Lanier 7, Alamo Heights 28 November 15, 2013

Mules Clear First Hurdle with 28-7 Playoff Win over Lanier

            -Austin Vandergrift Vipers up next for the Mules Thursday night in the Alamodome

            Step One. Check.  It wasn’t a big monkey, but the Mules needed to chase that annoying little sucker off their collective backs right away and get on with it.  A pleasant rinse got the bad taste of last year’s early playoff exit out of their mouths on a beautiful fall night at Harry B. Orem stadium and the Mules move on after taking down Lanier 28-7.  And it was Mules Head Coach Mike Norment’s first playoff victory as head coach.

            Like starting your car’s engine on a cold morning, it took a while to get it up to operating temperature but once that happened, Alamo Heights did what they knew they were capable of doing and rolled up a 14-7 halftime lead after facing a 7-0 deficit after a sluggish first quarter.  Two quick scoring strikes in the second quarter off their passing game, which eventually got clicking Friday, lessened the chance of 2012 flashbacks once the Mules retired to the halftime locker room.  Quarterback Dalton Banks dialed in Jake Osborne on a 15 yard scoring pass at 4:07 to go in the second quarter again proving this was not shaping up to be an empty-the-bench blowout night for Alamo Heights to the disappointment of the entire Junior Varsity, which was dressed and ready for its cameo.   Osborne’s catch was one of four on the night for him to go along with his 62 yards.

 A few minutes later, the Mules put together another impressive drive keyed by the reentry of senior running back Byron Proctor into the lineup after missing nearly two full games of action with an ankle sprain.  Proctor featured on the drive, which ended with his catch of a screen pass and a dazzling open field move rendering a Lanier defensive back helpless and springing Proctor for a 15 yard score.  Robert Carter’s kicking game was as consistent as ever as he hit his PAT’s all night.  Proctor sat out all of the second half after getting whacked in the shoulder but is expected to be all set for Thursday’s second round game.

Defensively the Mules reversed the early trend of giving up big first down yardage and stopped the Vok’s drives from late in the second quarter.  Once it buckled down, the defense held Lanier to 89 passing yards.  Vok’s running back Joe Orta was responsible for nearly all of Lanier’s offense as he rushed for 115 yards on 26 carries including the 26 yard opening touchdown that put Lanier in front and made for a few uncomfortable moments along the Alamo Heights sideline.  

The Mules up-tempo production in the second half kept Lanier on their heels.  With several of the Voks going both ways, fatigue appeared to become a factor deeper into the game.  Heights passing game picked up momentum as Banks found Christian Lalinde on a 21 yard pass and score with 9:06 in the third.  The Mules scoring wrapped up as the quarter closed out as Banks kept for a 2 yard scoring run.  Banks finished the game 17 for 28 and 260 yards, no interceptions and a hand in all four Mule scores.  The Mules also benefitted from no lost fumbles on the night while forcing one Vok turnover.

Alamo Heights moved its season record to 8-3 while Lanier fell to 4-7.   Congratulations to Lanier for a good season and to the Mules for moving on.

  

Round Two:  Alamo Heights Mules vs. Vandergrift Vipers-Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 7:00p.m. at the Alamodome

Editor's Note:  Okay, it is a playoff game everyone.  We've got to have a lot of folks in that building on Thursday making plenty of home cooked racket.  Alert!!! The Mule Fan admits to errata on earlier editions.  Our crack research department (a loyal Mule Fan reader) called to let us know that we mentioned that the last Alamodome appearance for the Mules was the state championship game in 2006.  Well…. we didn't do our homework and should be basted in our own juices.  Heck it was in earlier editions of the Mule Fan for Pete's sake.  The last time the Mules appeared on the Alamodome turf was on September 6, 2007 in the now history three-day Texas Football Classic and emerged with a 17-3 victory over the Clark Cougars.   Thanks for correcting us!  Our collective egos are in tact and we appreciate you taking us up on the offer to make suggestions and constructive or harsh criticism.  Will you ever forgive us?  Hope so. 

Vandergrift Notes:

Austin Vandergrift finished the 2013 season a second place 5-1 in district 25-4A a game behind Cedar Park.  Their overall record is 9-2 after a first round playoff victory of Austin Crockett 42-22 last Thursday night…The Vipers have won seven of their last eight games…Defense appears to be their strength with three of the top five tacklers from the district on the Viper roster led by senior Jason Lanthier who is the district’s leading tackler. Also on the list are seniors Elliott Byrd and Tristan Prukop…the Vipers have two of the district’s three leading sackers on defense; Sammy Zugg and Gunner Linhart..Offensively, junior quarterback Jamie Hudson ranked fifth in passing but is also the team's leading rusher and with the third highest totals in District 25-4A…The Vipers don’t put the ball in the air much.  Hudson averaged 12 passing attempts per game and a .483 completion percentage but rushed it 17 times per game for a 98 yard per game average during the regular season and 5.7 yards per carry. He scored 11 TD's rushing the ball…Vandergrift averages 33 points per game and gives up 20.5 ppg…This is the second time that Vandergrift has appeared in the playoffs and last week was their first playoff win.

“His Inside Voice” 

A weekly discussion with Coach Mike Norment

Mule Fan:  Congratulations on your first playoff win.  Last Friday was a great bounce back from the Buda Hays loss.  It took a while to get the team up to cruising altitude but once you did things fell into place.  But to be fair, Lanier executed well in the first quarter. 

Coach Norment:  Yeah it was a combination.  We came out a little flat and Lanier did a great job of executing their game plan.  So you combine those two things and we were slow starting.  We didn’t score the first couple of series.  They were able to shorten the field and get ahead of us.  I think once they scored it sort of woke up our kids and after that we were pretty successful moving the ball offensively and did a better job of stopping them defensively the rest of the game.

Mule Fan:  What were the things that you saw in that game that you liked in terms of the way the got the motor running after the first quarter and executed?

Coach Norment:  Well I didn’t like the fact that we started slow but I liked the fact that we had to make some adjustments with what Lanier was doing on offense.  We changed our defensive front a little bit and were able to slow them down on that. And offensively we just started to execute.  We were running the routes, doing a better job of protecting, doing a better job of run blocking and slowly we were able to move down the field and get some scores.

Mule Fan:  In Film Night you mentioned the adjustment of your defensive front from a 3-4 to a 4-3.  When the boys haven’t worked a lot on that during the week, how difficult of an adjustment is that during a game?

Coach Norment:  Well it’s something they haven’t been doing in the previous weeks so we just thought that we could go out there and see if we could run some 3-4 so it would give us some multiple options later on in the playoffs.  It wasn’t completely new.  It wasn’t like something they haven’t worked on before.  It was just something we hadn’t really worked on this week so they did a great job of being able to adjust with not as much work during the week.

Mule Fan:  Turning attention now to Vandergrift.  First of all, how did the Thursday night game at the Alamodome come about?

Coach Norment:  Basically Vandergrift wanted to come down here and play in the Dome and they were willing to come down here if they could play in the Alamodome.  We were fortunate enough to call the Dome and they had an opening for Thursday night.  As a matter of fact we had to tie all four teams involved into it.  Lanier, Vandergrift and Austin Crockett (Vandergrift’s opponent last Thursday) all agreed that whoever won would play Thursday night at the Alamodome.  So it just all worked out.  We were fortunate to get a win and that’s why we’re playing there.

Mule Fan:  There have been plenty of Thursday night games in your career.  This group hasn’t done it.  How does the week condense?  What gets rolled into other days and what do you lose by playing on Thursday with a short week?

Coach Norment:  You lose a little bit of recovery time for injuries but at this time of year everybody is going to be banged up a little bit.  You lose a day or preparation but really so did they even though they played on Thursday.  They didn’t work out on Friday. They probably just ran through some conditioning and weights and I doubt if they did a whole lot on Saturday because they were game planning.  So really all they gained was another day of rest.  And basically when you go from a Friday to a Thursday you lose a day of preparation so you condense. So Monday and Tuesday are your big days instead of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  And even Wednesday is a shortened practice so we just have to get more stuff into Monday and Tuesday than we usually do. But it wasn’t too much.  We were able to do most of the stuff that we want today (Monday) and had a good practice.

Mule Fan:  Looking at the statistics for Vandergrift, they appear to be a “ground and pound” offensive team.  Their quarterback is their leading rusher and doesn’t throw the ball a whole lot.  What are you expecting from them offensively?

Coach Norment:  They spread you out so they can run the ball but if you stack the box they will throw the ball and their receivers can catch and their quarterback can throw. So you have to be balanced on defense.  So what they’re trying to do is get you out of the box so they can run the quarterback. So we’re going to have to be very disciplined and going to have to try to play some games and show them some different looks just like they’ll try to do to us.

Mule Fan:  Defensively, they have players who were among their district leaders in sacks and tackles and this appears to be their strength.  What have you seen on film of their defense? 

Coach Norment:  Their motor is running very fast.  They’re going to come after you in between the whistles and they try to cause some confusion by giving you a whole bunch of different looks up front.  So as an offensive lineman you just have to be very disciplined to be able to move your feet and know your assignments.  The good news is if we can give the quarterback some time there usually are some open holes because they’re trying to give you some different looks. But at the same time if we can go fast and give them some different formations there might be some holes in their defense.

Mule Fan:  You’ve been through a lot of playoff games and as the weeks go by the intensity ramps up. Did you feel it today in practice?

Coach Norment:  Oh yeah, you definitely know that in the playoffs if you can’t produce you’re going to go home.  And even last week we had a really good week of practice and I think all the players know that so they want to make sure that if they lose the game it is not because they didn’t practice hard on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Region IV Area Playoff Round

Cedar Park (10-1) vs. Kerrville Tivy (7-4)  Friday - Farris

Port Lavaca Calhoun (10-2) vs. Corpus Christi Flour Bluff (10-1) Saturday-Alamodome

Corpus Christi Calallen (10-0) vs. Alice (10-1) Friday-Kingsville (Winner plays winner of Alamo Heights vs. Vandergrift)

Austin Vandergrift (9-2) vs. Alamo Heights (8-3) Thursday-Alamodome

Playoff Bracket

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

Playoff Tickets:

The Mule Fan is informed that ticket prices for this Thursday's game at the Alamodome are $8 for adults and $4 for students (kinder through 12th) in advance and $10 at the door. Parking at the Alamodome will be $10. Get by the Alamo Heights Athletic office and pick up your tickets in advance during these hours:

Tues., Nov. 19 -  8:30a to Noon and 1:30 to 4:00 in Athletic Office and 4:30p - 7:30p in the Muledome

Wed., Nov. 20 - 8:30a to Noon and 1:30p to 6:00p in the Athletic Office

Thurs., Nov. 21 - 8:30a to 3:30p in the Athletic Office

We are sitting on the visitor's side of the Alamodome.

Playoff Radio/Online

It takes a lot of noise to cut through in the Alamodome.  We’re sure the teams can’t hear you when you’re in your living room.  Please try and make it out to the game this Thursday.  But if you cannot make it, and you have a hastily scribbled note justifying your absence, then by all means listen to the game on the radio or online. The Mules will be on KBUC 92.5/93.3 FM or www.TSRNsports.com.  Ed Suarez, Dave Parker and Albert Gonzalez will call the action.

A word about Ham:

There has been a development worthy of Mule Fan comment regarding our weekly recognitions.  It appears that there was a Canned Ham Association?  Well we didn’t either until last week when we received the note, which you will see below, asking us more or less to stand down.  At first we thought we would try and explain it but in the end, it makes more sense for you to see it for yourself.

Dear Mr. Fan:

It is regrettable that we must contact you at this joyous time of year to raise a topic, which we believe needs your immediate attention.  It has come to our attention that your publication is using pork products, specifically the Canned Ham, as an award for extraordinary performance in high school football games.  While we are sure your motives are pure, this is an unlicensed and an unapproved use of our product. 

In our investigation, we have also discovered that you are not actually giving your winners a canned ham but only pretending to do so.  You and your staff are portraying it as an imaginary reward.  This again proves our point and strengthens our purpose.  You are making a mockery of a serious product prepared using old world recipes.  This is public relations issue for our industry and our members have asked us to intervene on their behalf. 

Mr. Fan, we are a serious meat.  Have you ever heard the slogan, “The Other White Meat?”  Your reference to us as a “pink chunk” is particularly unsettling.  Perhaps if it were salmon…but we digress.  The matter at hand is how to deal with this.

Before we proceed with a legal remedy and put what we understand to be a considerable revenue stream at risk for you and your shareholders (Editor’s note: Ha!), we will suggest a possible compromise.  Since it is nearly Thanksgiving, we would strongly recommend a section of your blog be devoted to serving suggestions for canned ham.  We welcome your instinctive association with pineapple rings and cloves.  Their industries pay association dues.  We acknowledge that were it not for canned hams, there would be no real use for cloves except to occasionally launch them from slingshots.

We will look forward to your response and stand ready to furnish skilled food photographers for the shoot. 

Respectfully,

Peg “Don't call me Porky” Pigg

Executive Director, Canned Ham Association D/B/A Sprained Oinkle Inc.

Mule Fan Response:  (sigh) No good deed goes unpunished.  You try and do something nice for a canned meat and this is the thanks we get.  We might have to consider spray can cheese if we can’t come to terms.  Would any attorneys within our subscriber list be willing to suggest how we should respond to these swine?  Furthermore, wait ‘til I get my hands on whoever squealed on us! (Couldn’t resist).

Oh yeah, in our fury we almost forgot. This week’s award goes to Coach Norment and his staff for the first playoff win of this coaching crew.  That’s a lot of folks to feed. These tasty morsels can be neatly cut into squares and put on toothpicks.  That’ll really set off the Association folks. 

 The Men of the Flame

While we’re on the subject of pork and pork products, last Friday’s home game marked the end of an era.  Those sausage wraps (delicious naturally hardwood smoked Kiolbassa Brand Sausages) and hot dogs you pay very little money for at home games are prepared by a dedicated bunch of grillers, who are filled with preservatives incidentally, and are shown below in their natural casing.   In fact, the master griller team of Steve Thomas and Thomas Tyng has been at this for an unprecedented three full seasons. (Tyng may return since he as other laddies to push through the program.) What dedication to the craft!   Thomas is Chief Grilling Officer, Michael Wasson Assistant/Deputy CGO, Tyng-director of personnel and Michael Taylor Chairman of Fun & Games (responsible for music, ice, lighting and refreshments).  This is the executive committee.  We sought comment but many responses were tong in cheek.

Mule Fan:  When you look back at your streak, what stands out as a highlight?

Griller Thomas:  Let me be frank.

Grillers Tyng and Wasson interrupt:  Wait a minute, why do you get to be Frank? We want to be Frank.

Mule Fan:  Easy fellas.  Do all of you answer to Frank?

In unision:  Yep.  After three years we call each other Frank.

Mule Fan: That’s really clever.  How many franks, err sausages have you made in your years?

Franks:  We think about 5,000 have made it to the concession stands. We cook up 500 sausages and 400 hot dogs for each home game.  But a few have gone to the ground.  A few were overdone.  A few were sampled for quality control.  And a few just haven’t turned up from the warehouse.

Mule Fan:  Really.  You mean some links are missing?

Franks:  It’ll be different coming to games next year wearing English Leather instead of eau de hickory or mesquite.

Mule Fan:  Thanks guys.  We hope some folks have apprenticed under your guidance so we always get to experience that same smoky treat.  

 

Men of the Flame Hall of Flame 

The Men of the Flame
(L to R) Harding McEldowney, Corbin Snow, Dave Monnich, Steve Thomas,
Billy Blake, Michael Kiolbassa (present on Friday for the Sausage ProAm and for quality control ), Thomas Tyng, Michael Wasson and (not pictured Michael Taylor).


Go Mules!!!  Beat Vandergrift and keep this thing rolling!!!