as a freshman, as a sophomore, and as a junior and pretty soon you start realizing that heck I’ve had an extra 10-15 weeks of practice that other schools don’t. So that can’t help but help you get better and help the football program get stronger.

Mule Fan:  How important is senior leadership at this time of year?

Coach Norment:  It’s tremendous. They’re basically driving the ship right now.  As long as they want to continue to play and they have the right attitude, then that will trickle down all the way to the freshmen.  When they decide that they don’t want to play, and sometimes that happens, and they decide that football really isn’t as important right now because they’re tired, then that will also trickle down.  We are very fortunate.  We have a great senior class right now and the leadership has been fantastic.

Mule Fan:  You probably don’t need to remind any players who were around last year about the playoffs and how each game has its own importance.   What are you expecting from Lanier and how was the first day of practice in preparation?

Coach Norment:  We had a good first day of practice.  We need to be better and told the kids that we need to be getting even better because it is the playoffs.  Lanier is a well-coached team.  Coach (Don) Gatian has been there for a number of years and Lanier is a team that usually gets into the playoffs and they have upset people.  A few years ago they upset Kerrville Tivy in the playoffs.  And way back in 2000 Lanier beat an Alamo Heights team at the Rockpile (Alamo Stadium).  Lanier is a disciplined team. They’re going to get after us.

Playoff Bracket

Use the link below to see the UIL 4A Playoff brackets.

http://www.uiltexas.org/football/playoff-brackets/4AD2

Other District 27-4A Results November 8, 2013

Buda Hays 38, Boerne Champion 7

Kyle Lehman 40, Lockhart 9

Kerrville Tivy 51, Seguin 15

Final District 27-4A Standings

Buda Hays                6-1

Alamo Heights        5-2

Clemens                    5-2

Kerrville Tivy          5-2

Boerne Champion  4-3

Kyle Lehman           2-5

Lockhart                   1-6

Seguin                       1-6

Playoff Tickets

By the time you get around to reading this rag, you likely will have been touched by several other e-mail blasts telling you that if you want your regular season ticket seats, and you haven’t already purchased them, it is possible they have been made available to the general public. The deadline to purchase is Tuesday close of business.  

But in case your humble scribe gets this out early enough on Monday night, you will have Tuesday from 8:30am-6:00pm to get by the athletic office and cut your deal with Patty Juarez.  Reserved seats are $7 each.  Adult tickets, non-reserved and presale are $6 for adults and $3 for students kinder through 12^th grade. All tickets on game night are $7 each. 

Ticket sales are open to the general public on Wednesday at these hours:

Wednesday & Thursday, November 13 & 14  8:30am-noon & 1:30pm-4:00pm

Friday, November 15  8:30am-3:00pm

Editor's Note:  We are very lucky to be getting an extra home game and home field advantage at any time in the playoffs.  Let's get this thing started off right and put some '09 derrieres in Harry B. Orem's chairs at the stadium this Friday night.  Come out and yell loud and help the boys take care of business. There's gonna be yellin', screamin', scratchin', dining, dancing and fightin'.  Dress is Mule Casual.  No gifts please.  Wash up and get out there.  We need ya'!

Playoff Radio/Online Streaming

The Mules are at home this week and a nice home field noise advantage would be good.  But if you can’t make it out for whatever reason, follow the Mules on KBUC 92.5/93.3 FM or www.TSRNsports.com.  Ed Suarez, Dave Parker and Albert Gonzalez will call the action.

Swine Time:

Mules receiver Jake Osborne had a “porkified” night at Bob Shelton Stadium. He hauled in 10 Dalton Banks heaves for 117 yards and a 13 yard touchdown reception.  The score came early in the fourth period to complete a 75 yard drive. Osborne’s score was the 14^th play of the drive and put the Mules up 27-21 before the successful point after by Robert Carter. 

Playoff Poetry:  On a Monday before the playoffs, the artist in us comes out as we looked out our window at the wispy clouds to find inspiration to produce a piece that we slaved over and coddled like a little baby wrapped in velvet robes (for 7 special minutes).  We hope you enjoy and savor this particular work by our editorial staff that wrote most of this while simultaneously trying to figure out how to get the mustard stains out of our shirt.

There once was a Mule Fan named James,

            Who screamed his head off at games.

But his breath smelled like tuna,

            So they ushered him out soona

Than waiting ‘til the end of the game.

Thanks for all the kind words about what is now being lovingly called the "Vomit Piece" in last week's post.  How is it that just uttering the word makes one break into a near laugh? A social comment that. In the search for material and subject matter, there's nothing quite like an eruption of bile through a face mask to really get the creative juices flowing.  As you can see, we've written this little note VERY little because management forbade us from saying another word about it.  See, they read this at breakfast and were made queasy by it and feared our vast readership would suffer the same problem and terminate their subscriptions.  We have been put on notice that we are to not put out the sequel which deals with the sound you can make when you cup your hand under your armpit and flap your arm like a bird. We intend to obey their wishes this time because our team needs the holiday cash and we are entering early stages of negotiation for our renewal.  Hopefully they'll go right past this little note.

Go Mules!!!  Beat Lanier!!