Alamo Heights Ignites Fireworks & Pop Kerrville Tivy
51-44
-Mules
finish regular season with momentum and a playoff date with Harlandale
By
Bob Cohen, Sr. Staff Editor, Sausage Wrap Advocate (Please sir, may I have some more)
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| Photos courtesy of the highly skilled Mary Candee www.dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com |
But before we look at the playoffs,
let’s get back to the Thrill in the Hills. The Mules would get the ball first and pushed downfield
after a start at their 30 clearly trying to set a brisk pace. Heights combined
run and pass but mainly took to the air using an assortment of receivers, took
on two penalties, which slowed them, but completed the scoring drive. Banks hit Cole Yoeman for a nine-yard touchdown and the Mules took the early lead.
The Mules defense forced a three and out on Kerrville’s first go with the ball. Kerrville’s punt was returned 25 yards by Mitchell Abramson, one of many strong returns for Abramson on Friday, which put the Mules back in great field position. Heights quickly tacked on another TD on a Dalton Banks keeper helped by a thundering block from left tackle Duncan Bartlett. Having not even loosened up yet, the Tivy offense returned to the field but was quickly asked to leave when Tivy’s Cade Dyal was picked off by Holden Daum after facing heavy pressure from Rocky Tips. The Mules went up three scores minutes later when Banks scored his second TD on a keeper sprung by a block from receiver Zach Ford.
Tivy got their wake up call before
time ran out in the first quarter and moved the ball. The Antlers scored twice in three minutes to pull back to
within seven. What followed was
the first of two scoring drives on the night where the Mules started from
either at or inside their own five-yard line, something they've done many times this season. A 95-yard drive ended on a touchdown pass to an uncovered
Deryl Reynolds who scampered 23 yards to put the Mules back up by two scores.
Coupled with that score by the Mules was an
impressive defensive stand. Tivy pushed it right down the Mules throat
and had it first and ten at the Mules four yard line. The defense stiffened and
two key stops, by Conoly Koontz and by Chandler Christopher shut Tivy
down. From their own four-yard
line, the Mules went to work on a 96-yard drive highlighted by a dazzling
51-yard run by quarterback Dalton Banks and a series of nice runs from sophomore
running back Tucker Azar who finished the drive with the one yard TD. The Mules
finished the half with a 35-14 lead and a heap of confidence. But important to note, as we are
certain the Mules coaching staff did for the team as well, that the team that
led at the half the last two times Tivy and Alamo Heights met, lost the game.
Tivy was able to get a quick score
early in the third quarter on a Jessy Denais interception of a Banks pass hurried
under heavy pressure. Denais
returned it 28 yards for the score. The Mules and the Antlers traded scores for the balance of
the third. Heights cashed in a five yard touchdown pass from Banks to Courtney. Tivy's Hayden Schreckenbach peeled off a 76 yard scoring run. And Cameron Dawley knocked in a 26 yard field goal. Alamo Heights held a 45-34 lead entering the final quarter.
The Mules opened the fourth period
with another impressive drive topped by a 38-yard strike to Greer Shetler on
third and nine and most importantly created a three-possession game. Tivy did go to work though and Cade
Dyal engineered a big scoring drive, which he finished with a 17-yard touchdown
keeper to cut the lead to 10. The
Mules were forced to punt it away on the following possession. On the ensuing drive, Tivy was able to
get the benefit of a controversial call on 36 yard reception which parked them
on the Mules own one-yard line.
What followed was the second huge defensive stand of the night. Two key stops by the Stone Tarver/Conoly Koontz twosome and a back-breaker by Trevor Bagg left Tivy with no choice but to kick a 31-yard field goal to make
it a one possession game.
Expecting the onside kick, Alamo
Heights inserted the “hands team” and watched the kick go out of bounds, and
took the ball at their own 48-yard line.
A time consumin’, third down convertin’ drive moved the line of
scrimmage all the way down to the Tivy four-yard line. When the Antlers looked at their watch,
they were out of time outs and hope with a front row seat to the Mules’ victory
formation and a great win by Alamo Heights.
Statistically, it was an evenly matched
affair although Tivy will look at penalties as impacting their progress. They’ll also look at Dalton Banks line,
which displayed a huge night.
Banks completed 27 passes on 43 attempts, 325 yards and four touchdowns
along with two rushing touchdowns and a handy 89 yards on the ground. Greer Shetler and Cole Yoeman had great
receiving nights with six and eight catches respectively. There was lots of offense on both sides
and 53 total first downs between the two teams. Defensively the Mules rose to the occasion when they had to
and kept the big play from doing critical damage.
"His Inside Voice"
A Weekly Conversation with
Coach Mike Norment
Mule Fan: Are you ever surprised at how these games go with
Kerrville Tivy?
Coach Norment:
No it is a great rivalry.
Our kids like to get after them.
Their kids like to get after us. It is always going to be a great game
no matter who the coach is. There
have been changes in coaches but it is always going to be a great game.
Mule Fan: Were
you expecting it to be so offensive oriented going in?
Coach Norment: Yes and no. I knew that they had a great offense and I was very
confident in our offense. I knew both defenses were good. I thought that we needed to play
defense. And yes we gave up some
big plays and we need to correct that but we were able to stop them more times
than they were able to stop us and that’s what it came down to.
Mule Fan:
Obviously the theme of the game seemed to be offense but when you think
about it, the game really turned on two key defensive stands by the Mules – the
one in the first half and then the late one where you held Tivy to three. What happened on those two drives that
was different from most of the rest of the game when the Mules weren’t quite as
successful stopping their attack?
Coach Norment:
Well they’re a big play offense.
They just try and get the big play. And all of a sudden when you start compacting the field it’s
harder to make those big plays because you don’t have as much room. And we’re
better at it than they are I think.
That’s how it worked out.
Mule Fan:
Dalton Banks had a really big night – two nearly full field length
drives, four TD passes, big passing yardage, two rushing TD’s and a nice
rushing night. What aspect of his
night impacted the outcome the most?
Coach Norment: The biggest thing is to think back to last
year a couple of times when we had to punt and had some things go against us he
might have gotten his head down. Even when he threw that interception, it sort
of changed the momentum. We came
right out and he drove us down the field and we scored. That’s the biggest thing is his
maturity and the change from last year to this year. He’s always had a strong arm. He could always run.
But his maturity and his ability to lead this team has grown. It started to get a little interesting
and they got some momentum, he knew he made a mistake. But he didn’t let it
affect him and we drove down and scored and made it a two touchdown game.
Mule Fan: How
do you expect having two hard fought games in a row helps your playoff
preparation?
Coach Norment: We’ve played two good teams. That can do nothing but prepare us for
the playoffs because those are the types of teams you’ll see in the
playoffs. Tivy is a very good team. I still don’t understand how
Floresville is not in the playoffs. They’re a really good team and got after us
and probably played their best game against us. I think if they had played like that throughout the year
they would have gotten that one more win and been in the playoffs. We had to be mentally tough and make
plays when we had to and we did.
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| Photos courtesy of Mary Candee www.dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com |
Coach Norment: I was telling the kids earlier. It is “reps in the tank.” And that
can’t help but help you out. We’re going to get three good practices this
week. That’s a week of spring
training almost because we only practice four days a week during spring
training. If we’re fortunate and win Friday now we have six practices. That’s
over a week now of reps in the tank.
Hopefully you can use that to build on. And also they see some of the excitement and they want to be
part of that excitement. I think
making the playoffs and actually going out and working with these kids makes
them want to experience the same thing and hopefully improves their skill
level.
Mule Fan: What’s their role during the week? You have a lot
of kids out there. How do you
balance getting them some work and also get ready for a playoff game?
Coach Norment:
They will get their work in “individual” drills. When we start going with “team” and
“group” they won’t get a lot because they won’t be in the game. They’ll be
helping us stay a little bit fresher. We still want to go “good on good”
because I don’t think we’ll get better going against a second team JV. We’ll do
“good on good” for a couple of reps and then we’ll rotate those guys in to keep
us a little bit fresher. Their
role is to help the varsity get better by running scout team and also when they
do get into drills to use those reps to get better. Also, blocking is blocking. Tackling is tackling.
It doesn’t matter what offense you run. Whether you’re running an Alamo Heights offense or
Harlandale’s offense or defense, you’re still doing the same principles. You
might be lined up a little bit differently. But by doing that they’re still
getting better.
Mule Fan: The first round is Harlandale at home. You’ve had a look at their film. Is there anyone in our district who
they resemble?
Coach Norment: They
have a lot of formations. They probably remind me a little bit of Tivy and
Boerne Champion with the types of formations. They’re very balanced. They’ll run and throw. They’re well coached. Defensively they
sort of remind me of Floresville in that I think we’ll see a 4-3 defense, a
4-2-5 and 3-4 defense like Floresville gave us. They’re in the playoffs. Coach Martinez has been there
forever and has those guys playing really well right now. We’ll have to play
really good to beat them.
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| Coach Mike Norment was a guest of Bobby Stautzenberger and TSRN Sports on SA Football Weekly on CBS Sports Radio 860 on Sunday morning from Hooters |
District 27-5A
Scores
Boerne Champion 65 Seguin 43
San Marcos 35 Lockhart 21
Memorial 21 Kennedy 28
Floresville idle
Final District
27-5A Standings
Boerne Champion 8-0
Alamo Heights 7-1
Kerrville Tivy 6-2
Floresville 4-4
Lockhart 4-4
Seguin 3-5
San Marcos 3-5
Kennedy 1-7
Memorial 0-8
District 27-5A
Playoff Matchups
Alamo Heights vs. Harlandale, Friday, Harry B. Orem Stadium
Boerne Champion vs. Edison, Friday-Heroes Stadium
Kerrville Tivy vs. Sam Houston, Friday – Alamo Stadium
Lockhart vs. Brackenridge, Friday - TBA (at press time)
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| Yep. Good call. Certainly no offensive interference here. ;) |
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| We agree. This was a totally clean operation. They deserve the ball at the two. |
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| Photo courtesy of Jeff Weigel-Dulce Design Photography |
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| One of the all-time non calls! But one can understand when you see the ref in the background and how his view might not have been clear given the glare of the play clock. ;) |
Area Leaders:
The SA Express News Sub-6A ranking remain the same 1. Boerne Champion 2. Alamo Heights 3. Kerrville Tivy. Dalton Banks sits fourth in total offense with 3,035 yards, 6th in passing with 2,439 yards and also was the SA Express News Offensive Player of the Week (we agree). Greer Shetler is 8th in receiving yardage with 836 and 12 touchdowns.
Harlandale Notes: The Indians finished 2014 6-4
and 5-3 in district 29-5A play…Their records were 5-0 at home and 1-4 on the
road…In 2013, they finished 10-3 and advanced to the third round in Division I
where they lost to Leander Rouse. It was the second time in school history to
advance that far…Head Coach Isaac Martinez is in his 21st season at
the helm of the Indians…2014 was their third straight winning season…They won
their last regular season game of the year against McCollum 7-6…The Indians
returned 21 letterman off of their 10-3 team including four offensive and four
defensive starters…Alamo Heights leads the series 2-0 having played the Indians
two consecutive years in 2005 and 2004…The Indians averaged 20.5 points per
game and allowed 21.4 points per game…Alamo Heights averaged 41 points per game
and allowed 21.6 points per game in 2014.
Undefeated JV
Congratulations to the Mules Junior Varsity which completed
a perfect 10-0 season with their own final victory over Kerrville Tivy at Harry
B. Orem Stadium. It is only the second time in 19 years that any Alamo Heights football team went undefeated.
Alamo Heights
Playoff Radio
There is a change
to the radio station where you can hear the Alamo Heights vs. Harlandale
playoff game. Due to a conflict with UTSA Basketball, the Mules will be heard
this week on CBS Sports Radio 860 AM and as usual online at
www.tsrnsports.com. Ed Suarez and
Albert Gonzalez will call the action while Dave Parker plays tournament
baseball way beyond his “use by” date.
Brackets-Who Plays
Who Next
The winner of the Alamo Heights vs. Harlandale game will
move on to play the winner of Austin LBJ and Cedar Park Vista Ridge.
Venison Ham |
| Photos courtesy of the highly skilled Mary Candee www.dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com |
And the Oscar Goes to….
The Mule Fan and others loved watching film of Mules guard Travis Winn #51 "sell" two contact penalties. After light brushes from the hands of the Tivy defensive tackle on two different plays, Winn did backwards somersaults complete with arms akimbo as if battling 100+ mph winds. He did everything but loosen his shoelaces and kick off his cleats, lose socks and spit out his mouthguard. Each time, he got the call. One critic called it "A glittering performance of rare perception." He is appearing weekly at left guard.
Playoff Ticket
Sales Review
FOR SEASON TICKET HOLDERS:
If your want to secure your accustomed seats for this playoff game, you
must make the trip to the athletic office on Monday or Tuesday. After
that, your seats go on sale to the general public.
Sales Hours
Tuesday: 8:30am-12:00pm and
1:30-4:30pm in the Athletic Office
Wednesday (tickets open to the general
public): 8:30am-12:00pm and 1:30pm – 4:00pm
Thursday: 8:30am-12:00pm and 1:30pm
– 4:00pm
Friday: 8:30am-2:30pm
Ticket prices: Adult
General Admission $7 (advance sale), Student general admission $4 (advance
sale), Season reserved $8 (Monday and Tuesday only)
At the gate all tickets $8. Stadium box office
opens at 6:00pm
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