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
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”
Go
Mules!!! Let’s get a party
started!!
I really enjoy our Mule blog, thank you for your time and hard work.
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