Alamo Heights 36, Lockhart 44 September 25, 2015

Mules Suffer Tough District Loss at Lockhart to Slip Under .500

            -Look to Regroup Against San Marcos to Start Important Second Half

                  -By Bob Cohen, Senior Editor-at-Lard

            (Lockhart)—Keep your seats everyone. There’s a lot of football to be played. But feel free to scoot to the edge and wiggle a little. This isn’t familiar territory. After losing a hard fought battle with Lockhart on Friday 44-36, the Mules find themselves a game under .500 in district at mid-season (1-2) and overall (2-3) with five huge games remaining on the schedule.  Yep they’re all big now and made bigger with the Mules second district loss to a team that celebrated what they referred to as a “historic win.” Yuk.  Nobody likes being on the sharp end of one of those boots.

            The Lions wrote a big “credibility check” on Friday and it cleared as they got a quality win to keep their record unblemished at (5-0, 3-0).  Lockhart runs the old-fashioned Wing T or Slot T. For the Lions to have a chance to beat Alamo Heights, it had to be successful with the running game and not get behind on the scoreboard. Check and check.  Notably they did trail by a touchdown early as Mules quarterback Jack Woodland threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Williams with 7:10 to go in the first quarter.  But on the second play after the Mules kicked to Lockhart, senior running back DJ Ellison tore a six-point strip off the Mules’ back with an 81 yard gallop, his first of four big-boy touchdowns.  The Mules held a one point lead after the point after attempt was missed but that was to vanish soon after the Mules fumbled the kickoff and turned the ball over to Lockhart, tossed on two encroachment penalties and watched quarterback Nick Sanchez get to the pay station to put the Lions ahead for good.

            The Mules have faced this kind of offense through the years. San Marcos used to run it. Now Lockhart does and has done so in the previous two meetings with the Mules.  The Mules game plan starts with getting a lead and stretching it so that the Lions have to pass, which they never do, in order to stay in Alamo Heights’ mirrors. But this year, Alamo Heights witnessed a huge night from the previously mentioned DJ Ellison who rushed for 350 yards on 25 carries (two yards per carry below his average by the way!), scored on touchdown runs of 81, 56, 32 and 20 yards and rumor has it, was nominated for best brisket at halftime!  To win, the defense is required to keep the Lockhart offense from swallowing the football and it could not on Friday.  The Mules were unable to stop the gashing runs of Ellison as he found himself consistently running in space and turning little runs into big runs.  Ellison and the Lions had the goods on Alamo Heights on this night and the Mules were constantly on their back foot and leaning.  First downs were timely and plentiful for Lockhart.

            But to the Mules’ credit, they fought and hung in and had a shot until a deep ball to Antoine Cole, which could have put the Mules in position for some late game drama, was called back for a holding call.  Anyway, let’s change the subject.  Well not quite yet maybe.  The stat sheet was ghastly in one pivotal area.  Lockhart outrushed Alamo Heights 476 to 142.  The Mules bested them in all other categories except the score.  Notable for Alamo Heights was another triple digit receiving night for Antoine Cole who caught nine Jack Woodland passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns.  Woodland threw 42 times, completed 29 for 277 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. Running back Deryl Reynolds tallied 102 yards on 18 carries and one score; a nice night but pedestrian compared to the rocket-fueled evening that Ellison dropped on Alamo Heights. 

            While the hole is relatively shallow, it is a hole nonetheless and the Mules must now throw a hoof or two over the edge and climb out.  The climb starts this Friday against the San Marcos Rattlers in a district tilt at Harry B. Orem Stadium at 7:30pm.  Five games remain. For the last one to be the gigantic one everyone hopes for, each of the next four needs to go to the good guys.  Step one coming up.

“His Inside Voice”

A Weekly Conversation with Coach Mike Norment

Mule Fan: Let’s start with an overall look at the game.  Obviously a setback against a team you’ve handled in the past.  We’ve talked in the past about the slot T or Wing T offense and how it is difficult to play from behind.  The Mules lost two possessions early and had to play from behind for most of the game.  What would you point to as being your biggest challenges in trying to get a win in Lockhart?

Coach Norment:  Well they go down and score and we go down and score and they steal a couple of possessions on two turnovers by us which was huge.  They had no turnovers and they were averaging one or two turnovers a game.  So they had no turnovers and we had two. Those were critical.  So then we’re playing from behind and we did a good job and kept the pressure on them. They never got so far away that they could do whatever they wanted. They had to worry about scoring as well.  The times that the defense did get stops, one at the half, which was huge and another one in the third quarter, they got a stop and we were unable to convert on that where we could have gone ahead.  So we were always playing from behind and even with that we had a chance at the end of the game and weren’t able to convert so they ended up with the win.

Mule Fan: You’ve faced this kind of offense through the years for a while at San Marcos and now Lockhart and you’ve pointed out that it can be at a disadvantage if they get behind because of the lack of a passing game.  But can you remember seeing this offense with a run weapon who could crack off a 50 yard run as quickly as DJ Ellison was able to on Friday?  What conditions had to exist for him to have that kind of success?

Coach Norment:  First of all he’s very fast. They’ve got fast guys.  We didn’t get the kids in the right position to make the plays so we have to do a better job of that.

Mule Fan:  Once you had a half to see the offense at a speed quicker than scout team at practice, what adjustments did you try to make at the half while knowing you were only behind by two?

Coach Norment:  We tried to change some things with the front and get the secondary in the correct gap at the right time.  And a lot of times we were able to.  A lot of times we were able to put them into a third and fourth downs and unfortunately they were able to convert.

Mule Fan:  The effort seemed to be there.  You were able to get some productive scoring drives and hang in.  What were some of the good things that came out of the effort on Friday?

Coach Norment: We never gave up and kept on fighting.  The kids never got their heads down so that’s a positive.  Defensively we made lots of plays we just didn’t make enough plays.  We’d get them in a long yardage situation and let them out. So we have to do a better job at that. Offensively a couple times we didn’t convert and those were huge.  We were able to move the ball and our tempo did get to them. We have to keep on looking at those positives that we were able to move the ball. The tempo worked well. The defense needs to be more consistent and make more plays than they did.

Mule Fan: Parents, the fan base and maybe coaches tend to take longer to get over these kinds of games than the kids do. You have to be part time psychologist this week. The kids had a chance to come together for the car wash on Saturday and Mule for a Day on Sunday. What is the key to getting the focused on San Marcos, put this one behind them and focus on the task in front of them?

Coach Norment: The kids are a lot more resilient than adults. That’s for sure. They have a good attitude.  They did a great job this weekend doing stuff together.  Probably the best thing that could’ve happened is them having team activities that really weren’t football related to get their minds off it but also build camaraderie and teamwork. We have to keep on looking at all the positives that we’ve done this year and talk about that and not concentrate on the negatives. We have to keep building the kids up and encourage them to keep on working hard and see what happens.

Mule Fan: You’ll face a San Marcos team that is very dependent on their quarterback and on paper looks one-dimensional. What are you expecting from the Rattlers?

Coach Norment: I expect them to get after us. They’ve got probably one of the best athletes in the district if not the best. He’s fast. He’s the quarterback so he has his hands on the ball every play. They do run the ball more than they throw the ball but they can throw the ball especially if you start stacking the box and try to stop him. They’ve given up a lot of points on defense but they’ve scored a lot of points also. They’ve won some close games so they know how to win the close ones. We’re going to have to play good defense and keep him bottled up. We’re going to have to score on offense to keep the pressure on them.

Mule Fan:  To have the breakout game that you need here as you start the second half of the season, what are the keys offensively and defensively?

Coach Norment:  We just have to have some things go good for us. Right now it seems like everything bad that could happen has happened. When the other team fumbles it goes right back into their hands.  We’ve had a couple of turnovers the last couple of games. We’ve just got to keep on fighting and keep our heads up. When something bad happens just say “something bad happened” and not dwell on it and go to the next play.

Last Week’s Results in District 27-5A

Boerne Champion 50, Floresville 6

Memorial 9, San Marcos 67

Kerrville Tivy 56, Kennedy 6

Seguin idle

District Standings

Boerne Champion 3-0

Lockhart 3-0

Kerrville Tivy 2-0

San Marcos 2-0

Alamo Heights 1-2

Floresville 1-2

Seguin 0-2

Kennedy 0-3

Memorial 0-3

District 27-5A Schedule This Week

Seguin at Memorial

Boerne Champion at Kerrville Tivy

Lockhart at Floresville

Kennedy idle

Area Leaders

As you would expect, your Mules sunk a bit in the Express-News Sub 6A area rankings this week with the loss to Lockhart dipping from 4th to 7th.  It's Tivy-Boerne Champion 1-2 and Kerrville Tivy is ranked 7th in the state.  The Mules still populate the leader categories in a few areas.  Quarterback Jack Woodland is 10th in area passing with 982 yards.  Receiver Antoine Cole is 2nd in receptions with 41 and 13th in receiving yards with 414.  Brendon McClinton ranks 5th in receptions with 32 and 17th in receiving yards with 350.

San Marcos Rattlers Up Next-Game Notes

San Marcos travels to San Antonio to face the Mules this Friday October 4 in a 7:30 district match.  Alamo Heights has lost two straight.  The Rattlers come into the game against the Mules with a 4-0 record overall and a 2-0 district mark.  The Mules have won three straight against San Marcos including last year’s 43-7 win in Bobcat Stadium.  Last week San Marcos jumped to a 27-0 first quarter lead against Memorial and coasted to a 67-9 win to keep their record unblemished.  The Rattlers also have wins against Victoria East, East Central and Seguin along with last week’s destruction of Memorial.  The Rattlers appear to lean towards the one-dimensional focused on the quarterback David Hamilton who is also projected to have quite a baseball career in front of him. The senior QB leads the run-oriented team in rushing with 660 yards with an average of 11.6 yards per carry and has scored 11 touchdowns, which is also tops on the team.  He averages 289.5 all-purpose yards per game.  San Marcos rarely throws the ball but can.  Hamilton has only 83 passing attempts so far this season.  The leading defender is Joseph Wilburn with 12.8 tackles per game.  As a team San Marcos has averaged 52 points per game and opponents average 32.3 ppg.   San Marcos finished the 2014 season 4-6 and 3-5 in district. They return five offense and six defensive starters.

The Happy Fundraiser Results

 

Congrats to the Mules for doing a terrific job on the Car Wash fundraiser on Saturday and the Mule for a Day festivities on Sunday.  The boys raised a tidy sum for the program, had fun, came together and made a lot of big and little folks happy.

Dinner and Dancing (without the Dancing)

There are two Mules Dine Out Days this week.  On Wednesday September 30, Eat Mor Chickin at Chick-Fil-A on Austin Highway from 5pm-9pm. Then on Thursday, October 1 Eat More Steak Burgers at Freddy’s at the Quarry.  In both cases 20% of your ticket goes to the Mules football program. Just drop your receipt in the football bucket.

Mules on Twitter

It feels a little funny talking about things that tweet just after you’ve said people should eat more chickin’ but what the heck. Follow the Mules on twitter @ahmulesfootball.  It’s good stuff at 140 characters per message.  They’re more economical with their words than those of us here at the Mule Fan are known to be. But we get paid by the word here so we know you understand.

Video Didn’t Kill These Radio Stars

Listen in to two of the hardest working men in show business as they paint word pictures of your beloved Mules at home and on the road. Follow the Mules home and away on KRDY 1160 AM with play-by-play and precision analysis belted out by Dave Parker and Albert Gonzales.  You can also listen online at www.tsrnsports.com and on the TSRN mobile app.  Please patronize the sponsors and thank them for making it possible for the Mules to hit the airwaves.

Homecoming Approacheth

The Mules hit the road after this week but return home to Harry B. Orem Stadium on Friday October 16 to face Memorial for Homecoming 2016.  Several magical gatherings will take place for various reunion gatherings.  Your editor will be celebrating a milestone reunion with fellow Mules who began their high school education during the Nixon administration (eeegads!).  The Mule Fan staff is cleaning up the place in case anyone drops by for a tour of our office. (It's hard getting caked on soot off the wall!) Back in those days, the Mule Fan was written on gum wrappers in crayon.  They did the best they could.  I’m busy shopping high and low for some Hai Karate cologne, breaking out a couple of black light posters, some eight track tapes and growing my hairs a little longer this month.

Cliché Corner

Nowing clevir football wurdz is crewshul.

Choose the Actual Football Cliché from the list below.

A.     Hi Low

B.     Look out below

C.     Not my first rodeo

Answer: A. Hi Low – a illegal block where one lineman goes high and another hits the same man low. 

Mule Fan Mail Bag

Well we asked and boy did you respond.  We got some letters last week offering all kinds of constructive and destructive criticism.  Some of the anonymous stuff was clearly aimed and knocking us down a peg or two.  Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down!  Someone asked if it was true that my first Halloween costume was really Vin Scully.  Well no, it’s not true.  That was just a rumor.  It was really Lancelot Link Secret Chimp for half the night and then finished off with a darned good likeness of his girl friend – Mata Hairy.  I took in a pretty good haul that night. 

Here’s one that came in…we publish the good and the bad.

“Dear Mule Fan,

            What’s the deal with you?  Every week, I click on the link to this rag looking for something resembling a mention of my grandson who busts his butt every week. But you just talk about ticket stuff, fake football phrases, recipes and all this other rhetoric and jargon designed to shield us from realizing how little you know about the game.  If you think we’re going to take this from you you’re crazy.  Where were you raised??  You must have climbed out from under some slimy rock.  Why I wouldn’t read this scrawl again if you got down on your knees and begged me!

                                                                        Love,

                                                                                    Dad”

We don’t hide from this stuff.  Bring it on.  bobcohen@sbcglobal.net

Go Mules!!!  Let’s get a party started!!

Boerne Champion 31, Alamo Heights 14 September 18, 2015

Mules Drop District Tilt to Boerne Champion

-       Alamo Heights Takes to Road Next to Lockhart

                        By Bob Cohen, Senior Editor-Hates-Beets

(San Antonio)—This is the stuff that keeps rivalries burning white-hot.  For the second straight year, but this time in front of a large AH home crowd, Boerne Champion left a mess on the rug for Alamo Heights to clean up.   The Mules (2-2, 1-1) had to deal with four full quarters of Champion quarterback Josh Green as he led the Chargers to a 31-14 victory in an important District 27-5A matchup sure to factor into playoff considerations later.  Alamo Heights will have to wait a year for their next chance to land a blow in this fierce rivalry.  In the meantime, is there a way for us to impose economic sanctions?

In the best of circumstances, it’s hard to win a football game when you’ve gone through the penalty and turnover buffet line.  The Mules had to digest both of those and a Boerne Champion team that served up 476 yards of total offense.  With the exception of a few possessions when the Mules had the ball, the tempo and pace that fuel the Mules attack, was elusive.  However, in spite of the rough ride, the Mules were in a one possession game with 10:43 left in the fourth quarter following a drive that featured a pass from running back Deryl Reynolds to Michael Kelleher for 33 yards and a Kelleher fingertip grab of a Jack Woodland nine-yard pass over the middle.  With Champion driving on the following possession and sitting third and four from the Alamo Heights 17, Josh Green threw to single coverage at the right sideline about eight yards out that Nik Proctor wrestled away from the intended receiver, giving the Mules the ball deep in their own territory but with plenty of time.  The Mules were unable to answer after another batted ball put the Mules into an unwanted punting situation.  The Chargers offense went to work and put the ball in the end zone on the following drive on a 20-yard run by running back Isaac Murdock and later finished off the Mules with a safety dropping Jack Woodland in his own end zone with just under two minutes to play.

The Mules played from behind all night.  The offense frequently found itself in third and fourth and long situations.  Untimely penalties, some turnovers and a pesky Boerne Champion defense that got its hands on Mules passes put an anchor on the Alamo Heights offensive attack.  The Mules defense turned up the intensity in the second period and helped give Alamo Heights the encouragement it was looking for knowing it would get the ball to start the second half.

In the end, the Mules found Champion and quarterback Josh Green a “tough putt.”  Green was 21 for 41 for 240 yards and a touchdown pass. He ran for three scores of his own while he picked up 51 yards on 12 carries.  The Mules put up big passing yardage with 292 yards with more attempts led by a big night of production by Antoine Cole who handled 13 catches for 95 yards and Michael Kelleher who collected four balls, two for touchdowns and 79 yards.  Woodland was 24-46 for 306 yards and two touchdowns but did suffer three interceptions.  But the balance of a potent rushing attack from the Chargers gave them the edge on Friday.  Running backs Chayce Bolli and Isaac Murdock paced the Champion ground game with 103 and 79 yards respectively.  Mules punter Dakota Brokaw had a solid game with four kicks and an impressive 45.3 yard average.

Alamo Heights finds itself exactly where it was a year ago after a loss to Boerne Champion.  It rolled to seven straight wins following that loss and was finally stopped in the second round of the playoffs.  2015 is a new year with different personnel.  Attention now turns to a road trip to Lockhart to a Lions team that is off to a fast start. 

Last Week’s District 27-5A Results

San Marcos 35, Seguin 21

Floresville 34, Kennedy 3

Lockhart 51, Memorial 20

Kerrville Tivy idle

District 27-5A Standings

Boerne Champion  2-0

Lockhart  2-0

San Marcos 1-0

Kerrville Tivy 1-0

Alamo Heights 1-1

Floresville 1-1

Seguin 0-2

Kennedy 0-2

Memorial 0-2

Area Leaders

The loss to Boerne Champion dropped the Mules to 4th from 2nd in the Express News Sub-6A rankings this week. Champion jumped from #5 to #2. Kerrville Tivy remains #1.  Mules starting QB Jack Woodland is ranked 16th in total offense and 10th in passing.  Receivers Antoine Cole is #2 in receptions with 32 and Brendon McClinton is 10th. Caleb Williams is tied for 14th.  In receiving yards, Cole is ranked #11 and McClinton is #20.  Lockhart running backs DJ Ellison and Stephon Huston are ranked 7-8 in area rushing in sub-6A.  Huston is averaging a whopping 15.6 yards per carry.

“His Inside Voice”

A Weekly Conversation with Coach Mike Norment

Mule Fan:  In games with two evenly matched teams, rivals or not, it can come down to turnovers and untimely penalties.  There were those on Friday.  What was your overall view of the way things went on Friday?

Coach Norment:  Unfortunately we were just not consistent on any of the phases of the game.  We need to do better on all three phases of the game.  When we played well, things went well and then we’d make mental mistakes, which gave Boerne some chances. And they took advantage of them. That’s what happens when you play a good team.  If you make mistakes, they’ll expose them.

Mule Fan:  Not enough went right for the Mules to get ahead in the game but with 10:43 left after the Nik Proctor strip, you’re in a one possession game.  What was the approach at that point and what are the steps you feel the team need to take to finishing a game like that?

Coach Norment: We just need to get the ball moving.  Unfortunately we couldn’t do that. We just need to get some first downs. We had breakdowns here and there.  Obviously we didn’t do a good enough job of getting the players ready to play.

Mule Fan:  Our quarterback had to flush from the pocket and scramble a lot during the game. Was it coverage, blitz packages or protection that drove that?

Coach Norment: It was a combination. They did a really good job of jumping our intermediate routes. We got the ball off when we threw short but they did a good job of taking away our intermediate routes.  They were able to collapse the pocket a little bit. We’ve just got to be aware of that. It flushed us out and they did a good job of having a “spy” there and would put pressure on the quarterback when they were able to flush them out.

Mule Fan: Their quarterback, Josh Green, played as advertised. What were your thoughts about his play?

Coach Norment: He’s a great player. We knew he was a great player two years ago when he was a sophomore. In fact, we knew it when he was on the freshman team.  He’s gotten better and he made a lot of good plays. He’s one of the best players in the district.

Mule Fan:  When you came off the field, what was the first thing that you and the coaching staff wanted to see on film?

Coach Norment:  We wanted to see if it was something that Boerne was doing or something we were doing. Boerne Champion did a great job of getting after us but there were a lot of things that Alamo Heights messed up on. The coaches have to do a much better job of getting the kids ready to play.

Mule Fan: You’re right where you were a year ago.  And you went 7-1 after the Boerne loss.  So now how did and how does senior leadership come into play after a tough loss?

Coach Norment:  They definitely have to take control of the team and look at what’s going on and take some ownership. They need to make sure that things are being done correctly. The coaches can do it but if the kids and especially the seniors will do it, it just makes the team function a lot better.  That’s where we need to seniors to step up and help the coaches out and help get the team going in the right direction.

Mule Fan: Let’s take a look at Lockhart. They’re off to their best start in years. They run a Slot Wing T offense designed for ball control. It is tough to simulate that offense in practice. What are the steps to preparing for them?

Coach Norment: Well we need our personnel to try to give the best look that we possibly can on defense.  Today we had a group of 11 guys trying to do the same thing over and over again so each day and each play they’re doing a better job of giving the defense a good look. That’s the biggest thing. Because what’s going to happen is the speed is not going to be the same, so the defense is going to struggle the first couple of plays because the speed is going to be a lot different. But hopefully we’re giving them a good look and each day it gets a little bit better. So hopefully once they get used to the speed they’ll be able to do what they’re supposed to do.

Mule Fan: What are they keys to victory this week?

Coach Norment:  Well hopefully we have a great week of practice.  We did well on Monday.  I think one of the reasons why we struggled on Friday is that we didn’t have a great week of practice. That’s my fault. So we’re going to do a better job of getting them prepared this week. And also we’re just going to have to come up with a lot of intensity and be ready to play.

Canned Ham Award 

This week’s canned delicacies go to senior receiver Antoine Cole and junior receiver Michael Kelleher. Antoine has established himself as a dependable target for Mules quarterbacks. Cole had 13 catches for 95 yards and barely missed a dazzling catch in the end zone in the first half. Junior receiver Michael Kelleher was also a bright spot for the Mules on Friday.  He was on the receiving end of four passes for 79 yards and touchdown catches of 26 and 10 yards.   Congratulations to Cole and Kelleher for their efforts. Enjoy your pork in a can.  Even the black cloud of a loss can’t hide the silver lining that can only come from munching down on a canned ham. It doesn’t get any better.

Up Next – Lockhart Lions

Mule Fans traveling to Lockhart this week will need to cleanse their palate of last week’s taste so that they can enjoy a pregame barbecue tailgate in the smoky haven of Lockhart, Texas all in preparation to watch the Mules take on the Lockhart Lions in a district matchup.  The Lions are off to their best start in years at 4-0, 2-0 in district play and a scoring machine rolling up 208 points and allowing only 73. Their wins have come against Austin Reagan, Austin Crockett, Seguin and SA Memorial.  The Lions finished 2014 7-5 overall and 4-4 in district.  They return four starters on offense and six on defense including their quarterback Nick Sanchez who only threw 45 passes all season, completing 22 of them for 303 yards.  Remember that Lockhart runs an old fashioned Slot T offense.  If the last time you ever saw anyone on “all fours” was when you last had the flu, then prepare to see guys all over the field in that four point stance including all 30 running backs.  Alamo Heights won this game last season at Harry B. Orem Stadium 52-20 to notch the first of seven straight victories.

Lockhart Tickets

Nobody thinks it’s very nice to try and buy tickets at the stadium with barbecue sauce all over your fingers.  So get them in advance and take an economic stand that you’ll save when you can.  Tickets for this week’s game are $6 in advance for adults and $3 for students.  At the gate, you’ll be flipping out $7 of your hard earned cash regardless of age and shoe size and have to leave the restaurant early.  But if you must, Lockhart school officials ask that you please wash up before.

Tickets can be purchased at the Alamo Heights athletic office during these hours:

Wednesday 8:30am-noon and 1:30pm-3:30pm, Thursday 8:30am-noon and 4:30pm-6:30pm at the JV football game and Friday from 8:30am-3:00pm at the athletic office.

Important Mule Notes

It’s upon us now.  A big weekend filled with fun for future Mules. Mule For a Day is on Sunday September 27^th. Kiddos can do drills with the varsity players, learn skills from the big boys and even hear some good football stories from the trenches. It’s from 2:00pm-4:00pm at the stadium…The Mules Car Wash is an important fundraiser as well.  Plan on having members of the varsity Mules scrub up your ride to a gleaming shine. That’ll happen on Saturday September 26 from 12:00pm-2:00pm. down at the Mobil station across from Sunset Ridge on New Braunfels. This is fun to watch as well.  Looks like a bunch of ants on a breadcrumb, except with sponges. The Mule Fan usually covers these events but will not be able to this year because we’ll be in Dallas on assignment. Somebody please send pictures so that we can use in the documentary.  EZ’s at Sunset Ridge will host a Dine-In/Out Day on Saturday from 11:00am-3:00pm.  You can grab lunch while the guys shine up your ride and portions of the lunch bill will also benefit the Mules. Jut put your receipt in the Mules Football Bucket.  It should be easy to spot since it will look surprisingly like a bucket.

Congrats to Nik Proctor for Play of the Week Honors

Nick won that competition last week on News 4 WOAI for High School Play of the Week for his opening kickoff return against Kennedy. We think it was good mojo from winning the “Ham Patty” recognition from the Mule Fan.

Mules on Radio

The Mules are on the road this week so pay close attention to what we’re about to tell you.  Follow the Mules home and away on KRDY 1160 AM yodeled by Dave Parker and Albert Gonzales.  You can also listen online at www.tsrnsports.com and on the TSRN mobile app.  Dave and Albert are still squinting from the Kennedy jerseys but we believe they’re coming out of it. Please patronize the sponsors and thank them for making it possible for the Mules to hit the airwaves.

Follow Alamo Heights Football on Twitter @ahmulesfootball

There are so many ways to follow the Mules.  Here’s another good one. The Mules are on Twitter.  Mules running backs maestro Bryan Narvaez tweets (obviously not during a game) his little tweeter off as do others.  Make sure and follow the mules @ahmulesfootball.  The Mule Fan is definitely following and has learned much about life from this experience. Why, just last week we saw the recipe for Irish Soda Bread made from playing cards.  Great for making “club” sandwiches.

“Giant Boys at Woodridge”

Mule Moms don’t miss a trick when it comes to promoting Mule For A Day.  Great idea to have a bunch of Heights gridsters come to Woodridge last week in their jerseys to let kids out in front of the school. Nothing like talking ball with a second grader. Reportedly there were a couple of little darlings who thought that was a rather intimidating site, hesitated exiting their vehicles, asking Mom “Why are all these giant boys here?” Great idea by Barbara Iverson.  The giants will also go to Cambridge this Friday. 

Cliché Corner

Becuz knot nowing football termz makes yu feal relly stoopidlee.

Choose the Actual Football Cliché from the list below.

A. Riboflavin

B. Look off

C. Look, it’s a bird, it’s a plane

Answer: B. Look off.  When a quarterback draws a defender away from his intended receiver by decoying a look to another.

Mule Fan Mail Bag

By this time of year, the Mule Fan mailbag begins to fill up with all kinds of constructive criticism.  Usually around this time, we start hearing from parents who don’t think we spell very well, wear properly fitting clothes, use enough words ending in the number 2 or mention their “big brave boys” enough.  We take that all on board as part of the job that pays our freight. But also by now, we start to get some darned good suggestions thrown our way about what people want to read more of, less of, and so on.  Feel free to weigh in with your favorite chili recipe, draw up a play that we can submit on your behalf to Coach Norment, make a tasteful request of some 50’s doo-wop for the Mules Marching Band, show us a schematic of how to make a lifelike replica of Mules PA announcer Rick Shaw using toothpicks and sugar cubes, cuss at us in Welsh.  Whatever.  Just let us know if we can do something better or by all means crush our souls with a plain statement of how much worse we’re likely to get. We know we haven’t heard it all yet and we count on you to get us over the mid-season hump. You can comment publicly if you want to in the comment bar or if you really want to keep it between you and our staff, just e-mail bobcohen@sbcglobal.net.

Go Mules!!! See you in Lockhart and wash your hands before entering the stadium!

Alamo Heights 63, Kennedy Rockets 7 September 11, 2015

Mules Notch First District Win with 63-7 Trouncing of Kennedy Rockets

            -Await Boerne Champion in Rivalry Rematch

                     By Bob Cohen, Senior Editor-in-Sneaks

            (San Antonio)—In an unbalanced district like 27-5A, some district victories are going to be hard-fought and other matchups will produce other benefits like getting a lot of players well-deserved time on the field.  The Mules took care of business early against the Kennedy Rockets with a dominating performance by the offensive line allowing anything the Alamo Heights offense wanted to do, special team play for the highlight reel and a suffocating defense that forced nothing but wobbly pooch punts.  It was a game where the first team offense had their feet up with just under five minutes to go in the second quarter, followed soon after by the first defense clocking out.  The Mules continued to pound the Rockets throughout the night scoring on all but one possession, falling short after losing a fumble on Kennedy’s one-yard line. Coach Norment eventually emptied the bench as the Mules plastered the Kennedy Rockets for a lopsided 63-7 win to start off 1-0 in district play.

            The evening started in dramatic fashion as Kennedy took three shots at getting the opening kickoff in bounds. On his third try, Kennedy’s kicker got into one and drove it deep to the Mules 10.  Freshman Nik Proctor stood back to field a high hop and flashed up field, put on perfect cut left a his own 37 and sailed the rest of the way to get the Mules on the board and a 95 yard dazzler. 

The Mules defense would force the first of five Rocket punts on the next possession to give Alamo Heights’ offense its first chance to run.  It quickly finished a drive when quarterback Jack Woodland spotted Antoine Cole slanting to the back of the end zone and laid it in for a 14 yard pass and scoring catch. 

Again on the following drive, the Mules defense was stingy forcing another Rocket punt on fourth and nine from their own 25.  Kennedy’s punter squeezed off a rugby style punt just as the arms of Joe McGrath were entering his field of vision.  Downfield, a locked and loaded Nik Proctor scooped the ball from his own 48-yard line and blasted 52 yards to the end zone for his second TD of the night.

Kennedy’s offensive diet continued on the next series as the defense forced another three and out.  On the first play after the Kennedy punt, Mules running back Deryl Reynolds carved up the Rockets defense with a 35 yard run.  He eventually finished the drive with a six-yard plunge for the score. 

The pattern continued through the early stages of the second period.  Alamo Heights got two more scores out of the first team before handing it over to the next group.  Will Chaney cashed in a 12-yard pass to Caleb Williams in the corner of the end zone.  Running back Tucker Azar topped off his showcase drive with a four-yard scoring run to end the night for the first offense. 

Running backs Jack Heydenreich and junior varsity move up Jeremy Wasson put more wood on the fire with touchdowns in the second and fourth quarter respectively bookending a touchdown pass from JV move up Will Flannery to receiver Dorsey Walker.

The Mules produced 496 yards of total offense.  Nine different players caught passes.  Seven rushed for the Mules including JV move up Chris Lewis who chipped in 84 yards on nine carries to nearly match Deryl Reynolds output.  Alamo Heights held Kennedy to 191 yards of total offense and one touchdown in the second quarter.  It was a night to reward the hard work of everyone on the team by getting lots of action and resting the starters for a more demanding week two in district play.

It's Not Easy Seeing Green

Football is one of those sports where you must rely on jersey numbers to tell who the players are under all that gear. The Kennedy Rockets came dressed, however, in dark gray jerseys with dark green numbers with little white numbers on the kid’s sleeves, which I’m not sure the officials on the field could even see.  This is very tough on broadcasters, public address announcers, parents of players, reporters, coaches watching game film, stat guys.  Nobody is spared.  Was this someone’s idea of a joke? A senior prank perhaps? Was this a conspiracy? Was it some kind of communist edict that all were equal in the eyes of the football gods and nobody is an individual? Were they fiddled by a color blind manufacturer's representative? Was there a sale on dark green numbers at an Irish outlet mall?   I had to find out.  As someone who has and still occasionally does sit in a press box, I appreciated the hardship this caused for the hardworking press box occupants on this night.  I had to give my “brethren” a voice and a say in the matter.  So during halftime, I snuck over to enemy territory and found my answer. Some might remember when 3D glasses were issued at movie theaters for that quirky effect.  Not in 2015. Each person on the other side of the field was wearing night vision goggles!  So they could see every number with emerald clarity while the press box team was left without a clue.  It was rumored that the PA announcer was just making up names.  You can only say “the guy with the gray shirt” so many times.  Whose idea was this??  There must be more to this story….We’ll continue our investigation.

Last Week’s District 27-5A Results

Memorial 14,  Boerne Champion 69

Kerrville Tivy 67, Floresville 12

Lockhart 41, Seguin 13

San Marcos, idle

“His Inside Voice”

A Weekly Conversation with Coach Mike Norment

Mule Fan:  Offense scored on all but one possession, defense forced punt after punt and special teams ignited the attack.  Did you accomplish everything you wanted in the Kennedy game?

Coach Norment: We did a lot of good things.  You’re always pushing to make sure you’re getting better and in a lot of areas we did.  We were fortunate to get a lot of kids playing time.  When you watch the film you realize you’re not as good as you thought you were but you’re also not as bad as you thought you were. There are a lot of things we did that were good but there are a lot of things that we need to continue to work on to get better. We’re going to need to keep on doing that if we’re going to go far this year.

Mule Fan:  One of the things you did really well was on special teams.  We’re trying to remember the last time, in recent years anyway, that the Mules returned a kick for a score, much less two. Do you recall?

Coach Norment:  It’s been a while.  We were fortunate this week that we had a kickoff return and a punt return for touchdowns. That’s always great when special teams can get you points. That’s huge.  You’re going to need that.  Coach (Brandon) Davis is doing a great job with the special teams and it really showed. 

Mule Fan:  Thinking about this from the perspective of an opposing coach, when you know you’re playing a team that has a dangerous return game, does it complicate prep because of the time you have to spend on that phase?

Coach Norment:  It changes how you have to think. It makes you make decisions that you’re not used to making possibly.  And you have to spend more time on it.  If you’re spending more time on the kicking game you’re spending less time on offense and defense which I think helps us out.

Mule Fan:  What does it mean to a coaching staff to be able to get everyone into a game to get varsity snaps when they’ve all been working hard all week?

Coach Norment:  Well what’s good is you can get them on film so you can show them their play.  A lot of times with these kids, they think they know what they’re doing until you can show them on film exactly what’s going on.  So it’s always great to get some kids varsity time and get them on film.  It gives them an idea of the speed of the game. The speed at the varsity level is greater than JV or freshman level.  Getting these young kids experience is so valuable.

Mule Fan:  Let’s look ahead to Boerne Champion this week.  Of course, it’s a rivalry game.  It was a pivotal game last year in that both teams lost key offensive players. Alamo Heights took a tough loss then reeled off seven wins in a row.  Late in the year you told us the team really wished it could do that one over.  Do you feel you’re further along this season now than you were at this time last year going into the Boerne Champion game?

Coach Norment:  It’s hard to remember a year ago. So many things have happened since.  I think in some places we’re better than we were. We’re more prepared.  And in some things maybe not as good.  This is a completely different team.  I think we’re in a good place right now.  I think it’s going to be a great game.  Boerne Champion is a well-coached team coming in here to play a district game. It’s a rivalry.  So you put all of those factors together and I think it’s going to be a heck of a game.

Mule Fan:  Their quarterback, Josh Green, who went down for the season in our game last year, is their leader in so many different categories.  How do you prepare for him?

Coach Norment: He’s an explosive player.  He does so many things.  He can run the ball. He can extend plays and throw the ball. He’s definitely their leader so we have to be aware of what he’s doing.  You’re not going to stop him but we have to slow him down to have a chance to win this game.

Mule Fan:  They got off to a slower start than they probably would have expected. What have been their challenges so far from what you’ve caught on film?

Coach Norment:  They graduated a lot of people. They were a senior team last year. So they’ve got some juniors and sophomores playing and they’re getting better each week.  They could easily be 2-1 instead of 1-2.  They had their chances against Stevens. Stevens is a good team from Northside.  I just think they’re in a situation where these young kids have now played three games and are starting to get used to playing at this speed and they’re definitely getting better each week.

Mule Fan: You switched some things up defensively last week.  Can you describe your approach there?

Coach Norment: We had a couple of injuries so that forced us to make some personnel changes and move some people around.  We’ve had a week and a half of good practice. The kids are doing a good job in places where they maybe should have naturally been in the first place. They’re doing a good job right now.

Mule Fan:  What are the keys to victory this week?

Coach Norment:  We are going to have to keep the intensity up.  People forget we were ahead at halftime last year and ended up not doing very well in the second half.  So we have to keep that intensity.  We can’t let the emotions get to us at the same time.  Good things and bad things are going to happen.  We can’t let that affect how we play. Special teams are going to be huge like always in big games like this and the turnover battle.

Cliché Corner – Becuz bein stoopid abowt football is dum

Choose the football cliché.

A.     Loose change

B.     Lose contain

C.     Loose lips sink ships

Answer: Lose contain: to have a ball carrier or receiver get outside of the defense, turn the corner and get into the open field.

Area Leaders 

SA Express-News Sub 6A rankings still have Kerrville Tivy and Alamo Heights 1-2.  Boerne Champion moves up one slot this week to five.  For the Mules, Jack Woodland rank 17th in passing.  Three Mule receivers appear in receptions.  Antoine Cole is in a three-way tie for sixth with 19 catches. Brendon McClinton and Caleb Williams are tied at nine with 16 each.  Cole is 12th in receiving yards.  For Boerne Champion, quarterback Josh Green is ranked sixth in total offense and 10th in passing.  Receivers Hayden McMurray is tied with Antoine Cole in receptions with 19 and he is 10th in receiving yards. Charger receiver Chayce Bolli is 11th in receptions.

Important Mule Notes

We know your little Mules calendars can get pretty jammed up but please keep their day clear for Mule For a Day on Sunday September 27^th. They can do drills with the varsity players, learn skills from the big boys and even hear some good football stories from the trenches. It’s from 2:00pm-4:0pm…The Mules Car Wash is an important fundraiser as well. We all have a dirty car from time to time or in the case of your humble scribe, all the time.  Plan on having members of the varsity Mules scrub up your ride to a gleaming shine. That’ll happen on Saturday September 26 from 12:00pm-2:00pm.

Mules Dine Out Day

You gotta eat,  Why not benefit our little darlings on the gridiron?  This Thursday, September 17 at Freddy’s in the Quarry, 20% of all sales between 5:00pm-9:00pm go to our football program.  We have confirmed that this 20% "clip of the ticket" does not include any hostile takeover attempts.  Just food items.

right?

Mules on Radio

Follow the Mules home and away on KRDY 1160 AM with Dave Parker and Albert Gonzales.  You can also listen online at www.tsrnsports.com and on the TSRN mobile app.  You can also go to the game and wave at them.  But by all means, please patronize the sponsors and thank them for making it possible for the Mules to hit the airwaves.

Follow Alamo Heights Football on Twitter @ahmulesfootball

There’s another way to follow the Mules.  Mules Tweetmeister, coach Bryan Narvaez, reminds that there’s a lot of good stuff on the Mules twitter feed with many contributors.  Make sure and follow the mules @ahmulesfootball.  The Mule Fan is definitely following.

Canned Ham Award

It’s gotta be Nik Proctor who scored twice on special teams with two electrifying returns including the 95-yard opening kickoff and later a punt return of 52 yards along with effective running every time he fielded a kick.

The Mule Fan has never awarded the coveted Canned Ham to a freshman. They have to sit at the kid’s table first. So we acknowledge that while Nik was the winner, we’ll give him ham patties this time.  But he had a heck of a game.  Congratulations!

Bonus coverage:  We have also learned that the opening kickoff return has been nominated as a possible “Play of the Week” by WOAI News 4 TV.  So Mule Nation needs to vote often to bring this over the line.  Go to news4sanantonio.com and vote for it. 

Up Next – Boerne Champion Chargers

While Kennedy tried hard, it wasn’t much of a test for the Mules.  So bring on a rivalry game with Boerne Champion. That ought to open up the synapses.  The Chargers come to Harry B. Orem Stadium on Friday, September 18 at 7:30pm.  The Chargers got in the win column last week over Memorial after dropping their first two games to Buda Hays and Stevens.  Boerne has tallied 105 points and allowed 85 vs the Mules having scored 167 points and allowed 81.  Last year, Boerne Champion hung 56 points on Alamo Heights and handed the Mules their second defeat of the season.  It was costly game for both teams in the injury department.  Champion lost quarterback Josh Green for the season and the Mules lost star lineman Ronnie Rogers for the year in the game.  So far in 2015, Green is the Charger’s leading rusher and scorer and has completed 51% of his pass attempts for 675 yards and five touchdowns.  Champion finished the year undefeated in district play and 11-1 overall and went to the area finals.  Nine starters return from that team (four offense and five defense).  Kerrville Tivy, Boerne Champion and Alamo Heights were projected to finish 2015 1-2-3 by most media outlets (except for the Mule Fan of course). 

Go Mules!!!

O'Connor Panthers 60, Alamo Heights Mules 49 September 4, 2015

Mules Clawed by Panthers 60-49 in 2015 Home Opener
         - Eyes on District Opener with Kennedy Rockets
                        By Bob Cohen - Senior Editor-in-Need

            (San Antonio)—Here’s the thing about schools with enrollment of 3,400.  Unless they’re from Lilliput, they probably have cafeteria workers who could strike fear.  So on Friday O’Connor broke out a bunch of warehouse club sized teenagers who were physical and talented and the Alamo Heights Mules played like threatened mama bears.  At the end of this brawl, with an Arena League score on the board, the Mules had a lot to be proud of and be hopeful about in spite of their first loss of the season to the Panthers 60-49. 

            Though the Mules yielded 60 points, the defense played hard until the final horn against about 1600 pounds and 43 feet of offensive line and a blue chip running back named Jamontae Edwards.  The non-district game did rock, and we mean rock, back and forth and felt like a late season clash in its pad-popping intensity and big plays.  Who would have expected 109 points on the board and over a thousand yards of offense?  The Panthers exited the third quarter with a 44-30 lead but there were still 35 more points to come in the 4^th quarter and the Mules battling away to try and snap a four game losing streak to the 6A opponent.  In a game, which pivoted on offensive surges and big plays, it clearly made a difference which defense was ultimately going to be able to make timely stops. O’Connor won that battle in the end using a lot of different weapons. 

            Panther’s senior Jamontae Edwards, who will be playing somewhere on Saturdays next fall, was a tough project for the Mules tallying 153 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns.  Between Edwards’ efforts, the Panthers also wove in a big night from running back Brandin Bradford who busted out 95 yards including a 56-yard touchdown run to close out the first half.  O’Connor sophomore quarterback Roel Sanchez was a handful as well with 95 yards in 13 carries, a 15 yard touchdown run and five for seven passing night including a TD pass.

            The Mules offensive potency was mid season-like in its execution and its tempo.  Alamo Heights put together 516 yards of total offense and presented a diversified portfolio of quarterbacks in senior Jack Woodland and junior Will Chaney.  Each threw for two touchdowns as the Mules racked up 407 yards in the air.  Chaney busted out a 19 for 26 night for 277 yards in the air and rushed for 80 yards on six carries including a 43-yard beauty that put the Mules ahead in the second period. With receivers blanketed, Chaney jumped out of a previously comfy pocket and picked his way to open field to find the end zone.  Chaney zipped one of his TD passes 40-yards delivering it in stride to Brendon McClinton early in the third period, a play which was followed by a high snap from center on the PAT attempt which O’Connor collected and returned for two points to wet down the Mules’ momentum.  Chaney chipped in a 40-yard strike on a screen pass late in the game to junior Michael Kelleher.  Woodland was on target with his game as well Friday finishing 12 for 15 with two scores as mentioned above and 130 yards in the air.   He also dialed up Brendon McClinton late in the second quarter for a highlight touchdown of 32 yards and one earlier to Caleb Williams for 19-yards. 

            Mule receivers overall were strong again on Friday in the loss.  Antoine Cole collected 12 balls for 195 yards. Caleb Williams had another strong night in triple digits with 147 yards on 10 catches and a score.  Alamo Heights flashed out to an early lead though with the running game.  Running back Deryl Reynolds got the Mules on the board in their first possession with 10:47 on the clock.  Reynolds darted off a nice block from left guard Travis Winn and bolted 51 yards for the first score of the game.  On the following possession, the Panthers got a big pass play to get them into a position to tie, which they did on the first of three TD runs by Jamontae Edwards.  This is how it went most of the night until O’Connor cushioned their lead later in the game.

            Each team enters their third week of the season with 1-1 records.  The Mules enter district 27-5A play on Friday September 11 against Kennedy on the road at Edgewood Stadium at 7:30pm.

Mules Enter District Play against Kennedy Rockets

Alamo Heights made easy work of the Rockets last year with a 41-0 win at home in the district opener.  The Rockets struggled last season with one win all season and a 1-9 overall record.  They return seven starters on both offense and defense.  The Rockets are also 1-1 so far in the 2015 campaign losing their opener to Victoria East 55-7 and evened their record last week with a 14-6 win over Burbank.  They share a home stadium with district mate Memorial Minutemen.

Ticket Information for Kennedy

Usually you can save hard-earned cash by making an early trip to the Alamo Heights athletic office before showing up at the gate and paying premium ticket pricing.  At press time, we were unable to secure the details for any potential ticket transactions with the Edgewood School District and the Kennedy game.  We'll check back in later and update this section if we get the word from Patty Juarez that she will indeed be peddling tickets.  In the old days, the Mule Fan would hold the presses for this kind of info but in our advanced age, we've tended to launch it, laugh it off and hopefully you don't feel too significant a void with the incompleteness of the reporting.  

“His Inside Voice”

A Weekly Conversation with Coach Mike Norment

Mule Fan:  The Mules played hard in a physical yet wide-open game last week. On most nights 49 points will win a game but this wasn’t that kind of game was it?  You talk about learning from these non-league games against 6A teams and getting better.  What did you learn from this one?

Coach Norment:  We didn’t give up even when they got a couple of scores ahead.  So I was proud of that. There are some things we need to improve on offensively and defensively and on special teams that we could have done better. Overall I saw a lot of good things but at Alamo Heights we don’t play for moral victories.  It was a loss.  O’Connor played better than us and we’ve got to make adjustments on all three phases from the head coach down to the third string backup has got to do a better job.

Mule Fan:  What did the team do better this week over last week?

Coach Norment:  There was improvement.  Offensively we went faster.  I saw good hustle on special teams and defense.  We made a lot of plays on defense but a lot of times we couldn’t put three plays together to get them off the field.  Those are things we need to do better on.  Last week we were able to make the three plays and get them off the field.  This week we’d make two and they’d convert on third down so we have to get better at that.

Mule Fan:  You’re not likely to see the combination of that kind of size and a blue chip back again until you get down into November and December.  What’s the takeaway that you’d bring back in to planning should you see another group like O’Connor?

Coach Norment:  We made some changes because of what we saw. So you use that and the kids remember.  We can always go back to this game and say “this is what we’re going to see again” and hopefully we see a better team than that. We have to be able to make those adjustments and be able to come out a little bit better.

Mule Fan:  Did it surprise you how wide open the game was on both sides?

Coach Norment:  Yes and no.  I felt confident that our offense was going to be able to score some points.  Just having one film on them, I knew their offense was good but didn’t realize how good it was and I expected their defense to be a little bit better. We started clicking on offense.  There were a couple of times when we didn’t.  Right now when our offense is going fast and throwing the ball around and showing all the different things we can, we can be potent.

Mule Fan:  You already mentioned pace and tempo when the offense was going well.  You used two quarterbacks successfully.  What fueled the success of the passing game since you had good results?

Coach Norment:  Combination of things.  It’s the first time we’ve had all four of our “starting receivers” out there which gives us some speed.  We had success running the ball early which forces them to put more people closer to the line of scrimmage which opens up the passing game.  And the quarterbacks did a really good job of reading the defense.

Mule Fan:  How much confidence does it build this early in the season to put up those kinds of numbers on offense?

Coach Norment:  We told them it was a great job and that we want to build on that.  Don’t be happy with that. We need to continue to build.

Mule Fan:  Have you seen the much talked about hit that the John Jay players put on the official in their game against Marble Falls last weekend?

Coach Norment:  I saw it briefly. I was going out to eat lunch with my mother and sister and my daughter showed it to me.  I didn’t know it was Jay. She just said someplace in central Texas.  I didn’t realize until Monday morning that it was John Jay.

Mule Fan:  How does that happen?

Coach Norment:  I don’t know all the information and without the information it is hard to comment on it except for the fact that those two players were completely in the wrong and I’m sure that Jay and Northside will be taking corrective measures.

Mule Fan:  If you are on the UIL disciplinary committee, if it even makes it there before the school and the district take care of it, do those kids play again from your perspective?

Coach Norment:  Without knowing anything more, and of course they’re saying there were some derogatory comments going on, but I have a hard time letting them back on a team if that was my players. But like I said I don’t really know without all the information.

Mule Fan:  Yes there have been unconfirmed reports that the referee might have made derogatory comments on the field.  If a referee was making derogatory comments to a player or players on the field what do you expect your players to do?

Coach Norment: They come and tell me.  I stop the game and bring the head official over. I explain to him what’s going on and it better stop.

Mule Fan:  Unfathomable that it could ever happen here but still, do you address it with your kids?

Coach Norment:  No because we address behaving correctly all the time.  It’s never about the other guy.  It’s always about us. I don’t care what the other team does.  We had to address that at our scrimmage against MacArthur and we will continue to do that. We will do what Alamo Heights does and I don’t care what other teams and other people do.

Mule Fan:  Let’s look at this week and your district opener against Kennedy.  Aside from getting a win what do you want to get out of the Kennedy game?

Coach Norment:  We have to get better and again it’s not about Kennedy.  It’s about Alamo Heights.  We can’t control their team at all.  All we can control is what we do.  And what we have to do is use this week to get better so we can keep building each week and get better throughout the year so we’re playing our best football in week 10, 11 and 12 as opposed to week three, four and five.  We have to get better in all three phases of the game and on the coaching staff. So that’s what we’ll push and talk about this week.

Mule Fan:  Same routine in preparation this week even with the holiday?

Coach Norment:  It will be the same routine.  We did most of what we needed to do on Monday even though we didn’t have the athletic period. Tuesday and Wednesday will be normal.  The only difference is this week we have Back to School Night so the varsity will only lift weights one time this week as opposed to two which isn’t anything major. We’ll do the normal Thursday prep along with the JV and Freshman games. 

Cliché Corner – Because sharin football nawlidge is really gud.

Each season, the Mule Fan does its part to raise your football IQ with some simple lessons.  Some of you may be hearing lingo with which you’re just not familiar. Wouldn’t it great to try and hold your own in these circles of football blabber?  We’ll do our part to help with this week’s lesson. 

Name the football cliché.

A.     Hot receiver

B.     Hot fourth grade teacher

C.     Hot bubble bath

Answer: A. Hot receiver: the receiver prioritized to receive a pass on a play

Canned Ham Award

This week’s porky prize goes to Mules junior quarterback Will Chaney who put in some quality time on the field against O’Connor and moved the offense with a fast paced attack mixing in the run and pass and scrambling his way to a productive night passing for 277 yards on 19 of 26 attempts and two touchdowns, running 6 times for 80 yards including a 43-yard touchdown that would’ve taken the curl out of the tail of any pink porker.

Important Dates to Remember in Mule Nation

Two anticipated events of every football season at Alamo Heights are fast approaching and both on the same weekend.  Mark your calendars now for the annual Mule For a Day event at Harry B. Orem Stadium on Sunday, September 27.  Details will follow.  There were concerns raised last year that participation in Mule For a Day would negatively impact eligibility to participate on a future US Olympic team.  We have confirmed that there is nothing to fear in this regard. So make plans now to have your future Mules on hand to learn from the varsity.  This is not on every kid’s bucket list – but nearly. Next, or really before, is the Mules Car Wash event.  Some of us may be very tidy and some of us pure slobs in our daily lives but there is no excuse for a dirty car.  Especially when you can have a Alamo Heights football player clean your car to that factory-fresh look and feel with craftsman like aplomb. Both of these events are fundraisers so come out and support the Mules.  We’ll remind you later with all the details.  But save those dates!

Leaders? We Got 'Em

Alamo Heights retains its position in the Express News Sub-6A area rankings at #2 behind Kerrville Tivy (Oooohhhh that's going to be a fun one! "Stop looking ahead Mr. Editor").  Boerne Champion falls to 6th after starting their year 0-2.  Jack Woodland ranks 14th in passing with 392 yards.  The Mules have a group deal going in receiving rankings. Antoine Cole is in a three way tie for first with 18 catches, 242 yards and a 13.4 yard average.  Caleb Williams right behind him with 16 and Brendon McClinton amongst four others with 13 catches at fifth.  Cole and Williams are 5th and 6th in receiving yards.  

Follow Alamo Heights Football on Twitter @ahmulesfootball

There’s another way to follow the Mules.  Mules Tweetmeister, coach Bryan Narvaez, reminds that there’s a lot of good stuff on the Mules twitter feed with many contributors.  Make sure and follow the mules @ahmulesfootball.  The Mule Fan is definitely following.

Mules on Radio and Online-Home and Away

Each and every Mules game is on the radio and online.  You know how we know?  Cuz we heard it on the radio.  Follow the action of Mules football home and away on 1160 AM KRDY Radio Luz or streamed at www.tsrnsports.com and on the TSRN mobile app.  Dave Parker and Albert Gonzales paint the word pictures and deliver witty banter.  Don't miss a syllable.

  

Don’t Forget Film Night in the Oaks on Campus

Coach Norment reviews game film with interested fans and parents each Monday night at 7:00pm after a game.  This week, because of the Labor Day Holiday, film night is on Tuesday.  You can get a feel for how it is for the players to watch game films and a chance to ask Coach Norment things you’ve always wanted to ask.  Anything’s fair game in this info packed session each week. It shouldn’t be missed. Make it your Monday night habit before going home to watch Monday Night Football or even having dinner with the family.  It’s time to lock down your priorities.

JV Mules Host Kennedy Thursday

The Mules Junior Varsity will play on Thursday September 10 at Harry B. Orem Stadium at 5:30 pm.

Go Mules!!!  Get a district win vs. Kennedy!!