We jerk the Greyhound's dog chain hard for a "Smack Down" district win...

ALAMO HEIGHTS 28 and BOERNE 15

Here is the link to the Boerne Album:

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=460259

This past Friday, October 19th, our team played the "Greyhounds" in Boerne. There was a close score at halftime with our Mules clinging to an 8-6 lead. But during the 3rd quarter our team played perhaps its finest period to date this season on both sides of the ball, exploding for 20-points on Offense and where our Defense limited the Greyhounds to a Field Goal when it appeared a TD was imminent with 1st and goal.

Senior Wide Receiver and Team Captain, Bobby Broadnax, had the "break out game," with two beautiful TDs, that many of us football-parental-units KNEW was coming as our Coaches "took their play calling gloves off" for serious State Play-off Qualifying District play.

However, the joy of seeing Bobby "do his normal thing" of making scoring TDs look easy, was tempered by the heart wrenching loss of fellow Senior Wide Receiver and Team Captain, Cody Courtney, for 4-6 weeks due to a broken hand suffered early in the 1st Quarter.

CODY, WE ARE ALL SO PROUD OF YOU AND ARE PRAYING FOR A QUICK AND COMPLETE RECOVERY.

On a positive note, during this game, our Defense continued its stellar play, limiting Boerne to 12 first downs (to AHHS's 17), 141-yards of rushing, and a meager 51-yards passing.

MEMORIAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT

This coming Friday, October 26th, our beloved Mules will play the Memorial "Minutemen" at Harry B. Orem Stadium in Alamo Heights. The Minutemen are 0-7, having most recently lost Kerrville Tivy, 55-6. This game should not even be close.

OTHER NEWS

This reporter noted that University of North Texas (UNT) Wide Receiver Sam Dibrell, a 2006 grad of AHHS and "True Freshman" for the Mean Green in Denton, caught two (2) passes for 16-yards during UNT's game against Troy University.

For an update on UNT QB, Gio Vizza, and other UNT Football News, please see:

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/sports/stories/DRCBruised_Vizza_1023.1995309d4.html

BEAT MEMORIAL, GO MULES!!!!!

Our Mules start District 27-4A play with a workman-like win...

ALAMO HEIGHTS 24 and FREDERICKSBURG 17

For any Mule Fans that did not make it to Orem Stadium in Alamo Heights this past Friday, October 12th, let me tell ya folks that the Fredericksburg "Battl'n Billies" grow some big country boys with an obvious zeal for playing old fashion "smash mouth football."

In the pre-game analysis of this reporter's last posting, I very calmly reported the Billies had a 260 lbs Fullback... well the other Fredericksburg Running Backs were not much smaller, and the Billies' Offensive line had obviously not been short changed in either the hereditary growth hormone pool, or at the family dinner table... their Offense was BABOOM BIG!!! This was what made the night so special on Mules defensive side of the ball. Try on the facts that our Mules' "D" held this power rushing team to 75-yards on 39 carries and only 13 first downs (while our Mules"O" had a very respectable 20)... I'm talking some SERIOUS STOUT DEFENSE, YAAAAAA MUN!!!!! A couple of memorable defensive highlights were:

- When Fredericksburg resorted to a "gadget play" play in the 1st half on 4th down with a "concealed in motion receiver" that was masking his in motion status by play acting as a confused late substitution (with him looking at his coaches with a questioning hands up in the air), and then a quick-snap and pass that was in-the-end, well covered by Team Captain #19 Craig Thompson who caused a dropped ball.

- When the Billies had the ball in the 4th Quarter with 1st down and 3-yards to go for a TD, where as a D-Unit the achievement was holding the Billies to just a Field Goal... STOUT!

- When our Mules "D" had to produce a 4th down stop to seal the win with about 2-minutes remaining, the Billies resorted to a well-executed reverse with 3-full-tilt-200-pound-plus Goats running at Sophomore DB Phillip Massari (whom I'm guessing is 5-9 145 lbs), who artfully split the blockers and made a picture perfect open field tackle for a loss... A THING OF BEAUTY!

Part of the reason I categorized this game as "workman-like win" centers on the fact that our beloved Mules turned the ball over five times. Due to the fact we gave the Billies the ball more than what we would like, our gridiron gladiators had to "work" for their win through this adversity. This is WHY I was so proud of our Offense. Its continued ability to stick together, not drop their heads, and lift each other up TO GET THE JOB DONE. Yep, Yep. Winners get tough when the going is rough... just so for the Mules "O."

How did our "O" grind it out, try on that Quarterback Drew Allen had 300-yards passing, that Running Back Sergio Acosta bulled his way to 100-yards rushing, and that SIX different receivers contributed to this win with "sticky hands" in the form of Team Captain Bobby Broadnax (1 TD, 4 catches for 75-yards), Team Captain Cody "Circus Catch" Courtney (2 TD, 8 catches for 156-yards), Stephen "Hollywood" West (2 catches for 34-yards), Sergio "Glide" Acosta (2 catches for 17-yards), Thomas "Doctor" King (1 catch for 14-yards), and Victor Givens (1 catch for 4-yards).

My favorite Offensive play was an 80-yard gem of a pass-catch-and-run that openned the showcase doors to four team-play attributes:

Showcase Door #1) - Beautifully executed pass blocking by our always overachieving Offensive Line that give our passing QB time to "do his thing";

Showcase Door #2) - A wonderful on the mark spot pass by QB Drew Allen traveling about 20-yards of air-travel into the hands of Cody Courtney;

Showcase Door #3) - Cody Courtney then cutting, and weaving his way through four Goat defenders, who ultimately gave chase and appeared to have a bead on Captain Courtney, WHEN....

Showcase Door #4) - .... WHEN a speedy fellow Captain Broadnax accelerated from behind the pursuing Goats, passing them, and then with incredible balance, turned around at full speed to provide blocking for the ball-carrying-Circus-Catch-Cody, thus allowing him to run in for the TD... SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!

Here is a link to this week's Album:

http://www.photoreflect.com/PR3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=451476&s=0

OK, so this was a nice win. Now on to Boerne...

BOERNE INTELLIGENCE REPORT

On this coming Friday, October 19th, we play the Boerne "Greyhounds" away for our 2nd District 27-4A game of this season. For those unawares of the annual challenges our beloved Mules face when playing Boerne (for non-Texan Mule Fans, this Hill Country town's name is pronounced "burn-ee") let me count off a few:

- Boerne and Alamo Heights typically have the most heated district rivalry... no love lost here as both the Mules and the Greyhounds have winning programs across a plethora of sports with solid coaching and actively involved parents... we both have first class school operations;

- The Greyhounds are the very largest of 4A schools with 1900 students enrolled in at Boerne High School... the Mules have ~1400 students. Hence, with a larger well to draw from, Boerne is big and talented, almost always qualifying for the State Playoffs, not only in Football, but across all H.S. sports;

- Relative to Football, no matter what each team's winning record, the Mules and Greyhounds "get up" to play each other... count on a hard fought game.

This year the Greyhounds are 3 wins and 3 losses coming into this game. One need only to look at Boerne's win against fellow District 27-4A foe Memorial this past week to understand this is a "running football team. " The Greyhounds had 229-yards running and only 42-yards passing against Memorial. RUN FOREST RUN!

If our Mules' "D" can stop the Greyhounds running game, and our "O" can begin rolling up the TDs forcing Boerne into a passing game that they are un-equipped to execute... well, let me tell ya Mule Fans this could turn the game into a serious AHHS spanking of BHS. Nuff' said.

OTHER NEWS

Texas Tech Offensive Lineman, Stephen Hamby, a former Mule Class of 2004, has earned his way into the starting rotation of the Red Raiders. Congratulations Stephen! Please see:

http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/hamby_stephen00.html

Rice University Quarterback, Chase Clement, a former Mule Class of 2003, had himself one whale of a game against University of Houston this past Saturday, setting a personal single-game passing record of 355-yards on 24 completions over 44 passing attempts with 1 interception (24-44-1). The personal angst for Chase, this reporter is quite sure, comes over the fact his personal achievement came in a narrow heartbreaker of a loss, 56-48, where Houston had 21-come-from-behind points in the 4th quarter to win.

University of North Texas (UNT) Quarterback, #15 Giovanni Vizza, a former Mule Class of 2006, earned his first win as a starting Division I quarterback with UNT' defeating Louisiana-Monroe 31-21, please see:

http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1800&ATCLID=1280421

Until next time... GO MULES, BEAT BOERNE!!!!

Hey, Hey Mule Fans, so y'all thought Mules were docile pack animals... if a Mule can kill a Mountain Lion, imagine what "a host of Mules" can do to a herd of feeble Billy Goats from Fredericksburg... DON'T MESS WITH THE MULES!

Bye Week Update

During the first week of October our Mules had a well earned Bye Week to get ready to enter District 27-4A play. Our first District game will be at home at Orem Stadium this Friday, October 12th, against Fredericksburg (see analysis on the most recent Mule Fan website posting immediately below this post).

As promised, please see the link below to review the Album of photos for the Mule's Homecoming against the 3A "Ducks" of Taylor:

http://photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=438907

Remember, the best technique to review the Album is to first look at the captions by clicking through the numbered pages at the top of the presented window, and then after reading the captions, to click "slide show" in the upper left corner of the presented page to have the system automatically blow-up the photos and scroll through the pictures (unfortunately the captions do not translate to the blown up pictures).

OTHER NEWS

Please see the following link to see a very nice tackle by 2006 Mule Football Alumni, Charlie Thaddeus, who is seeing playing time as a Freshman at Sewanee - University of the South:

http://athletics.sewanee.edu/athletics/football/photo1?id=3256

Also, fellow 2006 Mule Football Alumni, Giovanni Vizza, "got the nod" from the University of North Texas coaching staff to be the starting Quarterback for the "Mean Green's" game this past weekend against Sun Belt Conference foe Louisiana-Lafayette. Please see:

http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=9058&SPID=562&DB_OEM_ID=1800&ATCLID=1258213

Finally, starting Rice University "Owls" Quarterback, Chase Clement, 2003 Mule Football Alumni, helped his team win its first Conference USA game against the Southern Miss "Golden Eagles" in a Wednesday game last week, October 3rd, in Hattiesburg, MS, which is a VERY difficult venue at which to win:

http://www.ricefootball.net/

Also see Chase Clement post game interview:

http://www.ricefootball.net/07soumissvideo512.htm

GO MULES, BEAT FREDERICKSBURG!

Mules overwhelm the Ducks for another win....

ALAMO HEIGHTS 51 and TAYLOR 0

In our last non-District game of this season our beloved Mules, now 4-1, did not merely clip the wing feathers of the 3A Taylor "Ducks," we RIPPED out their wings completely.

Consider this Duck hunting list of team accomplishments:

1) During the first half, under starting QB Drew Allen's command our Offense scored every time it touched the ball;

2) Because our Defense was so strong, our "D" gave the Mules Offense the ball on a "short field" (e.g. 50-yards or less to move down the field for a score) for all but one series in the 1st half, resulting in skewed individual stats for QB Drew Allen, who only needed 57-yards of passing and roughly 50-yards of rushing in the first half (his only half of playing time) to pair up with Sergio Acosta's 63-yards of first half rushing on 15 carries and Andrew Bailey's first quarter 42-yard field goal, all contributing to a 30-0 halftime lead;

3) Drew's first half offensive prowess garnered him a Mules coaching staff-awarded 2nd half "spectator's seat from the sidelines" to supposedly cut the Ducks a little breathing space from an Offense hitting on all cylinders... however, a "full choke Duck-downing shotgun attack" ensued during the 2nd half through outstanding performances by back-up QB Cullen Mills and the Mules "O";

4) In the second half, with QB Mills at the Offense's controls our Mules scored, once again, every time it touched the ball, with Mills passing for 120-yards and two touchdowns (one TD being an impressive 20-yard zip-pass to WR Cody Courtney between two Duck defenders) as complemented by a solid running attack spearheaded by Running Backs Richard Donnegan and A.J. Lewis;

5) Cornerback Sean O'Brien continued his "sticky defensive hands" performance from this summer's 7-on-7 experience and had his first interception of this fall season, and followed it up with an athletic 14-yard return to the Taylor 25;

If there was one lament this night, it was watching an incredible 54-yard catch and run play by Team Captain Bobby Broadnax down to the Taylor 2-yardline being called back due to a penalty. Bobby stiff-armed two Duck defenders, out maneuvered a third, and dragged a fourth Duck holding on for dear life a good 15-yards before finally being brought down near the Taylor goal line. This reporter cannot wait to see a fully-unleashed Bobby "B" during district play...

Note: To keep website interest running high during a bye week, this reporter will include the photo album of our Taylor game in next week's Mule Fan website posting... remember Mule Fans, patience is a virtue!

FREDERICKSBURG INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Following a well earned bye week this week, our District 27-4A play begins at home on Friday, October 12th, against the Fredericksburg "Battlin' Billies." The Billies are presently 2-2, having lost their first two games of the season to New Braunfels (at Fredericksburg) and Pflugerville Connally (at the Alamodome "Kick-Off Classic").

However, the Billies have won two in a row against South San and Pflugerville Hendrickson. Unlike our rested Mules, who have a bye this week, Fredericksburg will arrive at Orem Stadium after facing Cameron Yoe at the Billies home stadium on October 5th. With a bye this week, "off-the-charts" Mule Fans might consider a road trip to Fredericksburg this Friday to personally see what we will be up against. This reporter cautions that this Hill Country team is likely better than its record indicates, and will also probably arrive with a win against Cameron Yoe and the momentum of a three-game winning streak. LOOK OUT MULES.

Fredericksburg has 17 returning letterman from last year's 9-3 football team, which went 4-1 in district play in 2006. Billlies' Coach Dean Herbort, who has six seasons as Fredericksburg Head Coach, reported to the Express News at the beginning of this season that his two-back system with returning players Craig Petty and Sean Atkins will be carrying the load for him through this season. "If we had it our way, we'd just run it down your throat," says Coach Herbort.

Here is a look at returning Fredericksburg starters, with top players in bold italic:

Billies Offense:

Senior RB Sean Adkins, ht. 5-9, wt. 200, 600-yards rushing last year and 8 TDs
Senior RB Craig Petty, ht. 5-9, wt 165, 600-yards rushing last year and 6 TDs
Senior FB Nick Alejandro, ht. 6-0, wt. 260 (A LOAD), 2006 Second Team All-District
Senior L Jacob Behens, ht. 5-10, wt. 230, part of an experienced line
Junior L Lincoln Wells, ht. 6-3, wt. 250, hurt most of last year
Senior T Bradley Dittmar, ht. 6-4, wt. 245, 2006 Second Team All-District
Senior K Will McCormack, ht. 6-0, wt. 190, 2006 Second Team All-District
Senior WR Ryan Turner, ht. 6-1, wt. 175, new QB will have plenty to throw to
Senior WR Josh Weirich, ht. 5-10, wt. 175, 32-671; 2006 First Team All-District

Billies Defense:

Senior P Nick Alejandro, ht. 6-0, wt. 260, special teams is a Fredericksburg strength!
Senior SS Michael Cleland, ht. 5-9, wt. 150, Billies will use his leadership in secondary
Senior DE Porfie Diaz, ht. 5-11, wt. 185, 8 sacks last year, 2006 Second Team All-District
Senior LB Zack Hale, ht. 5-9, wt. 200, lone starting returner among LBs
Senior CB James Perez, ht. 6-0, wt. 150, 2006 Second Team All-District
Senior S Josh Weirich, ht. 5-10, wt. 175, 2006 Second Team All-District; a two-way player
Senior DE Travis Maner, ht. 6-1, wt. 215, 2006 First Team All-District

As you can see from the list above, this year's Fredericksburg football team has a plethora of experience and good football players. Our Mules need to be ready, as Fredericksburg is returning a full contingent of players that will remember the "serious 49-13 spanking" delivered by our State Champs in the Billies' own backyard last season. They will be looking for redemption...

OTHER NEWS

The Mean Green "Gio and Sam Show":

This reporter found that you can listen to the football exploits of Gio Vizza and Sam Dibrell at the University of North Texas (UNT) by going to UNT's athletics website at:

http://www.meangreensports.com

... and thereafter clicking on "Football" and then clicking on "Listen Live." This function takes you to "The Word," a Christian radio station in Denton that carries UNT football.

Against Arkansas last week, UNT suffered a 66-7 loss, BUT, Gio saw extensive playing time and scored the Mean Green's only touchdown. Also, Sam Dibrell saw playing time during the 4th quarter of this game while Gio held the reigns of the Offense. The announcers did a nice job of playing up the fact that both Gio and Sam were High School teammates and were, once again, on the playing field at the same time as collegiate athletes... it was really neat to listen to!

Mules are on the State Top 25 Poll radar screen:

After this past week's win against Taylor, Dave Campbell's Texas Football website has the Mules listed as a Top 25 4A team in the Great State of Texas. Please see:

http://www.texasfootball.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=833

ENJOY THE FOOTBALL REST THIS WEEK, and GO MULES!!!!!!!