Floresville 43 Alamo Heights 47 October 31, 2014

Alamo Heights Prevails in Tense One with Floresville 47-43

            -By Bob Cohen, Sr. Editor-in-Need

Photos courtesy of Mary Candee
www.dulcedesigns.photreflect.com

            (San Antonio)—Admit it Mule fans.  After five weeks of “walks in the park” many of us were probably hoping for a much sterner test as the team enters the business end of the schedule.  Yours truly was certainly in that frame of mind until the clock winked into the late stages of the fourth quarter on Friday night at Harry B. Orem Stadium at which point Floresville had 43 points on the board and the ball.  In addition, at that point, this reporter was taking it all back with a “get us out of here with a win” thought.

            The game was a rollicking, frolicking real good time as the Mules held on for a 47-43 district win, delivering good entertainment value for money, and setting up what should be a high energy, season ending, affair with the Kerrville Tivy Antlers.  Thankfully, it is deer season.

            But let’s not look ahead. Rather, let’s try and dissect this tough-it-out affair with our friends from the Eagle Ford.  The quick summary is that Alamo Heights (7-2, 6-1 district) put on an air show, which the Tigers answered with a running game.  The Mules have faced all kinds of rushing talent this season so they’re used to it by now.  When they’ve faced a two-pronged rushing attack however, the task has been tougher.  Floresville brought a couple of impressive weapons.  We mentioned running back Alex Mermea in the preview.  The junior running back pounded Memorial the previous week but proved that was no fluke against a tougher Mules side as he tacked on a stunning performance gashing the Mules defense for 184 yards on 19 carries and an impressive set of four touchdowns.  The TD’s themselves were nothing for the highlight reel but the ones that set up the TD’s were.  The Mules struggled with bringing Mermea down until the end when they had to make stops and were out of cushion to do it.  To keep the Mules off balance defensively, the Tiger’s junior two-way quarterback Koby Wilkerson also piled on some impressive running as well with 106 yards on a pile of 26 carries and a five yard score in the second period. 

            The first half was a tug of war as the Mules featured the combination of Dalton Banks to Greer Shetler on three touchdown pass combinations.  The first one was key as it was a response to Mermea’s first touchdown for Floresville after the Mules were only able to collect on a 24-yard Cameron Dawley field goal on the first drive of the game. With 4:28 in the first, Banks spotted Shetler behind the defenders to the right corner of the end zone to put the Mules back out front.  On the next possession, Banks took advantage of good protection and dropped a 45-yard shell behind three Floresville defenders to Shetler on a post route. 

            The Mules took a 17-7 lead to the second quarter but Floresville popped right back up with Mermea dipping into his second course from eight yards out.  Banks moved the ball to midfield on the following possession and on a first and ten at the 50, made Floresville pay for single coverage deep middle on Shetler, throwing again out of luxurious protection from the offensive line, which had a great game on Friday, and picked up Shetler in stride for their third straight TD connection. 

            Floresville showed they came to play marching it down the field and pushed the Mules backs against the wall again.  This time, Wilkerson sold a fake to Mermea and kept for four yards for the score.  And then it was the Mules turn again with Banks connecting to Zach Ford for 29 yards and a score, which was a catch and run from the 18 helped by a nice block from receiver Colten Courtney.  It wasn’t just the Alamo Heights defense that had a hard time stopping Floresville on Friday as the Tigers burned the Mules right away with a 75-yard Dadrian Contreras kickoff return for a score. 

            With a minute to go in the first half the Mules had a chance to work on a time management drill starting from their 20 using their sideline, first downs and timeout strategy to try and get a score.  It was going well but stalled when the Mules took a deep shot at the end zone and the pass from Banks was picked off.  Floresville led the Mules 33-28 at halftime.

            The defenses clearly made some adjustments in the second half as the pace of scoring certainly slowed.  Floresville drew first blood halfway through the third period on a two-yard stroll from Mermea to widen the lead.  A few minutes later, Banks connected to Shetler for the fourth time on the night.  Shetler split wide to the right and rubbed off a great block from tight end Cole Yoeman cutting behind him, catching a lob at the 15 and roaring into the end zone from there.  But Mermea scored again (I think I saw Mermea run through my backyard while I was writing this) with a second left on the clock in the third period to help put Floresville up by three after the PAT. 

            So the Mules entered the fourth quarter of a game in a place in which they are unfamiliar, namely behind.  Following the Floresville score, a Banks interception on the second play of the drive shifted some momentum further in Floresville’s favor as they returned the ball to their offense at the Mules 45.  A few plays later, the Mules forced a mistake from Mermea as he swept the right side, linebacker Conoly Koontz punched the ball out of his grasp and the Mules recovered on their own 20.  Alamo Heights could do nothing with the opportunity and punted away to Floresville, which returned the favor several plays later after the Mules defense clamped down and forced a Tiger punt.

Photos courtesy of Mary Candee
www.dulcedesigns.photreflect.com

            The Mules went back to work and on a third and 15 picked up a huge conversion on a Banks to Colten Courtney screen pass which Courtney turned into a 27-yard gain and badly needed first down.  However that drive also stalled forcing another punt from Cameron Dawley.  Once again, the Mules defense rose to the occasion pushing the Tigers into another punt.  This time the Mules got a 19-yard return from Mitch Abramson which put the Mules in great field position at the Floresville 37.  Facing a second and five to keep the drive alive, sophomore running back Deryl Reynolds picked up a crucial first down, which was followed by a go ahead touchdown pass from Banks to Zach Ford wide open in the left corner of the end zone 27 yards away. 

            That score meant that Floresville would get the ball back with plenty of time to mount a drive to try and win it.  The Mules defense, with impeccable timing, was able to keep Floresville far enough away from the end zone to force passes including a desperation heave with 3.5 seconds left in the game. With most of the Mules defense standing down near the Valvoline Oil Change store, no Tiger receiver was going to get behind the Mules.  There was a considerable crowd in the end zone awaiting the prayer from Wilkerson.  Holden Daum emerged from the pack with the interception and an important Mule win.

            With the Mules riding a five game win streak, the second half of the bookend district rivalry games takes place in Kerrville this Friday at 7:30pm.  Each team enters the game with their only losses to Boerne Champion.  It will be time to take the phasers off “stun”.   In the world of high school football, it is important that when you wake up in the morning you have a team or two to hate.  Well we have two in this district and this is the other one.  These are the games where you want to leave a mark.  Nothing in Kerrville comes cheap so the Mule Nation needs to be out in force for support.  See you in the hills.

“His Inside Voice”

A Weekly Conversation with Coach Mike Norment.

Mule Fan:  If we would have asked you before Friday’s game if you would rather have a fluffy blowout or a nail biter such as what we had against Floresville, which would you have opted for?

Coach Norment:  Probably the fluffy game but looking back, and while it was happening, I think this was really what we needed.  It challenged our kids. Our kids hadn’t played a full game in a long time and hopefully this will help us get prepared for the playoffs because we’ll have to play four quarters in the playoffs.

Mule Fan:  How did you feel about the intensity, the execution and overall performance coming off of an off week and not so strong a test against Memorial?

Photos courtesy of Mary Candee
www.dulcedesigns.photreflect.com

Coach Norment:  I think there were some times when we executed very well.  There are some things we definitely need to work on.  You’re right we had a relatively easy game before and then the off week and it’s hard to stay in game ready condition.  Floresville was playing for their playoff lives.  So they came out and had a really good game and had a really good game plan.  You have to give them some credit.  I really like the fact that in the second half our defense definitely stepped it up and started playing really good.  Offense struggled a couple of times but at times Floresville gave us a couple of different looks.  We were able to overcome some turnovers, some different looks and scored when we had to.

Mule Fan:  Let’s talk about defense.  Both teams seemed to figure each other out in the second half. Alamo Heights made some clutch stops in the fourth quarter but it hadn’t been that way all night.  What did you see and what adjustments were made?

Coach Norment:  We had to put some more people in the box.  And at times we just weren’t tackling very good.  You notice that on those couple of drives when we really stopped them we did a much better job of wrapping up and holding on until the cavalry came.  Offensively, they started blitzing a little bit more and so after we figured that out, we were able to calm down and pick up the blitzes and be able to get the throws off.

Mule Fan:  Offensively everything seemed to work pretty well. Even with a couple of interceptions, the deep routes seemed to be open all night.  Did you see something in their coverage packages that you thought you could exploit?

Coach Norment: To tell you the truth, you start watching the things that they did and that’s what the defense gave us.  We had some variations off some other plays.  We were fortunate that the receivers did a real good job of route running and the quarterback put the ball right where it needed to be.

Mule Fan:  What does a tough clutch win like that do for your team’s confidence particularly at this time of year where you’re going into a big rivalry game and the playoffs right around the corner?

Coach Norment:  Well hopefully it gives them some confidence and also makes them realize that if you don’t come out clicking on all cylinders you can have a play here and a play there and we lose that game. If that’s the playoffs you’re putting your stuff up.  Hopefully it wakes them up a little bit too.

Mule Fan:  This game with Kerrville will have no effect on playoff standings.  That’s all settled. But it’s Kerrville.  Let’s take a look at them and what you can expect from them.

Coach Norment:  They’re very explosive on offense.  They fly around on defense.  They are always going to be well coached and play with a lot of intensity. It’s a nice rivalry between Kerrville and Alamo Heights so it’ll be a great game.  Hopefully we’ll get a lot of fan support up there as well.

Mule Fan:  I suppose there will be plenty of reminders of what happened last year on our field?

Coach Norment:  The last two years, the team that was leading at halftime lost the game.  So that just shows you that no matter what the score is or where you are, the other team has another opportunity to come back and beat you. They never led until the fourth quarter last year and two years ago we never led until the fourth quarter.  So that lends itself to the rivalry that we have with Kerrville.

Mule Fan:  Regarding the playoff picture, we know at least the teams that we could possibly play in the first round but we don’t know how it slots yet.

Coach Norment:  We really don’t know yet. Is it going to be an SAISD school or one from the Harlandale district.  All the teams are going to be playoff caliber.  They’re there for a reason.  You have to be ready, can’t make mistakes and have to be mentally tough.  You have to realize that mistakes are magnified during the playoffs.  We’ll worry about Tivy this week. Hopefully that gets us into the playoff mode and we’ll find out come Friday night or Saturday morning who we’re going to play for sure because they’re all playing.

Mule Fan: I guess it’s good that you finish the regular season against a big nasty rival rather than have anyone look ahead to a playoff first round game.

Coach Norment:  Like I tell the kids, this is a dress rehearsal.  You want the dress rehearsal to get you ready for the actual performance.  That’s the way we’re looking at it.  We want to use this to get us ready for the third and big season, which is the playoffs.

  

Other District 27-5A Scores

Boerne Champion 57 San Marcos 16

Seguin 56 Kennedy 13

Kerrville Tivy 54 Memorial 14

Lockhart idle

District 27-5A Standings  

Boerne Champion 7-0

Alamo Heights 6-1

Kerrville Tivy 6-1

Lockhart 4-3

Floresville 4-4

Seguin 3-4

San Marcos 2-5

Memorial 0-7

Kennedy 0-7

Kerrville Tivy Notes:  Tivy enters this week with an overall record of 7-2.  Their losses were opening night at Big Spring and Boerne Champion in early October. Now they are riding a four-game win streak…The Mules control the series with five of the eight wins…Prior to last season, Alamo Heights had won five straight meetings with the Antlers…For six seasons 2004-2009, Tivy and Alamo Heights were district rivals.  Kerrville went away for 2010 (Manziel’s senior year) and 2011 and returned in 2012….Kerrville was 7-5 last season and eliminated by Cedar Park at Farris Stadium in the second round of the playoffs…The Antlers returned 11 lettermen off of the 2013 playoff team (seven offensive starters and two from the defense)…Tivy is averaging 52 points per game and allowing 28.4 (but as we know at this point though, gaudy point averages is not as meaningful given the imbalance in this district)…Do we have to remind you of last year’s result with Alamo Heights?? Tivy won 32-28 on our turf and did a little too much celebrating on the field afterwards for our tastes (we recall dancing; and even worse it was not good dancing) Let us not forget…The Mules have lost the last game of the regular season the last two years, each time to Hays. Let's get up to Kerrville and support the team and break THAT streak!

Kerrville Ticket and Charter Bus Information

Tickets will be on sale for this week’s game against Kerrville Tivy at the Alamo Heights Athletic office.  Here’s the schedule for the back half of the week:

Wednesday 8:30am-12:00pm and 1:30pm-4:30pm

Thursday 8:30am-12:00pm and 1:30pm-3:30pm; 4:00pm-6:00pm  (at the JV game at Harry B. Orem Stadium)

Friday 8:30am-3:00pm

Prices for the tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for students.  All tickets will be $7 at the gate.  

Editor’s Note:  The Mule Fan can confirm that Patty Juarez has dispatched an internationally acclaimed forensic accounting team (pictured below cleverly disguised as the very well coached Alamo Heights game operations team) to confirm that these prices are accurate.  A few years ago, a smelly dead animal was placed under the visitor stands, which made it tough to breathe for a quarter. Many were overcome by nausea.  Others just thought it smelled like their husbands. Ever since that day, we don’t take too much from the hill people at face value.  We have one unconfirmed report that one year they tried to claim that they only took euros. 

There are still seats available on the chartered busses going up to Kerrville on Friday afternoon.  Seats on the bus are $25 each (no luggage fees either!).  The busses will leave at 4:00pm from the corner of Vanderhoven and Castano.  Stop by the athletic office to reserve yours.  Bus rides to games like this are fun and you can leave the driving to highly skilled and capable IH-10 navigation and piloting personnel.  Most of the songs that are sung onboard are G rated and refreshments are often plentiful. 

Area Leaders

SA Express-News Sub 5A rankings are as they have been for weeks: 1. Boerne Champion 2. Alamo Heights 3. Kerrville Tivy…Dalton Banks ranks #7 in total offense with 2,621 yards…Tivy's quarterback Cade Dyal ranks #4 in the same category…Dyal and Banks are #5 and #6 respectively in passing…Kerrville has the 4th and 5th ranked receivers with Tres White and Parker Brown as Dyal's favorite targets…White ranks 5th in receiving yards with 867…Mules receiver Greer Shetler ranks #12 in receiving yards with 703…On another note, the Mules Junior Varsity is undefeated going into the last game. There haven't been too many undefeated seasons on the JV so you might want to check them out on Thursday at 5:00 at our place. We here at the Mule Fan understand that squad to be pretty salty which is good news (we heard that last year too when they were freshmen).  Heck, half of them are on the varsity already and playing given our M*A*S*H unit status.  Does that mean that kids from Woodridge are playing on the JV?? Their ranks have got to be getting pretty thin at this point.  Good luck to the JV laddies.

Mules on Radio

While we would like to empty Alamo Heights and transport them all to Kerrville for this important rivalry game, we know some of you have expired passports and won’t be able to book transport.  So never fear, you can hear all the action on KBUC 92.5 FM or online at www.tsrnports.com.  Our regular announcing team of Ed Suarez, Dave Parker and Albert Gonzalez will be on hand to transmit the action.  Tune in if you cant be there!

Canned Hams

Because management never looks at the schedule while they’re budgeting, they ordered a canned ham during the off week, which means we had one on the shelf.  Remember, canned hams can be stored on a shelf, which we think adds to the mystique.  How many meats can you do that with really??  So we had an extra, which is a good thing because we’ve got two winners this week.  We think Dalton Banks night was very ham-like as he was 24 of 37 for 321 yards and six touchdowns and 45 yards rushing on nine carries.  His favorite target of the night, Greer Shetler, gets the other.  Shetler caught eight balls for 174 yards and four trips to the pay station.  Colten Courtney gets hamarable mention having pulled in nine Banks passes for 95 yards.