Alamo Heights 45 Memorial 0 October 17, 2014

Mules Pound Memorial Minutemen 45-0 for Fourth Straight District Win

            -Bye Week Next Before Last Home Game with Floresville

By Bob Cohen, Senior Editor in Pleats

            (San Antonio)—A close game with Memorial would not have been good news and indeed it was not close.  Alamo Heights took care of business again in a game it was supposed to win and did so with great efficiency on Friday at Edgewood Veterans Stadium 45-0 to up its season record to 6-2 and 5-1 in district. 

The Mules let the Minutemen know immediately what kind of night this was going to be when Mitchell Abramson took the opening kickoff 37 yards after a pitch from the initial recipient Holden Daum to give the Mules a short field to work with on their first drive.  Nine plays later Deryl Reynolds scored on a 3-yard plunge over the line for the Mules first score.  Reynolds finished his night with 84 yards on nine carries. On the following possession for Memorial, Mules’ senior defensive back Anthony Sotelo stepped in front of a Memorial pass and returned the interception to Memorial’s 36-yard line to give the Alamo Heights excellent field position to set up its second score on a 15 yard Dalton Banks pass to a wide open Greer Shetler in the back of the Memorial end zone. 

The Mules offense continued pin sharp throughout the game and scored on each of its seven possessions.  On the eighth possession, it was the final ticks off the game clock that prevented to Mules from scoring again as the second half approach was to huddle and bleed the clock as much as possible.

Alamo Heights played a smothering defense as well allowing negative two yards passing on two completions, 68 rushing yards, forced four punts, picked off two Memorial passes and limited them to only three first downs.  It was a long night for the Minutemen offense as was expected. 

The Mules spread the scoring around in the first half.  In addition to the Reynolds and Shetler touchdowns, Zach Ford and Cole Yeoman also got into the act.  Yeoman popped Memorial on a ten yard TD reception after contributing a 24-yard reception earlier that same drive.  Yeoman led Mules receivers with four catches and 60 yards on the night.  Ford scored on the fourth possession on a 14-yard strike.  Alamo Heights rolled up 190 passing yards for the game with Banks and Jack Woodland sharing QB responsibilities. 

Coach Norment was able to get action for most of the team that made the trip beginning in the second quarter and keeping it that way throughout the rest of the game. Alamo Heights kept mostly to the ground in the second half to keep the clock moving and in the process showcased additional depth at running back.  Sophomore Justin Barselou rushed for 68 yards on 13 carries and scored twice in the third quarter on runs of one and 13 yards.  And senior defensive back Isaac Chesler got some action on offense and showed flashes of speed on his way to 52 yards on nine carries. With Cameron Dawley taking the weekend off to heal some bumps and bruises, Koll Rada (a JV move up last week) belted some long kickoffs and banged through a 19-yard field goal in the early moments of the fourth period.  Zach Leal handled point after duties and picked up six extra point kicks.    

With the off week next, the Mules will have a chance to get some rest before the last two district games and heal up the usual bumps and bruises the team would acquire by this time of year.  The extra time should also give the Mules training staff some time to treat the dizzying array of extra bumps and bruises that one would hope there wouldn’t be this time of year.  Even better, the Mules will have two weeks to prepare for a Halloween night meeting with Floresville to keep the unbeaten string at home alive for 2014. 

District 27-5A Scores

Floresville 28 Seguin 27 (OT)

Lockhart 40 Kennedy 14

Kerrville Tivy 48 San Marcos 14

Boerne Champion idle

District 27-5A Standings

Boerne Champion  5-0

Alamo Heights  5-1

Kerrville Tivy  4-1

Lockhart  4-2

Floresville  3-3

Seguin  2-3

San Marcos  1-4

Memorial  0-5

Kennedy  0-5

“His Inside Voice” 

A weekly discussion with head coach Mike Norment. (With a special Halloween Treat at the end!)

Mule Fan:  Against Memorial, the defense allowed three first downs, no passing yardage and very few rushing yards.  The offense scored every time it had the ball except when time ran out.  And there were no injuries.  Could it have gone much better for Alamo Heights?

Coach Norment: No it was exactly what we wanted.  We wanted to start fast and play good.  There are still some things we need to work on. When you watch film, you’re never as good as you thought you were and never as bad as you thought you were.  But overall I think at this point in the season I thought it was a good game overall.

Mule Fan:  You’ve been able to get a lot of kids into the action and really have been able to in recent weeks, which is good news considering the Kennedy game was cut short.  Let’s talk about what you’ve seen out of the group that is really going to be your team in the coming years.  What sense do you have of what kind of squad you’re going to have after watching them in game action?

Coach Norment: It’s hard to tell because when the game is already somewhat out of hand the mental edge is not there.  So I’m glad that the defense was able to stop Memorial from scoring and the offense was able to move the ball.  And that’s always a good sign.  I think really in the last couple of years, everybody on the team realizes that you could be called upon at any moment.  And especially the last two years it just seems like we’ve had to go deep in the roster.  So I think that means a little more intensity on the part of the backups and it is also a reward. We’re sacrificing stats and playing time for the starters.  But we talk about sacrifice and they’re sacrificing for the backup players but it is for the greater good of the team.  So it is hard to see what we’re going to have in the future but as for right now I’m happy with how we’re playing.

Mule Fan:  We always talk before the first game of the season about what it is like for players to get under the lights for the first time and take varsity snaps.  So is it fair to say that getting the backups into these regular season games, regardless of the score, plays a dual role.  On the one hand, you’re rewarding them for their hard work during the week and two, you’re getting them used to Friday night lights?

Coach Norment:  Yes for the young ones definitely and for the older kids it is a reward for sticking with the program and keep coming every day and doing a great job in their role, whatever that role is.

Mule Fan: You’ve given the kids Saturday and Monday off.  Will you spend the rest of the off week in game prep or is that held off until next week?

Coach Norment:  We’ll look at some things we want to work on and work on some things that we’re not doing good enough.   Some things we’re not executing like we need to. Basically this week is for getting healthy and getting back into shape.  I think we’ve gotten a little out of shape this time of year because we have to keep our legs underneath us when we have a game coming up. We don’t have a game this week so we can maybe run them a little bit more.  And also we’ll get back to basics on a few things that maybe have slipped a little.

Mule Fan:  I imagine you’ll scout this weekend but with two regular season opponents left, how concentrated will that effort be for this week?

Coach Norment:  It’ll be similar to when we played on Thursday a few weeks ago.  We’ll probably have scouts at several different places trying to get a handle on what is going to happen in the future.

Mule Fan in Halloween Mode: What was the dorkiest costume you trick or treated in when you were a kid?

Coach Norment:  Casper the Friendly Ghost

Mule Fan: Were you ever a super hero?

Coach Norment:  Does Roger Staubach count? Then yes.  I went out as Roger Staubach.

Mule Fan: Favorite Halloween candy then and now?

Coach Norment: Butterfingers and Baby Ruth

Mule Fan:  Strangest thing you ever got in your trick or treat bag that wasn’t candy?

Coach Norment: I can’t remember but I am old enough to remember when you would actually get a full candy or caramel apple wrapped in foil.  Those were awesome.

Mule Fan:  Did you ever use a pillowcase as a trick or treat bag?

Coach Norment: That’s the only thing I ever had.  On a good Halloween, I’d have to go back and empty the pillowcase twice.

Mule Fan:  Did you ever carve a pumpkin?

Coach Norment: Yes

Mule Fan:  Traditional face or something goofy?

Coach Norment:  Traditional always.

Mule Fan:  Costume from your youth that your kids would be embarrassed to see you in?

Coach Norment:  Probably that Casper outfit.

Mule Fan:  Has your voice every scared anybody?

Coach Norment:  Possibly.

Area Leaders

No change in the area Sub-6A Express-News rankings for the umpteenth week.  It’s still 1. Boerne Champion  2. Your heroes  3. Kerrville Tivy…..Dalton Banks still ranks #6 in total offense with 2,255 yards and #6 in passing with 1,793 yards and 18 touchdowns. Blowout wins give a lot of kids a chance to play but tend to dent up stats and so it goes this week.  Plus the Mules have been primarily a running team the last couple of weeks.  Greer Shetler ranks #13 in receiving yards with 529.

The Playoff Picture

Winning either of the next two regular season games should firm up a playoff berth for the Mules.  The Mule Fan will try to provide a view of the playoff picture as it develops and as the information becomes available.

Memorial Ham

We think the Mr. Porky deserves to parachute into the Sotelo household. Senior defensive back Anthony Sotelo had a big first quarter interception and was around the ball a lot on defense.  Congratulations!

Cliché Corner – Halloween Edition

Cuz  bein’ stupid is fritening.

Pick the football cliché.

A.     Ghost formation

B.     Candy Corn

C.     Wax Lips

Answer:  A. Ghost formation – an empty backfield behind the quarterback

Halloween Rock n’ Roll Tidbits

Surely you’ve heard these big holiday hits…

I Wish They All Could Be California Ghouls – Beast Boys

Uptown Ghoul – Bully Joel

Your Mummy Should Know – The Beatlesjuice

Fat Bottom Ghouls – Queen of Pain

Big Ghouls Don’t Cry – Fergie (Couldn’t think of any way to make that scary)

She Used to Be My Ghoul – The Ow-Jays

California Dreamin’ – The Mummies and the Papas

My Boney Lies Over the Ocean – Eddie Munster and the Skele-Tones

No Opponent Preview in this Issue

As you know Mule Nation, this is an off week so no real point in previewing Floresville quite yet.  If we get around to it, we may just come back in next week and throw a little more info your way.  As it turns out, when we signed our new contract for this year, we failed to look at the schedule so the bozos in management got over on us and convinced us that we need to file a story next week and we agreed.  We probably will.

Have a good off week Mule Nation and thanks for paying the subscription!  By the way, the secret phrase for this week is “wax flutes.” Remember that.  There will be a quiz.