Mules Open the Year
with a Blowout 31-0 over New Braunfels
-Hitting Road for Last Non-District Game vs. O’Connor
By Bob Cohen
Sr. Editor-in-Cheap
(San Antonio)—In the end, there was no drama. A potent Alamo Heights defense kept a
foot on the neck of the Unicorns while waiting for the offense to unshackle.
The Mules defense pitched a shutout and the offense loaded 31 points on a
panting New Braunfels Unicorn team resulting in a convincing opening night win
at Harry B. Orem stadium. Coach
Mike Norment was even able to get reserves some playing time and it has been a
while since that opportunity presented itself in an opener.
The game started on an encouraging note when the Unicorns had
to deal with a high snap and followed by fumbling away their first possession
to the Mules at their own four-yard line. A couple of shots at it either didn’t connect or got
whistled away pushing the Mules back and Heights settled for a 27-yard Cameron
Dawley field goal.
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|
Photos courtesy of Mary Candee http://dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com |
Mules defensive coordinator Luke Moody had a busy first half
calling a lot of defenses. A
deflected ball from Mules quarterback Dalton Banks nestled into a Unicorn
defensive back’s hands, which stopped the offense on the next possession. You could almost feel the gears
grinding a bit in the first half as the offense oiled up all of its new
parts. But the defense drew many
lines in the sand all night. It
forced six fumbles and recovered one plus picked off two New Braunfels passes
from quarterback Corbin Buermann.
The Unicorns were held to 63 yards passing on the night while enjoying
some rushing success. Good field
position was something that New Braunfels got none of.
Alamo Heights returned from the halftime locker room an
inspired herd scoring on its opening drive with QB Banks doing the honors on a
12-yard run. Banks led all rushers
with 151 yards on 15 carries to go along with 248 yards in the air on 22 of 39
attempts and three touchdown passes.
Two TD passes came at the end of two lightning fast second half drives
that totaled 188 yards. The first
one started as far back as you can go after the Unicorns buried a punt on the
Mules half-yard line. Nine dizzying
plays later, Banks found receiver Zach Ford for a 17-yard TD pass. The next Mules possession started on
their own 11 and it too went the distance finished off by senior tight end Cole
Yoeman’s second TD reception of the night from 14 yards out. Yoeman also scored in the second
quarter on an 11-yard catch.
The Mules totaled up 351 yards of total offense to New
Braunfels 247, won the first down battle 22-17 and of course gave up no points
and get the season off to a handy 1-0 start as it prepares for a road game
against O’Connor.
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| Photos courtesy of Mary Candee http://dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com |
Here at the Mule Fan, we recognize superb performance in
many ways. Sometimes with a cheery
wave and ear-to-ear smile, or a neighborly “hiya” from our proverbial porch
right down to even blurting “ain’t that somethin’” from time to time. But when it comes to our boys on the
field, and we want to put them on the pedestal for superior performance, we do it the only way we know how. And that’s with a pale block of sugar-cured porcine goodness
swimming in natural juices and vacuum-sealed in a handy triangular shaped
can. That’s right kids-it’s the
Canned Ham award. When someone
kicks butt, we sling the pink chunk their way.
This week’s recipients of the aluminum pig container are senior
linebacker Trevor Bagg who recovered a Unicorn fumble, intercepted a pass and
also toted a fake punt attempt for a first down in the game and was generally
around the ball a lot. Also worthy
of a porky pat on the back is senior tight end Cole Yoeman who caught two
touchdown passes and four overall for 41 yards in his first varsity action.
27-5A Scores
Floresville 13
Highlands 7
Big Spring 58
Kerrville Tivy 56
San Marcos 59
East Central 56
Cedar Park Vista Ridge 54 Seguin 21
Lockhart 46
Austin Reagan 26
Victoria East 43
Kennedy 14
Carrizo Springs 30
Memorial 8
Boerne Champion 44
Hays 7
Tickets Available
at AH Athletic Office
As a reminder, tickets for all road games are available in
advance at our athletic office. And
when you buy in advance, you save!
For this week, tickets are value priced at $7 for adults and $4 for
students. Those Northsiders will
hold us up for $8 across the
board if you buy at the gate, no discounts for the folks learning to read and
write either. The ticket office
hours for advance sales this week are:
Wednesday-Thursday 8:30am-12:00pm & 1:30pm-3:00pm; Friday 8:30am-3:00pm.
Pre-Game Rituals
Your Mule Fan editorial staff had a good idea at our staff
meeting this week. We think there
might be some pretty interesting pre-game rituals amongst family members of our
Mules. We’d like to hear ‘em and
possibly publish a few. For
example and to get this party started, for many years, your humble scribe here has popped in his favorite
Rolling Stones song, which is “Gimme Shelter,” and rocked out at ear-splitting
levels on his way home from the office to put on the numbered game gear and
pick up folding stadium seats and Mule Fan Mom. While that’s
not all that interesting, it at least lets you peek behind the curtain at our
taste in music which some might argue is marginally juicy stuff. Come on, there's reality TV that's not as good as that, right? Anecdotally, through the
years, we've heard some pretty good ones ranging from the sublime to the maniacal. Let’s hear ‘em. Send them to us (but only if you’re
willing to share with our subscribers) at bobcohen@sbcglobal.net.
Road Trip-O’Connor
Panthers Next 6-A Stop for Mules
The Panthers opened their season last week with a win over
Reagan 28-23 with a big crowd on hand at Farris Stadium on Saturday. The Panthers were led by junior running
back Jamontae Edwards who tallied 194 yards and three touchdowns on 31
carries. O’Connor didn’t pass much
but in Edwards’ opinion probably didn’t need to as they only had 63 yards in
the air. So the defense will have
its hands full with the Panthers’ running attack. O’Connor finished 8-4 and third in District 27-5A (now
6A). They’re light on returning
offensive starters with three but loaded on defense with nine returning. The Mules lost to O’Connor last season
in the opener 41-28 also at Farris (hey no fair going back to that sun chamber).
Condolences to the O’Connor Community
Earlier this summer, O’Connor’s fans, teammates, coaches, parents, family, teachers and friends lost a member of the varsity football team. Joshua Biggles, 16, drowned on a family outing at Paradise Canyon Recreation Park in Medina County. Biggles, who would have been a junior this year, played linebacker at O’Connor.
The entire Alamo Heights community sends our heartfelt condolences for your loss.
"His Inside Voice"
A weekly discussion with Coach Mike Norment
Mule Fan:
Congratulations on the opening win for the team! It had to be nice to get a blowout and
a shutout in the first game. You
must have been pleased with the way the defense held serve in the first half
and all night, which kept New Braunfels scoreless while the offense loosened up
and also the way special teams played.
Coach Norment:
I was just happy for a win.
I didn’t realize we’d only won an opening game twice in the last 13
years so that was huge just getting a win. The defense played lights out. They did a really good job of controlling New Braunfels and
not letting them have breathing room.
Although they did have a couple of good plays, we were able to step it
up a little bit and force them to punt or force them to a fourth down and stop
them. So the defense did a great
job. Special teams did a great job.
There were a couple of times where we changed field positions on punts. We had a fake punt and were able to
convert on that. So special teams
were huge throughout the game. On offense, we knew they were going to be a
little new and nervous and it showed in the first half. But I was really happy with the fact
that they settled down in the second half. We made the adjustments and were able to come out with a
victory. I give New Braunfels some
credit. They did some things that
we really weren’t prepared for and they gave us some problems. But like I said I was happy with the
kids being able to make those adjustments and come back and play better.
Mule Fan: Were
the first half offensive challenges as much about opening night and being rough
around the edges as anything else?
Coach Norment:
A lot. Like dropped
passes. Our receivers don’t drop
passes that often. They do, I mean
everybody drops a pass. But we had
I think eight or nine drops and quite a few of those were on big plays. If we catch it the drive
continues. They’d never played a
varsity down besides the quarterback and a couple of linemen. So the nervousness showed. But I was
proud of how they came out in the second half, calmed down and executed much
better.
Mule Fan: We
talked a lot about this last year that when this high velocity offense goes in
and out, it puts additional weight on the defense. How do you simulate that in practice or prepare for it other
than just conditioning?
Coach Norment: We don’t really prepare that. But we prepare for the fact that we’re
going fast so the defense has to go fast to keep up with us. The offensive coaches and the defensive
coaches get together before practice and say, “we want you to do this,” which
might not be exactly what we’re going to see by the other team, but it’s close
enough so that we don’t have to slow down. That forces the defense to run to stay with us, which is
getting them in shape. Hopefully
there’s not a lot of three-and-outs.
In games we’ve been aware of that so if we go three-and-out two times in
a row and the defense has been out there, we’re going to change the types of
plays that we’re going to call to try and run the clock a little bit more
because we understand that the defense can get tired. At the same time, hopefully we have some drives where we
“nickel and dime” a defense, so we move the ball and it gives us some time to
rest on defense.
Mule Fan: On
the two long second half scoring drives, one went the length of the field and
the other nearly the length. The pace was obviously different. What was clicking on those possessions?
Coach Norment:
The offensive line was picking up their blitzes that we struggled with
in the first half. We gave up
several sacks in the first half and none in the second. They did a better
job. Receivers did a better job of
running the routes. There were
some times when the receivers just didn’t run the right routes and that
frustrates a quarterback when he’s looking at certain plays and all of a sudden
the receiver is not there. So we
were just a little frustrated overall and weren’t clicking. Even when we had a good play sometimes
it was on a scramble. So in the
second half it was much more deliberate.
We weren’t perfect in the second half. We still had some drops and still
had some routes that weren’t run correctly and had some blocking that we didn’t
do right. There are things that we
need to correct but it was much better than the first half.
Mule Fan: O’Connor is up next, which is never an easy
matchup for the Mules and one of your toughest challenges last year. They’ve turned over a lot of their
offense but defensively they’re deep and experienced. You had a chance to see them last week since they played on
Saturday. What do you expect this
Friday?
Coach Norment:
They’re going to run the ball. They have a good offensive scheme and
will do a lot of play action. They
run the ball to set up the play action, fake the run and throw the ball. They can drop back and pass but it
isn’t something they’ll do a whole bunch.
They’ll be well coached offensively, defensively and on special
teams. Coach Malesky has been
there like five years so they’ve established that program now and I think
they’ve made the playoffs every year that he’s been the head coach. Defensively definitely a lot of their
starters are returning. They’re very athletic. They’ll fly around. They’re not real big but they’re quick
so we’re going to have to move our feet.
If we don’t move our feet they’re going to get off our blocks and give
us some problems.
Am I Blue, Yes I’m
Blue
Some have asked, gee Mule Fan, where’s that nice picture in
the header of the blog that you had last year and why is the background all
blue? We’re not sure that the
appearance of the blog that we’re seeing is what all the rest of you are seeing
but certainly some are. The simple
answer is that we have no idea. We
shuttered the Mule Fan offices 48 hours after returning from the frozen tundra
of San Marcos and thawing our little tootsies last December and didn’t darken
the door again until about a week before launching this season’s first
edition. That was many sleeps ago. So when we opened up for this season,
here came all this blue and the pretty picture vamoosed. We are ill equipped to deal with this
“challenge” for the following reasons:
1) no time, 2) no skills, 3) unwilling to veer outside the strict hand
painted boundaries of our collective bargaining agreement with the bloated
buffoons in management here.
However, if any former Mule Fan editors who skillfully crafted the
aforementioned display would like to weigh in with a handy solution, we’ll
accept that help with a thankee.
In the meantime, it’s a good thing that we know the Mule Nation likes
blue.
Follow the Mules all season on the air or online at www.tsrnsports.com. Ed Suarez, Dave Parker and Albert Gonzalez
bring you the action and the analysis each week.
If you have a retail or service business patronized by Mule
Nation, this would be a good place to do a little branding, reminding,
preaching and hollerin’. Contact
Dave Parker at dparker77@aol.com to
create your sponsorship package today!
Go Mules!!! Come on out and support the team at Farris Stadium!! Leave early and beat that traffic!
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