Looking Back:

STONY MAKES ITS POINT….AGAIN

Lightning struck near Harry B. Orem Stadium Thursday night. So close was the lightning that it caused the cancellation of the Freshman A Team game late in the third quarter. Lightning struck Orem Stadium Friday night – but this time the lightning was in the form of lightning speed – the nation's 15th ranked team, the Stony Point Tigers (this is pretty dramatic writing, huh….like the beginning of a good novel).

Friday was Senior Night before the Season Opener. The Seniors from the JROTC, Cheerleaders, Spurs and Football Team were introduced at midfield with their parents, followed by a quick photograph from Mary Candee. Senior Night is very nice in theory, but not exactly what the players or coaches want before an opening game. The players finish their pre-game warm‑up early and then line up beside their parents. The pre‑game intensity goes away during this session for what one senior football player referred to as a "buzz-kill." The Mule Fan is not sure about the rationale for this pre‑game event, but it has become a tradition. The Mule Fan reporters seized the opportunity to smirk at the program. You see, each dad/guardian wears (better yet, attempts to wear) the away jersey of his son for the picture. This is quite humorous in some instances – we think you know where this is headed [Is it possible they gave us the freshman jerseys by accident?]. Some dads did not even make the effort – Rich Garza was pretty certain that he could not wear David's jersey and thus he "opted out" of the task. The "best effort" award clearly goes to Wendall Hall for pulling Sam's jersey over his head. Thanks to the supporting cast of fathers who helped Wendell remove the jersey after the photos were complete, without breaking Wendell's neck. Sorry Wendell, but everyone is fair game in this blog, and none of us looked particularly suave in the tight jersey. Mules moms were also dressed in blue and gold – Sarah McSween and Lynda Alston were both wearing flashy blue/gold blouses, not that we were looking.

The typical late arriving crowd filled Orem Stadium. With storms in the area, only a few pre-game sprinkles popped through the "09 Bubble" and made their way to the turf. After weeks of 100 degree temperatures, at 7:30 p.m., it was actually a very nice evening for football. Stony Point won the toss and deferred to the second half. The Mules showed jitters on their first drive quickly going three and out after a miscue on the second snap put them in a hole. Stony Point took over at the Mule 43 and QB Aaryn Sharp and RB Jihad Johnson quickly showed that they could bust through holes and rack up the yardage. We heard those two names called all evening by announcer Rick Shaw (of La Fonda "pre-game and post-game" fame – that is a plug folks!). Johnson ran for 15 and then the final 10 for a score. With the missed extra point, the Tigers led 6‑0 with 8:12 left in the first quarter…shades of the 2008 game and 56 points by Stony Point??? The Mules started their next drive on the 30 and again had difficulty moving the ball. A terrific punt by junior Kristian Stern was downed at the 1 yard line. Good shape for the Mules, right? A quick turnover and we're in the thing, right? No so fast Tiger breath. Johnson and Sharp and Johnson, oh my! Twenty yards and thirty yards and fifteen yards, oh my! Johnson finally pushed the ball in from the 5 yard line, and though the 2 point conversion failed, the 99 yard drive put Stony Point up by 12 with 3:10 left in the first. Another stalled Mule drive was followed up by more Sharp and Johnson and on the first play of the second quarter, alternate QB Gus Barrera ran it in from the five for a 19‑0 Stony Point lead with 11:42 left in the second quarter. Ugh!

Let's catch our breath, because this story gets much better from this point. No doubt, everyone feared Stony Point in some form or fashion. Honestly, we suspect the Mules cheerleaders on the field probably didn't want to be that close to this quick, tough Round Rock team. Interesting, from the Mule Fan's perspective [high, high up in the stands and wearing outdated contacts], the Tigers were not the biggest team your Mules will face this year. But they were incredibly athletic, extremely quick and very aggressive on and off their blocks on both sides of the ball. With the first twelve and a half minutes of opening day jitters against a national powerhouse team behind them, your Mules played three quarters of terrific football.

Back to the game. The Mules offense finally began clicking. Senior QB Cullen Mills found Senior WR John Cabell for 15 yards and a first down. The teams exchanged possessions as the defense finally settled in and began tackling better and defending the "veer-like" Tiger offense more aggressively. Back on offense, the offensive line began opening up holes allowing SR RB Justin Rosenthal to pick up some positive yardage, even one very long run that was partially called back because of a penalty. With the Tigers back on offense, Stony Point drove to the Mules 13. A third and ten pass for a sure touchdown was stripped nicely by Jonathan Barshop. The Stony Point field goal was good and the Tigers led 22‑0. The next Mules drive featured a 15 yard run by Rosenthal and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for a hit on QB Mills, which lead to a 49 yard field goal attempt by Stern that bounced off the upright midway up as time expired. Halftime 22‑0.

We'll wrap this up before you fall asleep. The Tigers received the ball but another key stop was made by Anthony Knowles (A.K.), who knocked down a 4th and 5 pass. The Mules next drive included a key fourth down conversion. The Mules offense gained confidence as they picked up a few first downs and the defense played a terrific quarter against the speedy Tiger offense. The teams exchanged mistakes with a Tiger fumble picked up by Cliff Molak. Mills found JR TE David Cantu for fifteen tough yards. The Tigers moved the ball in the fourth but another Tiger fumble was recovered by Tyler Elorriaga. With 1:18 left in the game, the Tigers scored a meaningless touchdown – the first touchdown since the first play of the second quarter – 29‑0 Final Score.

Now, nobody likes to lose by 29, but this was a "good loss" if there is such a thing. As the game continued, it was clear that both sides of the ball were gaining confidence. Yes, Stony Point moved the ball, but the Mules defense began tackling better, made better reads and came up with huge plays when the Tigers were in the red zone. Though the offense didn't score, the offensive line, as the game continued, gave QB Mills more time to throw and moved the line to allow the Mules to gain yardage on the ground. The Special Teams were terrific all night – led by Stern's kicking and punting and good downfield tackling on punts and returns/block on kickoff returns. No injuries and a respectable score was the best any of us could ask for – and we got it.

LOOKING AHEAD

Clark Cougars – at Home Friday at 7:30

Guess What? Things don't get much easier for the Mules this week. Guess who is predicted to win San Antonio's District 28‑5A (which includes talented, large schools such as Warren, Stevens and O'Connor) and is second in the City in 5A? You got it – The Clark Cougars. The Cougars last year barely beat the Mules in a classic battle at Farris Stadium. Last year, Cougars had a terrific run to the State's Division I 5A Semifinals. Several players from that team are gone and several return.

Repeat after me: Hayden Greenbauer, Hayden Greenbauer, Hayden Greenbauer, Hayden Greenbauer. Do you get the picture? The Clark Cougars are led by…..you guessed it…..QB Hayden Greenbauer. Greenbauer is possibly the most talented quarterback the Mules will face this year. The 6'1", 200 pound, senior runs a 4.6, 40 and passed for 880 yards and ran for 1200 yards in the 2008 season. He passed for 9 touchdowns and ran for another 21 touchdowns. He is a force every time he touches the ball, whether he throws or runs. To stay in this game, the Mules must contain Greenbauer – it's as simple as that. The Cougars return five starters on both sides of the ball. A large offensive line, including 290 pound Center Chapman and 300 pound Guard Wiggins shall prove a tough test for the Heights defense. Last week it was speed – this week it will be size, that the Mules defense must contain. On defense, two of the Cougars linebackers return, including Linebacker Joey Carver, who has 99 tackles last year. The defensive line includes 6'1", 260 pound, Greg Castro. Nobody says we don't give you the details.

In their opener, The Cougars beat Churchill 27‑0 behind Greenbauer's 152 yards rushing and two touchdowns (yes, he's the quarterback!) and RB Ryan Jones rushing / receiving of 102, including a 32 yard touchdown pass from Greenbauer. The Cougar defense held Churchill to only 39 yards passing in their Thursday night game. A couple of Churchill turnovers kept Churchill from scoring, but the game was out of hand at 24‑0 midway through the 3rd quarter. Clark coach Alexander said, after the game that, "Hayden played just like Hayden always plays." The Mules' task this week is to not let Hayden play like he always plays.

THIS WILL BE THE LAST HOME GAME UNTIL OCTOBER 3RD. SPREAD THE NEWS AND THIS WEBSITE AND COME SUPPORT THE MULES.

Kickoff 7:30 p.m. – Friday
Harry B. Orem Stadium

The Junior Varsity will travel to Farris Stadium on Thursday and the Freshmen will play at home.

A Few Words with the Head Coach of the Mules – Don Byrd August 31, 2009

The Mule Fan: Against Stony Point you went through a very difficult first quarter and were down 19 by early in the second. The team seemed to start to execute better from there and on balance put together a respectable performance against a powerful and athletic team that should be tough in the post season. What were your views of the game on balance and what do you believe fueled the response to that tough start?

Coach Byrd: First of all our kids had to go out and play against them a little bit to believe they could have success. Number two, they’re a very fast team and it’s hard to simulate that in practice. So you’re going out there on the same angles to block people and make tackles and all of sudden the guy’s farther down the field because we can’t simulate that speed. Once our kids adjusted their angles and started believing they could make plays I was very proud of us. On defense, we got into some stunts that gave them a hard time. On offense we had more consistency. We still had some mental breakdowns. But on offense we had about five starters who missed at least two days of practice that week with little nicks and so forth and you could just tell our timing was off. So all in all I’m proud of where we are. We’ve got to improve a lot on little things. The effort was outstanding so with that kind of effort I’m excited about where the season could go.

The Mule Fan: Last week you talked about your excitement with the team’s chemistry. What did you learn this week about your team that is difficult to learn in a practice session?

Coach Byrd: I learned a lot. I learned that they didn’t give up. I learned that they can play with a lot of emotion and feed off of each other. That it’s a team that is still coming together and still working hard and is giving every indication that it is an overachieving team because of the chemistry that the young men have and the parents.

The Mule Fan: Offensively we were able to see the new “no huddle” approach that you began to work on back in the spring. In spite of the fact that you didn’t get to run as many offensive plays Friday as you would have liked, how was the execution of that against Stony Point?

Coach Byrd: I thought we were close. Two times we caught them off guard and we didn’t take advantage of it. They were still just breaking their huddle and we snapped the ball. But that’s just something they’re going to have to learn with experience. We’re trying to run the ball a little more and have a ball control game and that’s a tough team to start out with as physical as they were up front. But we saw a lot of good things and we’re going to straighten some areas out. It really came down to us shooting ourselves in the foot. On the first drive we get a bad snap and take a big loss. The next series we don’t stay on a block long enough and get a sack. That team is tough and when you get out of sync with it you get a second and third down and 15 to go. You go back and take those plays out and a couple of others…we had several plays that were four yards or more and that’s how we evaluate it. And the one’s we didn’t were because of mistakes that Alamo Heights made. So I hope they go away believing that if we learn how to play football a little better with that kind of effort that we could do a lot this season.

The Mule Fan: It was also your first real game situation to lift the lid on your 4-3 defense. What will you concentrate on defensively this week based on what you saw in the game?

Coach Byrd: We gave up too many yards after first contact. We saved ourselves by getting a lot of guys to the ball. The hustle really made up for being a little sloppy on the tackling. Early out of our base they found some things to hurt us and we didn’t adjust quite as early as we needed to and when we finally did we started playing ball with them well. Those are the kinds of things we’re going to concentrate on. We learned a little more about each of the players and so forth. But they played with a lot of heart.

The Mule Fan: Every year you have kids that have never played in a varsity game before. When you get a loss like that on opening night, what is the role that the older players play and what does the coaching staff do to convince the new kids that the sky’s not falling especially when you look at last year starting 0-2 and then roaring back and make a good playoff run?

Coach Byrd: Well we talked about it last year. At the end of the season we had four losses. Two of them were 5A state semi-finalists. Two of them were 4A regional finalists I think or right about at that level. So the teams that beat us were very good football teams. We’re not real worried about what the other team has. We watched the film. We showed each play where we messed up, what we could do and how much yardage we weren’t able to attain because of poor execution. We went through the defense and talked about how if they went down on first contact and we tackled better just think how much yardage we would have held them to. We’re striving. We know we won’t play perfect but we’re striving to get ¾ of the way there. If we can get ¾ of the way from where we were, then that’s playing with Stony Point. That’s a great accomplishment and that shows you the sky’s the limit with this team.

The Mule Fan: Next up is Clark, a familiar opponent since we’ve played them the last few years. They have another talented team that was successful last year and has some good players returning. What can we look for this week?

Coach Byrd: Yeah last year they were 13-2 and were beaten in the state semi-finals. They’re picked to win their district. We have a challenge ahead of us. They’re a very talented team that is playing with a lot of confidence because of the success they had last year. They’re a very physical team. They have an all-state center, a quarterback who is just a phenomenal athlete. Those are the two that stick out on offense. The rest of them are solid across the board. They have size, they have speed, they have depth. They play as many as four or five tight ends. They play a very aggressive defense. They give you a lot of looks. They slant and bring a lot of people. It’s a solid football team that we’re going to have to read on the run and make things happen. But that’s what it’s all about. Just going over the last game and looking at this next game, we know about every one of our weaknesses. We know where we need to work as a team. You can go and over-power somebody and win 42-0 and you don’t know a whole lot about your team. Did you out-athlete them or are you playing football correctly? And that’s the thing that will come out after the scrimmage against MacArthur and these first two games and really Laredo United too. They went two rounds into the playoffs last year and I believe they were district champs. If we can stay healthy and knock on wood we have been then we’ll know a lot about our football team.

Coach’s Corner

Last year we started a feature called Coach’s Corner which stalled early due to limited participation by the assistant coaches. Some of the reasons included shyness; one had to dye Easter eggs; they had to re-arrange their sock drawer that day; one had to save a kitty from a tree; one wanted an action photo of them mopping (which we weren’t going to agree to) and one had fudgesicle stains on his only shirt at school. When the Mule Fan explained that they didn’t need a clean shirt to answer the questions on the questionnaire the coach in question fessed up to the real reason which was he was recovering from scurvy. So we quickly concluded they just were too busy. But your Mule Fan editors are a persistent lot and we took another crack at it. This year we upped the offer to a 64-color set of Crayola Crayons WITH a sharpener and we got a few new bites (so far). The rest are holding out. While we don’t like to negotiate on this blog, we will pass along to the coach (you know who you are) that asked for the canoe oar signed by the ’76 Yankees and year’s supply of Big Hunks – that is a non-starter. Go ahead-hold out. Watch your colleagues collect all the fame and notoriety that comes with being featured here.

Meet Coach Chris Troilo

Photo of Coach Troilo courtesy of Mary Candee at Dulce Design Photography

Name (how many years at Alamo Heights): Chris Troilo 7 years at Alamo Heights

Hometown: San Antonio College Attended: Texas Tech, Our Lady of the Lake University

High School: Alamo Heights High School

Coaching responsibilities this season: Defensive Line and Freshmen

Career path that got you to Alamo Heights: Two years coaching at Park City High School-Park City, Utah

Subjects you also teach at AHHS: English

Hobbies: Skiing, snowboarding, cooking

The thing you had the most fun doing this past summer: Fishing

High School or College Athletics you played (position): AHHS-Running back, tail back. Texas Tech-Running back

What was your best subject in school: English

What teams do you follow as a fan: San Antonio Spurs

Fondest memory or the greatest moment in your athletic or coaching career: 2006 AH State Football Championship

Most embarrassing moment in your athletic career: Too many to mention

Most well known athlete(s) you’ve competed with or against in your playing career (who, what team or game, what level, where, those kinds of details): 1990 Heisman Trophy Winner Ty Detmer at Southwest High School ‘85

Outside of Coach Byrd (of course), what coach at any level of any sport do you admire most: Former AH Head Coach and Athletic Director Gaylord Finley

What is your pre-game ritual or any superstitions: I play catch with Coach Osborne

First car: 1969 Lincoln Continental

Musical instruments played?: Guitar

Which song from your youth would you consider your favorite: American Pie by Don McLean

If you were doing one song in an “air guitar” concert, which one you tear ‘em up with?: Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin

Four people alive or dead you’d most like to have dinner with: Jesus, Teddy Roosevelt, William Shakespeare and my brother Tom

Favorite food: Sushi Favorite concession stand food: Peanuts

Most recent book read: “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom

Favorite place to go on vacation: the mountains

If you were stuck on a deserted island, what three items would you want with you after your survival gear was covered: A journal, some books (no titles mentioned), a female (no names were provided)

Favorite TV show from your youth (not a cartoon): Six Million Dollar Man

Favorite Saturday morning cartoon show from your youth: Super Friends

Favorite movie ever: The Right Stuff

What’s the best thing that you cook: Breakfast

Favorite breakfast cereal from your youth (or now if it still applies): Lucky Charms (they’re magically delicious by the way)

At what kind of trivia contest would you be invincible? Rock and Roll

You don’t want to play me at (game/sport/board game/video game/card game, etc.): the video game ‘Astroids’

What do you like most about coaching at Alamo Heights: Family and friends

What advice do you have for your players at this point in their lives: “Get past yourself!”

Mules On Radio and Coach Byrd Live at Big Bob’s Burgers THIS WEEK-WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2nd!!!

Two important announcements regarding the Mules on the air! This season the Mules have a new radio home - ESPN 1250 AM "The Zone." Dave Parker and Ed Suarez will bring us all the action - home and away. Please remember to patronize all the Mules radio sponsors and tell them thanks! Parker also hosts an exciting live broadcast each Wednesday evening from 7pm-8pm on ESPN 1250 The Zone called Dave Parker's High School Coaches Corner. Big Bob's Burgers is located at Harry Wurzbach and Eventide. The show features a different high school coach each week and Dave's first guest is Mules head coach Don Byrd THIS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2nd. Please come out and show your support for Coach Byrd and the Alamo Heights Mules at Big Bob’s Burgers! ESPN 1250 and Big Bob's!

Mules on Twitter:

“Oh ain’t she tweet, well see her walkin’ down the tweet. Yes I ask you very confidentially ain’t she tweet.”

That famous line from the 1927 hit song performed by so many artists from Frank Sinatra to the Beatles to Conrad Tweety and the Tweety Birds and so many others throughout the 20th century inspired us to put the Mule Fan on Twitter. Go to www.twitter.com/mulefanblog and sign up to follow the Mules in very short bursts of quite tasty information! Our pledge – to use Twitter to deliver different content than you can get here on the site and to use puns when appropriate. What a deal! More work for us and the quality of your day increases by 140 characters at a time. Activate Twitter on your mobile phones so we can try and distract you at games as well. Tweet yourself today!

Baby Boomer Sooner

Check out former QB Drew Allen at work in a pre-season intrasquad scrimmage up in Norman, Oklahoma from August 20th. There's some great action footage in here which we know you'll enjoy. Drew is wearing a blue jersey #15. Go to this link below.

http://www.cstv.com/allaccess/player/07-oas-mediaplayer-okla.html?content=mms://a1981.v8108e.c8108.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1981/8108/v0001/cstvcbs.download.akamai.com/8108/open/okla/09-10/video/m-footbl/08aug/20090820_scrimmage_highlights.wmv&school=okla&

Countdown to Kickoff - AH vs. Round Rock Stony Point 8/28/09

Go Mules!!!

LET THE SEASON BEGIN - Welcome to Alamo Heights Football 2009!

The time has now arrived. We've watched the Mules through off-season, spring ball, 7-on-7 and summer practice. It's now time to kick off the 2009 season. As most of you know, the Mules moved into a new district last year pursuant to which they play seven district games (unfortunately, Memorial and Kennedy are no longer on the schedule). The non-district schedule is made up of home-and-home games with three opponents. These are typically two year series unless everybody's getting along in which case they may be extended for successive two year terms. Apparently (we can include rumors in this blog since it is, of course, a blog)..anyway, apparently, we weren't getting along with Georgetown because they abruptly cancelled the season opener leaving a hole in the Mules schedule for the 2008 and 2009 season. Suddenly, your Mules had two options--play 9 games or play Stony Point. Some of you, with no stomach, might opt for 9 games since it is awfully hot this time of year and we don't want little Billy sweating too much in August. Well, that's not the way the Mules think about football so here we are in our second year with a season opener against Round Rock Stony Point.

Let's get the serious and not-so-fun stuff out of the way and then we can move on. Just this week, the USA Today Super 25 came out and Stony Point was ranked #15 in the country. We too, did a double take, most certain that the "r" in that word was a typographical error and the word was clearly meant to be "county." But then after reviewing a handy map of Texas with the magnifying glass, we realized that Ft. Lauderdale, East St Louis and Miami--others in the Super 25--are not tiny towns located in Williamson County, Texas. Thus the "r" was correct (sigh).

But then, remember that last year Stony Point was ranked about the same place in a national magazine and things didn't turn out so bad for the Mules in the 2008 campaign. So it's glass half-full, not half-empty, and that's how we should all attack this week. Last year, the Mules traveled to Round Rock where they quickly trailed 30-6, before eventually losing 58-16. No doubt, that was a tough day and the Mules learned a lot about themselves that evening. The score blew up because of a handful of huge plays and, truth be told, the Mules actually played a pretty good second half, but for a couple of plays. The Mules regrouped and continued their march into the season.

Not surprisingly, Stony Point is favored to win District 16-5A. Stony Point returns five starters on offense and six starters on defense. Supposedly, Stony Point has 11 players (maybe the second rumor) committed to D-I schools including CB Kevin White who has committed to Utah and FS Desmond Martin who has committed to Texas Tech. Stony Point will be led by QB Aaryn Sharp and WR/RB Stephen Williams. The Tigers also return all three starting linebackers and three additional receivers. Stony Point won the State 7-on-7 tournament this past summer in College Station so speed and talent are deep on this squad.

Okay, so they are good. We all know that so let it go. It's a great opportunity! Have you seen Carter Thurmond hit? Have you seen Thomas McSween jump to block a pass? Have you seen Trevor Lovelady catch passes all summer? Have you seen the muffin man (whoops, sorry got carried away). You starting to get it? Let's play football.

The Mules are good as well. We have seen these boys working hard since December for this ten game regular season. Our talented coaching staff has spent countless hours helping the team prepare for this season. The staff has our team ready for every game, regardless of the opponent. A group of Mules will be suiting up for the beginning of their last season. And others, will be stepping onto the field with a year or two left, but with the same focus as the seniors. Needless to say, Alamo Heights loves its football and we look forward to watching them play every game this season. The Mules appear to be fairly healthy heading into the season. Though we don't generally report injuries here (unless everyone sees it or knows about it or Coach Byrd mentions it or if one of the Mule Fan editors cramps up), a couple of Mules are questionable for the Stony Point game, but the scrimmage with MacArthur ended with no new injuries--one of the main goals of the scrimmage.

Come out and support the Mules...be early and be loud. It's football time in '09.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2009
Harry B. Orem Stadium
7:30 p.m.

See you there.


A Few Words with the Head Coach of the Mules – Don Byrd
August 25, 2009 (Season Opener edition)

The Mule Fan: (Coach Byrd starts his 15th season as head coach of the Mules in 2009)
You’ve been through spring training, boot camp, summer conditioning, 7-on-7 and now the first two weeks of fall workouts. How do you feel about where you are now and what are you most excited about as we prepare to kick off the 2009 season?

Coach Byrd: We’re most excited about the chemistry of the players. They really work well together. They have a lot of confidence in each other. They build off each other. So that’s been the fun part. With all the phases-I’m very pleased with Boot Camp and the way off-season went. We had a lot of records in the weight room. In 7-on-7 I thought we competed well against very fine talent throughout the state and the first couple weeks of practice have gone well. Of course you’re in that mode where you’ve got to keep improving. But right now we’re on target with where I’d like to be. But you always have to improve between that first scrimmage and that first game. You’ve got to improve immensely after that first game to the second game.

The Mule Fan: Let’s look at the different segments of the team. We talked in the spring about graduation leaving some holes on the defense. How do you see the defense at this point?

Coach Byrd: Defensively I see a great attitude, a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of intensity. To become a very good defense we’re going to have to play better technique. The kids are trying and that’s a part of being young. They don’t come in right away and get everything perfect but they’re trying their hardest. The coaches are doing a great job of working with them. But the little things of how we fit on people who are trying to block us, how we escape blocks, making sure we have all of our gap responsibilities taken care of and our pursuit and so forth. It’s a fine line of being just an average defense and a very good defense. We’re showing all the effort for it. It’s just coming down to technique now. I think we’re going to be fine there. The kids are really coming along strong. We’ve got a couple of kids out in the secondary. (Luke) Maloy really hasn’t had that much playing time for us this year. And (Mitchell) Dan we’ve been slowly feeding back in after his injury. We’re going to look at those two heavy this week to see how healthy they are and how far they’ve come along and where they are. And that will determine a lot with the secondary. Carter Thurmond and (Phillip) Massari have both done an outstanding job. We’ve got a lot of other young men who are plugging away at it. But Dan and Maloy are the unknowns.

The Mule Fan: You put the 4-3 defense in during spring training and indicated we’d see more of that. You’ve had some more time to work with that new defense now. How has that progressed?

Coach Byrd: It’s coming along very well. It adds a lot of things. It highlights our linebackers and we can highlight our safeties in it so we’re excited about that. It’s a learning process because as we throw it together we’ve got to make sure each coach is on the same page on theory and so forth. And we’re coming along with it but it’s going to be a little slower process by installing a new defense. But I think it’s the way we need to go this year.

The Mule Fan: This time last year we were talking about a very inexperienced offense particularly the offensive line. But this year they’re coming back as a veteran group and the offense of course has a new look at quarterback with Cullen Mills taking the reins. What’s your view of the offense?

Coach Byrd: I am excited about how the offense has come along. Again, they did a nice job with their execution at 7-on-7. Mills has made some very good decisions. He throws a nice ball to catch. He’s gaining more confidence each and every time. You know quarterbacking comes down to a lot of different things. One of the top things is your decision making because on every play you have something you have to decide and its going to determine whether you get positive yardage or not and he’s really been a fine young man. Stephen Elder behind him is throwing the ball great and he’s improving each and every day and gaining confidence. So we’re excited about the quarterback position. Justin Rosenthal all of spring and so far this fall has really done a nice job for us and we’re excited about where he is. We’re going to count on him to make big plays. You know early in the season the ones that have experience are the ones who need to make plays. It’s people like him, (John) Cabell and (Trevor) Lovelady, (Cullen) Wernette, (Nick) Morton and (Matt) Cohen; the ones who started last year are the ones that need to make sure we set the pace and the tone. So we’re excited about it. I think we were able to run the ball a little more this spring and so forth so we’re excited about being back to more of a dual threat type of team. So we’re going to continue to work on that with the experience we have on the line and at running back.

The Mule Fan: We didn’t spend as much time discussing special teams in the spring but we had a chance to see more of that in the MacArthur scrimmage. Where are you with special teams at this point?

Coach Byrd: I think special teams are going to be fine. (Kristian) Stern has done a nice job. He’s worked hard. He kicks a ball that gets great distance and height. We have some young guys that can go down and cover. Of course we haven’t seen it in game situations as much so that’s something that we’ll have to wait and see. Our kickers and special teams people I think will be fine.

The Mule Fan: This group of seniors was the last group that was around for the state title run in 2006. Even though they didn’t play, they were around and practicing for those intense weeks. And of course they’ve been in the playoffs every year since. When you think about how many additional practices these guys have had and the extra playing time in playoff games, is it too much of a leap to say this is the most experienced group of seniors you’ve ever had?

Coach Byrd: Yeah they really are because you know they’ve also been through two spring trainings and we’ve never had spring training since I’ve been here. So there are three extra practices during the spring. Then there are the playoffs. When we won state they were freshmen so that’s five more weeks. Then the next year we went two more and then last year two more. So that’s nine weeks of post-season practices and six weeks of spring training so we’ve been able to work with these young men a lot.

The Mule Fan: At this time of year your thoughts also turn to injuries and early season bumps and bruises. How’s the health report entering the opening week?

Coach Byrd: I think we’re doing real well. We’re going to be able to look at Maloy, Dan and Matt Cohen a lot this week. There’s three of them and John Cabell is getting closer so there are some people there that we’ve missed at the beginning but we’re excited about the experience that they’re going to bring in. Hopefully they’re fully healed and we can move on with them. So the injuries have been down to a minimum so far knock on wood because we’ve got to stay healthy to have success.

The Mule Fan: For the second consecutive year it’s Round Rock Stony Point in the opener. This is a team that had a lot of success last year reaching the state semi-finals, they had success during 7-on-7 as well. They graduated their quarterback and starting running back but there’s probably some depth on that squad. It seemed to us that Stony Point was man-for-man the most athletic team we faced last season. What are you expecting from Stony Point in the opener?

Coach Byrd: Well they are a very athletic team. It’s a fine program. It’s a large 5-A school with 7 teams – three freshman, three JV’s and a varsity. And they do have a lot of depth. You know it’s been tough trying to schedule games here at Alamo Heights. We’ve had some success and a lot of people have chosen not to play us. So Stony Point was one we had to go with. Coach Chesser does a great job. It’s a big challenge for us but it’s a team that’s going to make us better in the long run. We’re a more experienced team this year. Last year we had three new coaches and no experience on the offensive line. All our coaches are back this year. I’m excited about having six guys back on offense. I’ll be upset if we don’t have some success this week. We ought to be able to move the ball.

Other Action This Week:

JV is at Stony Point Thursday(5:00 and 6:30) and the Freshmen are at home against Stony Point Thursday(5:00 and 6:30). Good luck to all four teams!

Remember the Fall Kickoff Picnic is this week!

Your attendance is vital at the Fall Kickoff Picnic this Wednesday August 26 at Harry B. Orem Stadium. Come out and support the players, meet the coaches, leaders and families of this year’s sports teams, band and spirit groups. There is no better way to build community spirit for the upcoming year than to slop some barbecue on your shirt with your friends at this popular event. Come watch Football and Volleyball practice from 4p-5p. Then from 5p-7p you’ll be entertained by the AHHS band and hear introductions. Barbecue dinner plates are $6 each and tickets can be purchased at the picnic. The dinner plate proceeds go towards defraying the cost of the event.
SPONSORS ARE STILL NEEDED FOR THE EVENT.
If you would like to become a sponsor please send a check for $200 (or more) payable to “The Mule Team” and return to Troy Jessee @ 141 Blue Bonnet Blvd. San Antonio, Texas 78209 or turn it in to the athletic office. Should a sponsor choose to designate their contribution to a particular athletic team or school organization please note that team or organization on the check. Any un-designated contributions will go into the athletic fund and used at the discretion of the athletic director. Checks needed to have been received by August 21st for banner recognition. But the donations still make a difference. More information is available at the AH athletic office.
New feature at the Fall Kickoff picnic: This year there will be two other ways for the Mules to get into your wallet but you’ll like these. There will be a silent auction for a reserved parking space in the “jock lot” for home football games!! This is the lot just behind the west stands between the stadium and the Mule Dome. The only way to get closer to the stadium would be to tunnel into the locker room or to live in the press box.. So that ought to get your attention. There will also be a raffle for two season tickets for the 2009 AH football season. The Mule Fan editors got a private tour of the seat location and we can confirm that they are on the 50 yard line (well not ON the 50 but up in the stands on the 50-you know what we mean).

Mules on Twitter:

Hey we are a happening group of fans on the cutting edge. As you saw last year with some of the new features and toys we used, you’ll know that we like to use available technology to round out our coverage and burn up some of your valuable time. Well another year has passed and there’s more stuff out there for us to try. So here goes. The Mule Fan is on TWITTER! Go to www.twitter.com/mulefanblog and sign up to follow the Mules in very short bursts of quite tasty information! Our pledge – to use Twitter to deliver different content than you can get here on the site and to use puns when appropriate. What a deal! More work for us and the quality of your day increases by 140 characters at a time. Activate Twitter on your mobile phones so we can try and distract you at games as well. We promise to tweet you right.

UPDATE: After this compelling promote of the twitter site, enough followers poured in to fill a pretty large bathtub at a nice NYC hotel suite. Head Mule Fan twitterer Cohen was overheard telling someone at the MacArthur scrimmage "Heck at this pace it would be easier just to walk up to everyone and say hi and tell 'em something I just thought of." Rumors are flying that this twitter idea is demographically careless, a little like wearing white a few days after Labor Day and potentially embarrasing to our publishers who have forked over the resources to help make it happen. We have convinced our publishers that they are being too hasty in their harsh judgement of the Mule Fan Nation's hipness. After all, this is only 2009's second post and even though y'all roared back in to the Mule Fan blog on the web (thanks folks) you should be given time because everyone's busy with the cooking, the washing, flossing, the back-to-school shopping and writing checks to the PTO. So we've settled down those cigar-chomping, cake-eatin' clean boys in the carpeted office. Frequency of the message is important and we've only just started. This is a great chance to get out front of your children on this because they just might not be on it too much yet either. Here's your chance to shut them up once and for all on who's bad and who ain't. Think of the dinner time conversations this can stimulate. You'll have something to tell your barber. People in Estonia will know your name. You will no longer be mis-tweeted!



Tickets!

Those of you who are waiting for your Alamo Heights season tickets to be couriered to your front door are going to be surprised to hear us remind you that you must go to the athletic office and PICK UP your tickets. THERE IS A GAME THIS WEEK!!! Patty Juarez sends her warmest regards and asks that you get on over there and get 'em. You might consider picking them up when you come to Wednesday night's Fall Kickoff Picnic. But in any case, you can pick them up before Friday August 28th at 3:30pm. If you miss that deadline, then they will be available at the ticket booth on the home side of Harry B. Orem Stadium on game night. If you miss that deadline, you could potentially be subjected to public ridicule and scorn. You could also be chosen at random to have a wild game cookbook read to you by a rough looking woman with a heavy Slavic accent. This may or may not be pleasant but why risk it?

Laredo bus trip:

Looking ahead a little, the Mules take on Laredo United on September 10 in Laredo. That’s a Thursday night folks (productivity and commerce that day among Mule faithful should be robust). Fair is fair, we made them come up here last year on a Thursday. But anyhow, bus trips are forming up for that schlep down there. We hear that the fare will be approximately $30 per person. You can be bumped up to first class for $31.75. The movie on board will be “Border Fencing-An Olympic Saga”. But seriously, more details will come along. As usual, the Mule Fan pushes off most of these details and questions to the AH Athletic office since they can actually answer the questions. Check with Patty Juarez for more details.


Mules On Radio This Week:

Two important announcements regarding the Mules on the air! This season the Mules have a new radio home - ESPN 1250 AM "The Zone." Dave Parker and Ed Suarez will bring us all the action - home and away. Please remember to patronize all the Mules radio sponsors and tell them thanks! Parker also hosts an exciting live broadcast each Wednesday evening from 7pm-8pm on ESPN 1250 The Zone called Dave Parker's High School Coaches Corner. Big Bob's Burgers is located at Harry Wurzbach and Eventide. The show features a different high school coach each week and Dave's first guest is Mules head coach Don Byrd on Wednesday, September 2nd. Bring your Mom and them and come down to Big Bob's next Wednesday and show our support for Coach Byrd, ESPN 1250 and Big Bob's!

Go Mules!

There once was a Mule Fan from Tomball,
Who hated the months with no football.
He’d sit in a haze and count out the days
And think about who knows what all.

Mule Fan Blog #1-The 2009 Centennial Season-By your Mule Fan Editors Bob Cohen and Bobby Rosenthal

Welcome Back Mule Fans! Time to bust out the 2009 Alamo Heights football season. After hours of deliberations and intense negotiations between our agents and the "powers-that-be," we've agreed AGAIN to sign on as your Mule Fan writers for the upcoming 2009 Alamo Heights Football season, our Centennial year. Let us first clarify a couple of items in the previous sentence.

"We" refers to Bobby Cohen and Bobby Rosenthal, or as we were referred to last season: "The Bobbys." For those of you new to the Mule Fan, the Bobbys provide weekly insights into Mule football, including a detailed summary of the preceding game, our analysis of the upcoming game, and a weekly exclusive interview with Alamo Heights Head Coach, Don Byrd. We also expanded our work during the season by adding video clips, assistant coach profiles, and, oftentimes, irrelevant editorial jabs at numerous folks – the easiest target always being Rick Shaw. Bobby R. usually writes blurbs such as this piece, the post-game summary, and the pregame analysis, while Bobby C. interviews Coach Byrd, provides on-the-ground video clips, incorporates assistant coach interviews, personal editorials and also co-writes blurbs like this one. We are extremely biased in our coverage and our opinions are our own, not those of the coaching staff or the administration. If you don't like sarcasm, be sure to have yourself removed from the "Group Blast." If you know others who might like to be added, send an email to brosenthal@trpsalaw.com, and we'll add them to the Blast List. Also we welcome your comments, suggestions, story and feature ideas, gentle critcisms and Fall "gluten free" recipes. Please feel free to e-mail either or both of us. Bobby Rosenthal's e-mail is just a couple of lines above this and Bob Cohen's is bobcohen@sbcglobal.net.

As many of you know, the job of writing and editing this site traditionally has fallen into the capable ink-stained hands of the parent(s) of varsity player(s) who are juniors. We have been held back (just us, not #50 and #22) for a variety of reasons, some of them disciplinary and we’d prefer to keep all that private. (Truth is nobody lined up to do it. Nobody really ever does as evidenced by us agreeing last year to do it while staring at the business end of a rubber hose with our hands and feet bound on the eve of the 2008 season.) So now we can't get out. Kind of like Dorothy being stuck in Oz without the magic red shoes. But mind you, having nobody around to step up during the exclusive negotiating period gave us the leverage to cut deals that allow us to bank some serious “coin” and these are challenging times. So, instead of letting the Mule Fan die a slow, painful death, with your permission we'll do our best to keep it on life support until the State Championship game in December, after which time, we'll pass the baton. We appreciate all of you who continue to pay the subscription. We did “writer’s quest” during the off-season, learned 17 new words, have 364 freshly sharpened #2 pencils and are ready to deliver our little messages which hopefully add some insight to Alamo Heights Mules football throughout the season.

OFF SEASON

To recap what happened last spring, immediately after Winter Vacation, our boys returned to school for the dreaded two weeks of boot camp. That is a wonderful period where the boys puke before lunch and then come home and fall asleep around dinnertime. Certainly, the incoming freshmen eagerly anticipate next January when they'll get their first shot at boot camp. After boot camp, off season continued before spring practice in May. You may recall that due to the Swine Flu, spring practice was touch and go for a period (no pun intended). Several districts cancelled school and, therefore, spring practice. To most students' dismay, school in Alamo Heights was not cancelled, so it was time for spring ball. Three weeks of practice were capped with the exciting Blue-Gold scrimmages. The week after school ended, most football players (and other student athletes) begin Mules In Training, formally known as Stewe Quest. Many dedicated athletes woke up by 6:29 a.m to attend the first session, which began at 6:30 a.m. and ran through the end of July. Coach Byrd and his staff also spent countless hours in the mornings making sure all Mules stayed in shape during the summer. Fortunately, the conditioning ended early enough in the morning to avoid the brutal summer heat.


SUCCESSFUL 7 ON 7

What is 7 on 7, you ask?

7 on 7 is a skills competition that has become huge in Texas. The offense has an ineligible center, a QB, 4 receivers, and a running back. The defense has seven "hands specialists," normally safeties, cornerbacks, and linebackers. The defense does not rush, and the QB has 4 seconds to pass – there is no running. The game is a high speed, high energy touch football game. A little more complicated than that but do you really care?

WEEKLY PLAY – This summer, the Mules had four squads playing weekly Tuesday night games against local schools at AHHS. The Mules fielded a Varsity, a JV, and two sophomore/freshman teams. Players rotated among the teams, and no coaches were allowed to assist. Thanks to the weekly help from Ron Mills, Bryan Thompson, and Todd Mills for coaching the teams.

TOURNAMENT PLAY– The Varsity played in three tournaments – Houston, Kyle, and Alamo Heights. The JV also fielded a team for the Alamo Heights tournament. All tournaments had 16 teams with the top two teams qualifying for the state tournament in College Station. The first tournament in Houston was the most difficult, yet the "Cardiac Kids," as they were often called, came back in all 3 games to beat some extremely tough 5A talent, ending pool play at 3‑0, and advancing to the final four, where they lost to the eventual tournament winner. In the Alamo Heights tournament, your Mules again went 3‑0 in pool play, and this time advanced to the finals, winning themselves a trip to the State tournament. At the Kyle tournament, we'll just assume the team was happy having already qualified for State, and we'll leave it at that (1‑2).

STATE TOURNAMENT-- The Cardiac Kids moved on to the State Tournament in College Station on the weekend of July 10‑11. Falling behind again in each of their 3 games (all 3 victories against 5A teams), Heights roared back to go 3‑0 in pool play, including another dramatic last play victory over Pearland. Heights advanced to the championship bracket, and though the squad lost its first game, the 2009 7‑on‑7 team advanced as far as any Alamo Heights team in the history of 7‑on‑7. Congrats to the boys and thanks again to Ron and Barbara Mills for their leadership in coordinating the weekend.

CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED

The 2009 Captains are: Matt Cohen, Forrest Hager, Thomas McSween, Cullen Mills and Aaron Salomon. Congratulations to these leaders.

Fall Training Notes:

Yeah we know it’s not really fall. But early season workouts began on August 10th. Lots of water being consumed up there at the stadium. There has been the usual amount of soreness, bumps, bruises, lightheadedness, profuse sweating and a little vomiting – and that’s just from the Mule Fan editors. The boys have been doing great. It was shorts and helmets until Friday the 14th when the pads were strapped on for the first time. There have been a couple of days of two-a-days with the Varsity and Junior Varsity early enough in the day when the temperature is still in double digits. The Freshmen have gotten their workouts in a little later in the day (rank and age has its privileges).

SCRIMMAGE: Mark your calendar – Friday, August 21st at home against MacArthur. Admission is free! Dress cool, wear sun screen and come out and get an early look at the 2009 Mules.

JV/Freshmen 9:00 a.m.
Varsity 11:00 a.m.

HONORING THIS YEAR'S SENIORS

Much of our focus this year, as it was last year, will be on the senior class. While the Varsity has many juniors and perhaps some sophomores, the following students will be wearing the blue and gold for the last time:

9 Bryson Marshall WR
10 Luke Maloy DB
11 Cullen Mills QB
12 Cooper Bibb DB
15 T P Loftus DB
17 Andrew Forney QB
18 Mitchell Dan DB
19 David Garza WR
21 Clark Hudnall WR
22 Justin Rosenthal RB
24 Lukin King WR
25 John Cabell WR
32 Grant Piland DB
33 Mike Warren LB
34 Alex Biltz DB
35 Stuart Biltz LB
42 Cliff Molak DB
43 Phillip Massari DB
44 Pablo Mancera DB
48 Wes Johnston WR
50 Matt Cohen OL
53 Wills Bauer OB
54 Tyler Elorriaga OB
55 Reed Egger OL
58 Nick Spears OB
59 Thomas McSween OB
61 Zack Fallon OL
62 Nick Morton OL
63 Aaron Salomon DL
64 Cullen Wernette OL
67 Evan Golden OL
68 Joe Corpus OL
56 Emilio Cuellar DL
71 Oscar Omenson OB
78 Jordan Jeffries DL
80 Trevor Lovelady WR
81 Scotty McIntyre WR
82 Forrest Hagar TE
83 Gerald Drought WR
86 Sam Hall WR
87 Jonathan Barshop WR


Tickets:
The Mule Fan prides itself on quality information that is sufficiently accurate. But when we HAVE to get it right, we arrange for top secret meetings with Patty Juarez in the AH Athletic office. Patty is the right hand (or hoof) of top Mule Athletic Director Gene Phillips. Patty is the knower, soothsayer, savant and occasional TV quizmaster of everything Mule. She recently summoned the Mule Fan to hand down the word on many issues important to Mule Fans everywhere. If you bought season tickets, they re now ready for pick up at the athletic office. The last three days to purchase season tickets are August 18-20 from 8:00am-Noon and 1:30pm-3:30pm. After that, you’re looking at game-by-game purchases. The athletic office will be open for sales on these days and times:Wednesday/Thursday/Friday 8:30am-noon; 1:30pm-3:30pm
Friday (for most out of town games) 8:30am-noon; 1:30pm-2:30pm

Fall Kickoff Picnic:
Even if you are a vegetarian, your attendance is vital at the Fall Kickoff Picnic on Wednesday August 26 at Harry B. Orem Stadium. Come out and support the players, meet the coaches, leaders and families of this year’s sports teams, band and spirit groups. There is no better way to build community spirit for the upcoming year than to slop some barbecue on your shirt with your friends at this popular event. Come watch Football and Volleyball practice (these are separate practices mind you-it would be hard to spike with shoulder pads on) from 4p-5p. Then from 5p-7p you’ll be entertained by the AHHS band and her introductions. Barbecue dinner plates are $6 each and tickets can be purchased at the picnic. The dinner plate proceeds go towards defraying the cost of the event.
SPONSORS ARE NEEDED FOR THE EVENT AND WILL BE GIVEN BANNER RECOGNITION AT ALL HOME FOOTBALL GAMES. If you would like to become a sponsor please send a check for $200 (or more) payable to “The Mule Team” and return to Troy Jessee @ 141 Blue Bonnet Blvd. San Antonio, Texas 78209 or turn it in to the athletic office. (The Mule Fan has learned that you can donate $198 if you’re willing to accept typos on the banner.) Should a sponsor choose to designate their contribution to a particular athletic team or school organization please note that team or organization on the check. Any un-designated contributions will go into the athletic fund and used at the discretion of the athletic director. Checks need to be received by August 21st for banner recognition. More information is available at the AH athletic office.
New feature at the Fall Kickoff picnic: This year there will be two other ways for the Mules to get into your wallet but you’ll like these. There will be a silent auction for a reserved parking space in the “jock lot” for home football games!! This is the lot just behind the west stands between the stadium and the Mule Dome. The only way to get closer to the stadium would be to tunnel into the locker room or to live in the press box.. So that ought to get your attention. There will also be a raffle for two season tickets for the 2009 AH football season. The Mule Fan editors got a private tour of the seat location and we can confirm that they are on the 50 yard line (well not on the 50 but up in the stands on the 50-you know what we mean).

Mules on Twitter:

As you saw last year with some of the new features and toys we used, you’ll know that we like to use available technology to round out our coverage and burn up some of your valuable time. Well another year has passed and there’s more stuff out there for us to try. So here goes. The Mule Fan is on TWITTER (or at least we think we are.) Go to www.twitter.com/mulefanblog and sign up to follow the Mules in very short bursts of quite tasty information! Our pledge – to use Twitter to deliver different content than you can get here on the site and to use puns when appropriate. What a deal! More work for us and the quality of your day increases by 140 characters at a time. Activate Twitter on your mobile phones so we can try and distract you at games as well. We promise to tweet you right.


Laredo bus trip:

Looking ahead a little, the Mules take on Laredo United on September 10 in Laredo. That’s a Thursday night folks (productivity and commerce that day among Mule faithful should be robust). Fair is fair, we made them come up here last year on a Thursday. But anyhow, bus trips are forming up for that schlep down there. We hear that the fare will be approximately $30 per person. You can be bumped up to first class for $31.75. The movie on board will be “Border Fencing-An Olympic Tale”. But seriously, more details will come along. As usual, the Mule Fan pushes off most of these details and questions to the AH Athletic office since they can actually answer the questions. Check with Patty Juarez for more details.

Mules on the Radio:

Well we hope so anyway. One of our Mule voices, Dave Parker, called to let us know that while they have made some good progress during the off-season towards attracting some great sponsors for the play-by-play broadcasts, they’re not quite there yet with enough. If you are in a service or retail business, whether you want to target consumers or business to business, please consider a sponsorship of the Mules on radio. It costs heaps less than just one commercial in the Super Bowl. It makes a big difference to the program when your games are on the radio so please consider it and help Dave get it over the line. For more details and package options, contact Dave Parker at 210-602-3784 or dpar77@aol.com. Thanks for your consideration.


Season Opener:

Friday, August 28th at 7:30 vs. Round Rock Stony Point at Harry B. Orem Stadium