TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
WEEK ONE ROUNDUP




Note: Obviously, everyone would have hoped for a different outcome to last week's game---certainly no group more so than the boys themselves. Your Mule Fan reporters feel that our job is to focus on the positives of Mules football for our fans---and there were many in this game. If you're looking to a critical analysis of the game or of any particular play or player's performance, you've come to the wrong location.




Speaking of our "job", you should be aware that this is a non-paying job. We were volunteered(as happens in my life quite often), not volunteers. Thus, the detail may vary every week and you may not always agree with the thoughts, but remember, we DO have day jobs AND you're reading this for free so you get what you pay for!! We're looking to grow the site with new exposure and we've had several alumni and their parents and others in the community asking to be added to the weekly e-mail blast....please spread the word. We're also looking to expand the content of the site with ideas such as Bob C's creation of a coaches corner and hopefully an area where we can get to know the assistant coaches on a more personal basis. As an aside, these men spend a tremendous amount of time with our boys...it's Saturday morning now and guess where your coaching staff is at this moment while most of us are enjoying our 3 day weekend? You got it-they are in the middle of a 4 hour practice session. These men are teaching our boys life lessons--be sure to say hello and thanks when you see them anytime/anywhere. While this may be the only A.H. sport with such a site, this thought relates to each sport or other extracurricular activity at all of the schools in the A.H.I S.D.






LAST WEEK: ROUND ROCKED




Round Rock Stony Point 58, Heights 16





The site of the Mules regular season opener was the Round Rock ISD Athletic Complex. For any of you who have not been to a game at this spectacular facility, the Stadium seats over 12,000, has parking for what appears to be 112,000 and a nice, visual Jumbotron that replays every play(unfortunately). The press box looks like a College Press Box and the seats have metal backs---do the words "Robin Hood" come to mind? They did to me. However, presumably, this stadium serves as the home field for several local schools and is not located on the campus of any of the schools---which causes the Round Rock teams scheduling problems such as the need for Thursday night varsity games during the school year(I don't know know if any of this is true---I'm a lawyer, not a journalist-- but it makes for good "copy" as they say in the business). I'll take our cozy stadium on campus in '09 any time.






The last time the Mules traveled to the RRISD Stadium was November, 2006 as the Mules continued their march towards the AAAA State Championship. On that day, the field served as a neutral site, not home to the 5A Stony Point Tigers. And, on that day, the results were much better for our beloved Mules.





The Tigers were a late addition to the Mules schedule--added when the home and home Georgetown series did not materialize for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. While picked as one of the best teams in the State in 5A, Stony Point also was ranked#39 in the country by Rivals.com. And, on this night, Stony Point sure looked like a contender for the 16-5A title, as advertised.





Stony Point was led by senior QB Nyk McKissic and senior RB Glascow Martin. In the first half, the Mules simply saw too much of both McKissic and Martin. The Mules dressed in their brand new white jerseys and gold pants, took the opening kickoff and pounded out a couple of first downs. When the drive stalled, the Tigers took over and began their offensive explosion. The Tigers churned 7 minutes off the first quarter clock en route to one of their early scores. The Mules rolled a bit more including additional first downs (one coming on a key third down pass from Senior Sooner QB Drew Allen to Kyle Flores). Flores, by the way, making his varsity debut, had a terrific game and appears on his way to having a great year.

In the second quarter, McKissic found Stevens for a 50 yard strike for another score. Glascow Martin added a couple of additional 3 yard touchdown runs and before Sarah and Paul McSween could figure out which one of their sons(Rhett and Thomas) was #58 and which one was #59, the Mules were down 28-0. It must be noted that the defense actually played very well during this period, even though the statistics would reflect otherwise. The Tigers offense is a numerous set offense and the Mules likely won't encounter one like that again this year. The huge offensive line and the speed of numerous Division I College prospects were too tough for the Mules defense which showed all the signs of strengthing as the season matures.

Looking at the positives, I believe there were many from that point forward. On the ensuing kickoff, Senior Co-Captain Collin Bibb exploded through the neatly formed wedge for a 41 yard kickoff return. The kickoff team really just came together as a unit in one week so it truly was a sign of things to come as the entire crew held their blocks, allowing Bibb to bust through. In the subsequent possession, Senior Sergio Acosta pounded out 15 yards, then caught a pass for 12 yards from Allen and, after a key 3rd and 7 reception by Flores, Acosta rumbled in from the 6. Unfortunately, the extra point was blocked and returned by the Tigers for 2 points leaving the Mules slightly deflated after a nice scoring drive going into halftime down 30-6.





The third quarter was the best quarter of the game for your Mules. The main reason? The Mules came out of the locker room with the spirtit of a team determined to play tough football, despite being down by 24 points. The Mules gave up a quick touchdown to the Tigers on a short completion and a long run by Aaron Sharp who looked like he had the speed of the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt in the 2008 Olympic 100 meter finals (except Sharp didn't glance at the crowd for the last 15 yards while slowing down, nor did he take a lap around the track after his 85 yard TD score with a Tigers flag draped around his shoulders). Then the Mules settled in, both offensively and defensively, for the rest of the game.





The best drive of the night came after the Tigers first punt-which came with 4:40 left in the third quarter (folks, you may not get this much detail in the future). The series reflected the offensive line at its best. Coach Byrd substituted linemen (on both sides of the ball) throughout the game, so it's difficult to give names and numbers. On this drive, however, they all held their own and allowed Allen to find Flores for 20(catch of the game), junior Trevor Lovelady for 30, and junior John Cabell for 15 before settling for a 25 yard Andrew Bailey field goal. The field goal team executed the play to perfection---again, another one of those things you want solid before the start of District.




With the Mules down 44-9, Coach Byrd elected to rest QB Allen for the remainder of the game as he inserted junior Cullen Mills, who had signifiant Varsity experience taking numerous snaps during the Mules 2007 season. On the last play of the third quarter, Justin Rosenthal (spelled with an "l"or with a "w") bounced off tackle for 27 yards on his first carry of the season. Several plays later in the drive, early in the fourth quarter, Rosenthal carried it in from the 2 yard line through a hole nicely opened by the right side of the line, making the score 44-16.





While the fourth quarter didn't produce points, it did produce 6-11 passing from Mills, tough running by A.J. Lewis and experience for all the offensive linemen. On the other side of the ball, except for a couple of big plays by the Tigers, on most downs, the defense played good solid football. Senior Jake Everhart, new to the defense this year, broke up a pass nicely and was involved in a solo tackle on the following play.






Many positives came out of the game:





1. No injuries---This is a key to "We is the Key." Brief scares when defensive standouts Terry Andersen and Forrest Hagar went down---both getting off the field on their own and then returning to action.




2. Kickoff team--the wedge and the running of Collin Bibb.





3. Both lines--though the score may not reflect this, consider the speed and size of the opponent.





4. Senior leadership--On defense, we often heard over the loudspeaker the names of our senior leaders Beau Wilson, Terry Andersen, Colin Bibb, Migual Vasquez and others and on offense, Allen's poise and Acosta tough running and great hands.





5.Two Deep--The Mules are definitely two deep in every position and, in some cases, are solidly three deep.

A Few Words with the Head Coach of the Mules – Don Byrd
September 1, 2008

The Mule Fan: It was a tough night last Thursday in Round Rock against a very talented, athletic team which one would suspect is going to have a lot of success this season. One of the things you said last week was that teams usually improve throughout a first game and that the Mules would be a better team on Friday whatever the result. As you processed the game on the sidelines that night and now with the benefit of having seen the film, what aspects of the game did you feel you could see improvement during the game?

Coach Byrd: Probably the highlight was our kickoff returns. I thought Bibb did a great job. First of all they did a great job blocking for him and he did a nice job of reading the seams and getting there so that was a highlight. On offense we made some plays we just weren’t consistent enough. The offensive line was getting a good surge early in the game and I thought we did a better job as the game went on. They were very talented. That number 5 probably will end up at Ohio State. Some of those other guys have got some pretty good offers out there too so it was a great challenge. Defensively I thought we tackled well in the open field early. We left some gaps open. We just have to go back and look at that and see where we were reading wrong keys and what we were doing wrong with that. They were a very talented team and had a great scheme. They were probably a little tougher foe than we should have opened up with but was all there was as we talked about last week.
We became a better team because of it and hopefully we’ll have a good week of practice and work hard on some things and get better.

The Mule Fan: As you prepare this week for Clark, what do you see as the “low hanging fruit,” or the simplest things to work on to correct and the most positive things which you want to build on as you prepare for Clark this week?

Coach Byrd: We did pretty good in the running game but we really had to throw the ball a lot to open up the running game so we’re going to be have to be a little more efficient early with our running game. In the passing game we had some drops. We had a couple of busted assignments on blocking. We had a couple of times when we had bad technique and we made a couple bad reads so if we get a couple of those things cleared out we’ll be alright throwing the ball. Running the ball, especially with an offensive line that hadn’t had any snaps coming back on varsity, that’s the last thing that’s going to come along so we’ll just continue to get a little bit better. On defense we saw a lot of individual efforts but we’ve got to make sure we’ve got all 11 playing well and playing together knowing where to line up and how to feel. The thing that I think really hurt our defense was having an outstanding scrimmage against Mac Arthur. I think we got a little bigger heads than we needed to and that’s going to happen. That’s part of the early part of the season. You’ve got to learn how to handle adversity and success and you have to realize that you have to put both of them behind you and keep plugging away if you’re going to be a great team.

The Mule Fan: We saw a few kids cramping on the field. What about injuries and the health of the team going into this week?

Coach Byrd: For this time of year I think we’re doing alright. Bibb’s ankle is kind of nagging him. He got hurt playing basketball right before the season and of course Massari is out. And we did have a few cramps but that’s just the early part of the season. Those will play out as it gets a little cooler and we get in better condition. But all in all we’re pretty healthy.

The Mule Fan: So Clark this week is a team you’re familiar with. We’ve played them a lot over the last few years. They graduated a lot of players this last year too. What can we expect from Clark?

Coach Byrd: Clark always keeps a lot of kids in the program. They had an outstanding freshman class three years ago and they’re working their way on up through the ranks. They beat a good Churchill team last week so they’re 1-0 which they haven’t been the last couple of years. They play hard, they play aggressive and give you a lot of different looks on defense. So we’re going to have to make sure that we realize what look they’re giving us and how to execute the play call. On offense they’re going to line up a lot with two tight ends and highlight their quarterback. Shoot he does everything. He runs, throws, protects for the punter, returns kicks so we’re going to have to make sure that we keep him in check. We have to play physical enough at the line of scrimmage where we hold our own there on the line. They have an outstanding kicker. I think he kicked a 53 yard field goal last week so we’re going to have to do things in the kicking game to win. They put pressure on you every snap. It’s a big 5A school and that’s our challenge this week.

NEXT UP:





Clark Cougars-Thursday 7:00 p.m Farris Stadium




Alamo Heights travels to Farris Stadium on the Northwest Side of San Antonio(near UTSA) for another Thursday night game, necessitated again by an opponent jointly using a district's field. At least this game is a little closer to home which will hopefully allow more Mules fans and their families to attend than made the drive to Round Rock...HINT, HINT,HINT! Even a Chevrolet Suburban-the official vehicle of the Cities of Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills and Olmos Park-can make the drive to the Northwest side on one gallon of gas.



Ticket Information: Advance tickets are on sale at the AH Athletics office on Tuesday-Thursday of this week from 8.30am-noon and 1.30pm-3.30pm daily. Prices are $6 adults, $3 students ($7 at the gate for all tickets). If you're near the high school this evening, Patty Juarez will be selling tickets at the volleyball game in the foyer of the Muledome from 4.00pm-6.30pm. Come out and support the Mules!




Clark is a pre-season #2 pick in the Class 5A, District 28 behind SanAntonio Warren. Clark, with 2700 students (again almost double the size of Heights) returns 6 offensive and 4 defensive starters from a team that was a DI 5A bi-district finalist in 2007. Clark returns 3 veteran leaders on defense an a Jr QB Hayden Greenbauer who passed for 600 yards and ran for another 884 in 2007. Another highlight for Clark is a returning punter who averaged 45.4 yards per kick in 2007.



Clark, ranked 6th in local 5A, survived a scare from Churchill, in the 28th Gucci Bowl last Thursday. Amazingly, the Cougars ran the ball 33 times for 226 yards and passed only 8 times in the come from behind victory. RB Jock Tilghman ran for 163 yards on 17 carries (including an 80 yard run) and QB Greenbauer ran for an additional 66 yards, including the game winning 29 yard run with 6:00 left in the game. Clark's running back Tilghman was quoted in the Express News as saying..."We have the best offensive line in the City.The Best." Now, without talking(let's let our playing do our talking) hopefully we can use that quote to fire up our defensive line and our own offensive line.





MULES ON THE RADIO:


If you can't make it to the game or if you want a more "complete" in-stadium experience, follow the Mules on radio all season with Ed Suarez and Dave Parker calling the action. This week the Mules are on KEDA-1540 AM. Air time is 6.30pm. Don't forget to patronize and/or thank all of the sponsors of the broadcast!

Coach Byrd at Alamo Café Talking Mules Football this Sunday

Be a part of a live audience with Dave Parker from Mules Radio and Coach Don Byrd in a radio interview this Sunday morning September 7th at 11:00 am at Alamo Café on Hwy. 281 in San Antonio. Dave’s High School Coach’s Corner will air on KLUP 930 AM Sunday mornings at 11:00 a.m. He would really like to have a good crowd of the Mule faithful on hand for the chat with Coach Byrd so please come on out and support the Mules this Sunday at Alamo Cafe!

Chase Clement on ESPN

Just in case you missed it, Mule dad Craig Clement sent The Mule Fan a link to ESPN which did a great interview with the potent Rice University passing and receiving duo of former Mule great Chase Clement and fellow San Antonian and Sam Houston standout Jarrett Dillard. Its good stuff so have a look. (Hint: you may have to scroll through the playlist on the right side of the page to find the feature. The older it gets, the further back you'll have to go.)

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3564404&n8pe6c=1&categoryId=2564308


AH Season Tickets Wrapping Up

Friday, September 5 is the last day to buy season tickets in a package for the 2008 Mules home schedule. That doesn’t mean you can’t buy tickets to home games after the 5th it just means you have to buy them game-to-game. Season tickets are priced at $35 per seat. Come out and support your Mules. For more details, contact Patty Juarez, the “keeper of all things Mule” at the AH Athletic office 820-8855, ext. 5717.

SEE HERE:

Regardless of how it appears, Mary Candee isn't taking pictures of the action for her own fun. Taking professional photos is her career and we're very fortunate to have her following all Mules sports. Visit Mary's site at http://www.dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com/ . Remember, parents a few dollars for a lifetime of memories.


IN THE NEWS:


In a nationally televised ESPN game on Friday, Rice QB Chase Clement went 24 of 37 for 258 yards and threw 6 TD passes. Clement also rushed for 87 yards and led Rice over SMU 56 to 27 ruining Junes Jones SMU debut.


North Texas, dropped its opener to Kansas State 45-6. Gio Vizza was 16-29 for 100 yards, 5 of those grabs made by wideout Sam Dibrell.


Remember, Rice and UNT meet in Houston on September 27th. Anyone needing tickets, check with Ron Mills who has secured a large block of tickets.


THE MULE FAN


If you would like to be added to (or deleted from) a weekly blast advising of new Mule Fan postings, simply send an e-mail to brosenthal@trpsalaw.com and we'll get you added.


GO MULES! Bob/Bobby

Wednesday, August 27,2008

Welcome Back Mules Fans.


It's time for another year of football fun with your Alamo Heights Mules. First, thanks so much to Erik Andersen for hosting The Mule Fan the past year. It certainly will be difficult to match his enthusiasm. With Erik freed up to watch the games this year, rather than report, we're sure everyone in the stands will hear him screaming for the Mules even more so than he has in the past. Erik, stay in the stands and don't hang any banners from trees in front of the school this year---we need you with us in person! And thanks in advance to Mary Candee for her help with pictures allowing us to bring you the best of the action. Remember to buy pictures directly from her at Dulce Designs Photography--these football memories you will want to capture forever. The website is www.dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com.


Now, down to business.

THE SENIORS:

This year we have a tremendous group of returning seniors. We hope to pay tribute to the Class of '09 throughout the season. To meet this years seniors (and their moms) from picture day, go to http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=539983 and click on the Slide Show[Sorry if we missed anyone on this slide show--First Attempt]...and Garza, you can thank us for not including all of the photos of you kissing your mom--how sweet!!! Thanks to this years Senior Class for all they've done for Mule Football throughout the years---this is one of the largest senior football classes in recent memory. Let's go out in style Seniors.

THE NEW DISTRICT:

UGH!?!?!

I suppose "Terrific, a great challenge" would have been the appropriate response when the new District 27-4A was announced on February 1st. However, my immediate response was not so positive but rather was a group of words better left unpublished in the blog. That being said, it is what it is, and everyone in the District has to play the Mules. Furthermore, any of the four(not three any more) teams coming out of the District should be poised to make a nice playoff run. Rumor across the State is that this is definitely the toughest 4A District in Texas. The District---Steele, Heights, Kerrville, N.B. Canyon, San Marcos, Boerne, Clemons and Seguin. The teams were picked by the Express News to finish in that order and Heights was picked by Texas Football to finish first. The Express News places 5 of the areas top 6 Sub-5A teams in this District. More detail on each team in our district as we prepare to face them throughout the year. Now throw the rankings out the window and pay no attention to them from this point forward. WHO CARES? The Mules must play football one game at a time and take care of our own business regardless of what the other teams do. That's where the senior leadership and the dedication of Coach Byrd and his staff will keep us focused throughout the year. With the heart and commitment of this team and its coaches--and support from all of us at home AND on the road, we'll be just fine!

NEXT UP:

2008 Regular Season Opener

Round Rock Stony Point--7:00 p.m. Thursday, August 28 in Round Rock

Tickets available in advance and are $7.00 for adults and $3.00 for students. Everything at the gate is $8 in Round Rock. Tickets are on sale at the AH Athletic office Wednesday August 27 from 8.30am-12.00pm and again from 1.30pm-3.30. They will also be on sale at the Fall Kickoff Picnic this evening at the stadium gate from 5.00pm-6.30pm. On Thursday tickets will still be available at the AH athletic office from 8.30-noon. Also, Patty Juarez informs the Mule Fan that if you've pruchased reserved season tickets, she will be handing those out tonight at the picnic as well. (The Mule Fan encourages you to wipe the barbecue sauce off your hands before you get your tickets. That way, you won't smudge up your seat locations.)

Our Mules will get a great non-district test right out of the gate. The Stony Point Tigers return 6 offensive starters and 7 defensive starters from a 2007 squad that was 6-1 in last years district and was a DII Area Finalist. Stony Point, with twice as many students as Alamo Heights, is predicted to win District 16-5A.While QB Nyk McKissic(6-1,210) is back, the Tigers are rebuilding the offensive line. Look for an aggressive Heights defense to put pressure on McKissic to keep him of balance in and out of the pocket. The Tigers strength is purportedly in its defense, so the Mules will need a solid game from the entire offensive squad. This should be a great challenge for the Mules to be able to evaluate where they stand early in the season in the first of three tough non-district games.

A Few Words with the Head Coach of the Mules – Don Byrd
August 26, 2008

The Mule Fan: It’s opening week. You’ve been at this for 2 ½ weeks now. The kids are probably tired of hitting each other and are looking forward to teeing it up against a real opponent. How do you feel about your preparation and your team going into opening week?

Coach Byrd: There are a lot of things you look at. First of all you look at your conditioning. Our kids came back in great shape. They performed well in the first scrimmage so I was happy with that. The ones that started last year of course are calmer and confident and making fewer mistakes. We have areas where we have a bunch of new faces and they’re getting better by the day but we’re going to have to be patient with them. You get better during practice but all of a sudden during that first game where there’s a big crowd against a good team they’re going to make a few mistakes. But we just need to realize that and hope that the kids with experience will carry the load for a little bit until these young ones get a little more experience, come together and we keep improving as a team.

The Mule Fan: This was the first year in many years that you had Spring ball. And of course that means you can’t start as early as you did in the past. But now that you’ve seen all of the components together, how do you feel about how that turned out and what drove that decision originally?

Coach Bryd: Several things drove it. I’ve been wanting to do that for the last few years but we’ve always had this commitment with Clemens that we’d always scrimmage them in the first scrimmage and I’ve kind of held with that. And we’ve had success doing it but in the back of my mind as the program grew number-wise that it would be nice to have three weeks at the end of the school to get to know some of the younger kids, spend a lot of time on technique and build some more foundation of the game of football. So when we figured we’d probably be in the same district as Clemens we went ahead and started Spring. Talking to the coaches and just thinking about it myself and just seeing things it seems like it has been a good move for us. We won’t know until a little later in the season but right now we’re happy with the fundamentals, the retention the kids brought back. Some of the kids saw that they weren’t as good at some positions and I think they worked harder during the summer. Some of them had success at the positions and knew that there would be some competition so they worked a little harder during the summer. There’s been a lot of plusses with it but we’ll evaluate it at the end of the season and see how we’re going to do it next year but right now it seems like its been a good move for Alamo Heights.

The Mule Fan: Of course with every new year you get a new senior class and each of those classes has its own leadership style, its own personality because they’re new to the role. But you’ve had these kids for a couple of years. What are your observations about the characteristics of the leadership style and personality of this senior class? Or is it even fair to ask that at this point of the year?

Coach Byrd: It’s a little early but so far I’ve noticed just how well every person on the team gets along and how well they pull for each other. That’s been nice to watch the camaraderie of the team. They work hard. They play well together. They do the things right now that we need them to do as a team. It’s a little easier now even though two-a-days are hard but you don't really hit any adversity until you start playing games. Some guys make big plays and can they handle it? Some people make mistakes. I’ve told them for three weeks that there isn’t anybody out there who isn’t trying and nobody is out there for Stony Point. They’re all going to be for us so they’re going to try their hardest. We as coaches are going to correct them and make them play better. Our players need to encourage each other. That’s kind of our theme for this year and so far it’s been great.

The Mule Fan: So it’s opening week with Round Rock Stony Point. You’ve always tended to schedule very tough teams in non-district and this year is no exception. And the game is in a stadium which looms large in the history of Alamo Heights football. What can we expect out of Round Rock Stony Point?

Coach Byrd: They’re a very talented team. They have a lot of team speed. It’s a big 5A school with over 3,000 students. It’s a newer school, seven or eight years old I guess and they struggled for a while. They got a new coach, Coach Cheshire and he did a phenomenal job last year going 9-3. They beat the state semi-finalist, Pflugerville in district I believe. So it’s a strong program and it’ll be a great test. It’s not one that I really went out and looked for. We had a hard time scheduling games this year across the board so they were ones that were looking for a game the first week. I hate traveling that far and I particularly hate playing on Thursday nights but that was the only game we could find. That’s fine. It’s going to be a great opponent. We’re going to be a better football team on Friday no matter what happens with the outcome. We’re going up there to win a game but we also realize that it’s a long season. We’re not going to get fired up just for the first game and get at this high level of intensity and then work real hard all year to keep it that high. We’re going to keep building like we do each year. The key is to extend our season. That’s what our goal is and that’s what we’re working for.

The Mule Fan: So what are the key things you’ll be looking for in the first game?

Coach Byrd: First games are crazy. The ball bounces funny. You’ve got kids that all of a sudden get big eyes. So those games are crazy. But it comes down to who plays with the most poise. And always in the first game you watch the first few plays and then as the game goes teams get better and the ones that figure it out a little quicker start moving at a faster and faster level. The team will improve during the first game and improve their confidence. Its just like any other time. You can’t turn the ball over and you’ve got to play smart. I watch so many offenses. They don’t give themselves a chance. They’ll jump offside or get a holding penalty or not execute a play. You only get so many plays a game and you’ve got to make the most of them. First game you do make mistakes like that so you’ve got to learn to overcome plays like that.

IN THE NEWS:

September 27th is a big Alamo Heights day in Houston as Chase Clement and Rice face off against Gio Vizza and the University of North Texas--we're checking the record books for most offensive yardage combined in a game. Game time is set for 4 p.m. allowing anyone wanting to go to Houston to leave after the Varsity Saturday morning practice and be back late that night. Anyone needing tickets, contact Ron Mills who has secured a large block of tickets.

Editor's Note: We'll do our best to keep the information on this blog topical, informative and perhaps even entertaining. If you have any news of Mules playing college ball, we'd like to include that. Please send it our way so we don't overlook it. For any news item related to Alamo Heights Football, please send either of us or both of us an e-mail at the addresses below.

Bobby Rosenthal and Bob Cohen

brosenthal@trpsalaw.com

bobcohen@sbcglobal.net

NOTE:To add your e-mail address to the blast notification advising of new posts to The Mule Fan, send an e-mail to brosenthal@trpsalaw.com and we'll add you to the blast.

GO MULES!!

SALUTATIONS MULE FANS!!!!

I have an end-of-year "Football Present" for you Mule Lovers!!! Please see the following links for a visual presentation of these games:

ALAMO HEIGHTS 51 and BRACKENRIDGE 21

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/AlbumSlideshow.aspx?a=506809

NEW BRAUNFELS 35 and ALAMO HEIGHTS 3

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/AlbumSlideshow.aspx?a=507015

Now don't you hesitate to click on the above link, because there are some WONDERFUL shots of our community proudly sending off our Mules and many thought provoking remembrances captured in digital frame.

MULE FAN BEST 2007 PICS

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=433391

I get all misty-eyed when I look at the images in the above link... THERE ARE SOME REAL BEAUTIES. Remember, once you read the captions to these photos, click on "slide show" in the upper left to see them enlarged and auto-advance throughout the show. Be ready to smile at many memories, but also get out your hanky as you look at a fine 2007 season that was...

POST 2007 FOOTBALL SEASON ANALYSIS REPORT

Now listen up all you graduating Seniors in the Class of 2008... we got us 5-months of perspective now on this past football season. Let me and our community tell you this:

YOU DID AN OUTSTANDING JOB OF CONTINUING THE WINNING TRADITION OF ALAMO HEIGHTS FOOTBALL -- think about an undefeated run through District 27-4A, capped off with a come-from-behind full of character "never give up" win over #8 State Ranked Kerrville.

YOU DID AN OUTSTANDING JOB OF REPRESENTING OUR COMMUNITY WITH GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP AND RESPECT FOR OTHERS -- remember in-game prayer vigil for the injured Kennedy player.

TAKE A LOOK AT THE NATIONAL (yes NATIONAL) VISIBILITY YOU HAVE GIVEN THIS PROGRAM -- one need only look at the steady line of college recruiters from across the country that now regularly visit our football practices -- this NEVER happened just a few short years ago.

The Graduating Seniors of 2008 did an AWESOME JOB of leading our Mules Football Team throughout the season!!!!! Nice work men, and all of us Mule Fans wish you well!!!!!!!!

OTHER NEWS

Spring practice is upon us running from May 2nd to 22nd. The "Blue-Gold" Spring Game has been moved from Friday, May 23rd, to Thursday, May 22nd, start time is To Be Determined. Our Mules have looked strong on the practice fields and are already demonstrating high levels of skill in the football trenches! This reporter highly recommends watching some practice if you want to draw some energy from those Mules GOING AT IT... WOW!

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If you see Mickey and Linda Bailey, parents of Class of 2004 Patrick Bailey, formerly of Duke University and a Linebacker with Blue Devil Football, you must say CONGRATULATIONS as their son signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers! Also congrats to Coach Byrd for having his 1st player enter the NFL. GREAT COACHING, GREAT PARENTS, GREAT YOUNG MAN.

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Also, congratulations to Mules QB Drew Allen for winning the "Golden Gun" Award for passing accuracy at the "invitation only" Elite 11 Quarterback Camp held on the campus of TCU, Friday, April 25th. Here is a link to a related Rivals.com article:

http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=801644

And, a photo below of taken from the event to help you ponder how a pass-happy-Mule-team will put to work Drew's ever improving passing skill during 7-on-7 this summer! GO MULES!!!!!

Welcome to the home page of the District 27-4A Champion Football Team!

ALAMO HEIGHTS 34 and KERRVILLE TIVY 26

On Friday, November 9th, our Mules defeated the Kerrville Tivy "Antlers" in their own backyard with a thrilling come-from-behind victory. The score with 9-minutes left in the football game was the Antlers 26 and the Mules 7.... fast forward to 3-minutes left and the score was Mules 27 and the Antlers 26 (that is three TDs in 6-minutes)... and blow ahead to 30 seconds left in the game and the score was Heights 34 and Tivy 26.

Some salient points were that Kerrvilee Tivy came into the game with a 9-0 overall record and ranked #8 in the State of Texas by the Associated Press. They came to this game with a 6-3 inch, 230 lbs, LSU commitment at Linebacker, Kyle Prater. They brought a Place Kicker, Logan Vick, who had kicked two 51-yard Field Goals in the season, meaning that this team could score after just crossing mid-field... and finally they brought a bunch of big athletic country boys that know how to play as a team, and were ready to for some redemption over a team, ours, that handily beat them last year.... this was a darn good football team our boys defeated, that CONTINUES to be held in high regard following its loss to the Mules. An example being the fact that Texas High School Football Analysis Experts have picked Tivy to win the Region IV 4A Division II crown

This game was like a tapestry of important Offensive & Defensive plays, where if any one of the following "Big Plays" did not unfold (as well as many other plays), our Mules would have likely not prevailed... BUT PREVAIL THEY DID!!! And it was accomplished primarily by our gang NEVER GIVING UP even though the likilihood of winning appeared to be remote as we moved into the 4th Quarter of this game.

Our Mules easily cross two hurdles to qualify for this year's 4A State Playoffs:

ALAMO HEIGHTS 55 and MEMORIAL 0

ALAMO HEIGHTS 31 and KENNEDY 0

Helloooooooooooooo Mule Fans!!!! So glad to be back in touch with y'all again!!! GO MULES GO MULES GO MULES!!!!! YA MUN! I have been in Boston during their World Series win, Patriots over the Colts, Celtics first season wins with Kevin Garnet, Boston College's last second two TD win over the Hokies and follow-up loss to Florida State. And for all that I say to any Bostonian that will listen, "WHO CARES!!!" 'cause our Mules got two nice wins to talk about and Qualified for State!... put that in your Boston Tea Party and guzzle it!!!!

First, the Memorial game which unfolded as a "Halloween Event" on Friday, October 26th at Orem Stadium. You are going to laugh at this Reporter. Not being able to find this game on the Internet (which I figured out how to do for our Kennedy game) I listened to it by calling my daughter's cell phone and having her place the open line in front of the radio... picture yours truly hunched over my cell phone for nearly three hours. Gotta Love those Mules.

So anyway, what I heard was a thorough thrashing delivered by our Mules over top the Memorial Minutemen in every quarter of the game. I mean just look at the score... 55-0. The cool thing about this game (and the Kennedy game) was that so many Mules got into the game. The fact that we were able to continue to dominate says a lot about our boys and our INCREDIBLE Coaching Staff.

The other element that bares lifting up in Praise is coming to grips with HOW AWESOME OUR MULES FOOTBALL TEAM IS IN TERMS OF CHARACTER as exemplified when a Memorial Football Player was injured at the end of the game. The fact that our fine young men took to the Memorial Team with a Loving Embrace (literally laying their arms over the Minutemen) by crossing the field and taking a knee in Prayer with them when one of their brethren had fallen WAS SO MOVING AND AWESOME AND INCREDIBLE AND WONDERFUL. My eyes are welling just writing this... ahhh there is hope for us older generations just knowing when we release these young men into the world, which will be all to soon, that they will go off and do great things, and do it while also caring for those in need. Our Mules have Heart. They are an inspiration.

Hanky pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease... ok ok, God Love'm.

One game highlight to mention was Senior Strong Safety #9 Jake Carr's interception and TD romp into the endzone near the end of the game displaying skill (nice catch) and speed (sweet bullet run into the endzone)... this could not have happened to a more complete team player who to this reporter's knowledge, never gripes, continually lifts up others, and when called on goes about accomplishing his football responsibilities with zest.

Here is a link to the Memorial Album (no captions, so just hit "slide show" in upper left corner):
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=460181

Now we turn to Kennedy. A little side note that the Kennedy High School was the first high school in the USA named for John F. Kennedy as the naming occurred before JFK' assassination. In fact, as some may recall, JFK had just come from San Antonio to Dallas on that fateful tragic day... part of that San Antonio trip included JFK' stopping at the construction site of Kennedy High School for a naming event that he attended. Think about that next time Kennedy comes to town... this is a school with some substantial history.

Now despite being 1-7 coming to our house on Friday, November 2nd, those Kennedy "Rockets" came to play some football... no rolling over to play dead for the reigning 4A Division I State Champs, no-sir-ree-Bob.

When you look at the game's stats, what does not come out was the fact that during the 1st Quarter when the game was still 0-0, those Rockets marched right down the field to the 4-yard line. THAT WAS WHEN our KICK-TAIL-DEFENSE flexed its muscle and reached deep into its character bucket to say to themselves, "No, you are not going to score boys, naa-uh." Our "D" then kept those Minutemen from going in, and actually pushed them BACKWARD. This had a deflating effect by NOT LETTING KENNEDY INTO THE GAME. It sounded to me that although the Rockets put up a good game after this stop, our Defense really showed them "forget even having an inkling of winning this game."

There after our Offense stepped up and began a scoring regularly throughout the game.

A really cool thing was the SWEET TD catch by Senior Wide Receiver, #85 Thomas "Doctor" King. A thing of beauty that takes years of practice catching ball to come down with a snag like that. The other was the hutspa of fellow Senior Wide Receiver, #24 Nick "The Quick" Amick, who made two very nice catch-and-run TDs during this game. During what was "Senior Night" it was super cool that these two Seniors, as well as many others, had solid games that showed off their skills one last time in Harry B. Orem Stadium.

Here is a link to the Kennedy Album:

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=460117

Also, you may wish to return to the Boerne Game posting to look at the Boerne Album which has been added at the time of this posting.

KERRVILLE INTELLIGENCE REPORT

For those not in the close area of Alamo Heights, we are playing away at the "Antlers" of Kerrville Tivy, which is a Hill Country town that plays pretty darn good football on a regular basis each year. Presently at 9-0, this year Kerrville is ranked #8 in the State by the Associated Press going into this weeks game. Alamo Heights, 8-1, is presently ranked #17 by Texas Football/State Farm Poll. This is a TITANIC GAME for local bragging rights.

In our own District 27-4A, both Kerrville and Alamo Heights are 4-0 in District, and have qualified for the State Playoffs, so this game is FOR THE DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP.

Now Kerrville is pretty good. No denying that. But, some attenuating factors that have caused this Reporter to ponder...

1. Our Mules handily beat Boerne, 28-15... the Antlers had to go to triple overtime to beat Boerne last week.

2. Mules Defense is arguably EQUAL TO THE BEST IN THE STATE AT THIS VERY MOMENT. Now that is a bold statement... but our "D" has limited its opponents to 94 points this season... the only 4A schools with better stats in this quarter are #1 in District 20-4A Houston Yates, #2 in District 24-4A El Campo, and #3 in District 22-4A Dayton. You can verify at:

http://www.texasfootball.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=1579

3. Our Offense is hitting its post-season stride with Quarterback Drew Allen having 300+ yard passing games and ALL KINDS OF MULE RECEIVERS CATCHING THAT FOOTBALL. In addition, our Offensive Line is TOUGH TOUGH TOUGH, not allowing a sack in the past few games.

Look out Kerrville the Mules are inbound with heavy ordinance!

OTHER NEWS

All I can say here is GO MULES, BEAT KERRVILLE!!!!!

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!!!!!!!

Excitement builds in "Mule Town"!!!!!....

ALAMO HEIGHTS 25 and VICTORIA 22

Yes Mule Fans, our football troopers brought home another "W" against the "Vipers" of Victoria, albeit through a gridiron outing that did not go as smoothly as expected, as reflected in the close score. Garnering the "W" in this game came down to a TITANIC 2nd HALF DEFENSIVE STRUGGLE by our beloved Mules against probably the biggest group of young men our team will face this year... the Vipers benefit year-after-year by heavily dipping into the "size-matters" well of the largest high school student body in the State of Texas with over 4,000 enrolled at Victoria High School.

Sprinting out to a 14 - 0 first quarter lead following two beautiful passes by QB Drew Allen and sweet catches by the "Team Captain Catching Duo" of Messieurs Broadnax (37-yard catch for TD) and Courtney (10-yard catch for TD), our Mules looked like they were going to absolutely throttle Victoria in the first quarter. But the Football Gods sometimes put some funny stink on that oblong orbis pigskin to keep us rabid fans in check when we get to thinking we know exactly what is going to happen, e.g. we thought a runaway win... WRONG-O!! This here game turned into a serious TEST OF MULE-CHARACTER, which our young men passed through with blazing fire on both sides of the ball to capture this win!

The Character Test for the Offense turned out to be "Hey, how do we perform when we are not exactly hitting on all cylinders (e.g. turning the ball over four times via fumble or pic to the Vipers)? Do we get down on one another, or do we lift each other up to meet the challenge?" Proudly this reporter witnessed a pack of Offensive Mules that kept their heads while struggling and treated each other on the field and sidelines as teammates. We all should remember that the best professional and collegiate teams STRUGGLE at times... in such instances CHARACTER helps see winning teams through the fire to victory.

Now our Defense's Character Test turned out to be how brothers-in-battle react when they are on the gridiron-combat-field and a bigger and more physical foe is trying ram its precious football right down your throat to score... hazarding a guess, this reporter estimates that the Victoria Offensive Unit easily averaged 20-lbs heavier and 2-inches in height player-by-player over our Stud Mules Defense... in the end in this instance size did not matter. Mule "D" Character did. YA MUN YA MUN! We have ourselves some young D-studs that just will not quit!

Examples of Mule "D" character:

A) How'z about 1st down and inches to the goal line for the Victoria Offense in the 3rd quarter and making those Vipers fight for 4-downs before just (and I mean just) nipping the ball into the endzone... do you think this effort uncoiled them Vipers somewhat despite the score?... aaaaahu.

B) How'z about staring down a bunch of big-ole dudes dressed in black for an ENTIRE 4th quarter and saying to them, "Hey dude, you are NOT going to cross that goal line".... this is exactly what our Mules "D" accomplished during the 4th, keeping the score at Mules 25 and Vipers 22 throughout this period. YAAAAAAAAAAA MUN!

Now, this is not to say that there were not some fine Offensive efforts. Examples:

Uno) Team Captain Cody Courtney catching two TDs bringing him to Express News area ranking of #11 on Receiving Yards at 314-yards, and, #13 on the Receptions at 17 catches.

Dos) Team Captain Bobby Broadnax catching a pass and then accelerating away from three defenders... awesome display of athletic prowess.

Tres) QB Drew Allen passing having another 200+ yard passing night, moving him to #9 in the Express News area on the Total Individual Offense list at 897 yards and #4 in Passing Yards at 884 yards.

Here is this week's album of photos:

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=436592

All-in-all, it was not pretty, but our Mules passed this character test. A job well done in terms of gutting out a win. Now that this is out of our system, ON TO TAYLOR!

TAYLOR INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Word on the street is the 3A Taylor "Ducks" are in a rebuilding year, having graduated most of the starters. They come to us at our home in Orem Stadium this Friday, 28 September, with a 1 win and 3 loss record, scoring 55 points to date and allowing their opponents 111 points. "Quiet Confidence" is what Head Coach Don Byrd used about his team entering this game.

OTHER NEWS

Two Class of 2006 State Champion Mules that this reporter has yet to note as making a college-level team are Abel Garcia-Rogers and Cameron Foote, who are playing football at Defensive Tackle and Offensive Lineman, respectively, for the presently undefeated 4-0 Division III Mary Hardin-Baylor "Crusaders" located in Belton, Texas. These guys have spent some serious time bulking up to play college ball as you can see by scroll down to the bottom of the roster at:

http://umhb.edu/athletics/football/roster.html

Also, there is an Italian Stallion-named former Mule QB with a State Championship to his credit having the initials "G" "V" who is going to be given some additional opportunity to succeed in Denton, Texas.... see:

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/sports/stories/DRC_Dodge_to_give_0626.10e14d7f7.html

GO MULES BEAT TAYLOR!!!!!!!

A "Significant Win" for our Mules!....

ALAMO HEIGHTS 47 and EAST CENTRAL 13

On Friday, September 14th, which was "Senior Recognition" night, our Mules had themselves "one fine ole' night-a-football" against the 5A East Central "Hornets." Our beloved Mules continued to click on nearly all cylinders defensively as they had in the past game. But, perhaps more significantly, our Mules' Offense began to shift into high gear having 400+ yards of total offense during the game!!! WE LOOKED MIGHTY GOOoooooooOOOOOOD ON THIS NIGHT!!!

The win was made even sweeter from the fact that East Central entered the game at 2-0 having trounced their last two opponents with their running game. Our local news paper, the Express News, had picked the Hornets to win their District, and had the Mules as 5-point underdogs entering this game... la-di-da-di-da, what do they know?

Our Coaches have done a FANTASTIC JOB of bringing our boys along. On the Defensive-side, our Coaches shaped them D-Mules into a well oiled "Hornet-killing" machine that SWATTED three exceedingly fine opponent tailbacks (that had been averaging a combined 300+ yards rushing coming into this game) into a pile of "Hornet-mush" that was only able to achieve 158-yards rushing on this night.

On the Offensive-side, well, let me tell ya Mule Fans, we "Uncorked the Offensive Genie" during this game... YA MUN YA MUN YA MUN!!!! Quarterback Drew Allen had completions to five different receivers! RB Sergio Acosta, TE Victor Givens, A-Back Nick Amick, A-Back Bobby Broadnax, WR Cody Courtney and TE Austin Amaro, with both "Nick-the-Quick" Amick and "Tower-of-Power-'O'" Amaro having their first snags of this season. In addition, Messieurs Amick and Courtney had receiving "one-two punches" of one TD for Nick and two TD's for Team Captain Cody.

By powering into the 4th quarter with a 40-7 lead, into this warm night travelled Sophomore QB #11 Cullen Mills to take the reigns of the Offense. Looking "cool as a Veggie Tale" sprinting and passing "cucumber" in taking his first Varsity snaps, Mr. Mills drove those Mules right down the field using the rushing tandem of Senior RB #20 Richard Donnegan and Junior RB #40 A.J. Lewis in a succession of up-the-middle-dives, and capped it off with a "fake hand-off" and QB bootleg around the end for a sweet 25-yard pick-up to the 13-yard line. THEN THEN THEN, Mr. Mills tossed a lovely touch-pass over the arms of two Hornet defenders and into the hands of Senior WR #18 Rust Oliver!!!!! It was a beautiful thing...

Quick laurels go once again to our O-Line... ANOTHER GREAT JOB MEN. Also, to our D-Line that was first to the mark on most downs to stop the Hornets' rushing game up the middle. Also kudos to Mule QBs Drew Allen and Cullen Mills. And finally, a tip-o-the-hat to Team Captain "Circus Catch" Cody Courtney who now has 5-TD catches this season... AWESOME.

For this week's album of photos we have two (2) Albums to look at, as this reporter's cup runneth over with incredible Mary Candee photos (CALL MARY FOR ANY PICS YOU LIKE AT 821-5229).... please see:

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=432097

and,

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=432130

VICTORIA MEMORIAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Next week we travel to Victoria to play 1-2 Victoria Memorial, the largest 5A school in the State of Texas with over 3800 enrolled at the high school. Victoria's lone win to date came in their first game of the season with a 25-7 win over McAllen Memorial H.S. Note, Victoria's football team DOES know how to win a football game. During the second week of the season Victoria lost to Roosevelt H.S. from San Antonio, and this past week Victoria lost 39-3 to El Campo High School. El Campo is a town just to the east of Houston that is traditionally a fine football school, and appears to have another good team this year. Because El Campo is a good team, the message to me as we go to Victoria is a cautionary tale... we must have another good effort to ENSURE a win. So in my opinion, our Mules should not be "over-confident" going to Victoria, but should rather be "quietly confident" entering this week's game that if they continue to perform well and improve this should another nice multi-touchdown win.

OTHER NEWS

Congratulations to former Mule, Patrick Bailey, who is a starting Defensive End for Duke University (as well as one of the best college DE's in the Nation), as his Blue Devil's won for the first time since September 2005 against Northwestern University, in an away game at Evanston, IL. See:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=1843&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=1241161

See ya in Victoria Mule Fans!.... GO MULES!!!!

Hey Hey Mule Fans, how about them Mules!!!!! They "done do'd it" and brought home a WIN!!!

WEEK 1 - ALAMO HEIGHTS 17 and CLARK 3

Our beloved Mules Football team played in the Texas Football Classic in the Alamo Dome on Thursday, September 6th, against the Clark "Cougars" of San Antonio. This game was part of a special series of "high interest" football games played within the Alamo Dome over the course of Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The players of Alamo Heights looked right at home in the Alamo "Heights" Dome (a.k.a. the Alamo Dome) as our gang played three games there last season in the State Play-Offs. The Team looked comfortable, confident and easily tamed the larger school 5A Cougars through a dominating win in most every aspect of the game.

Strong game performances from this reporter's perspective go to:

AGAIN, THE OFFENSIVE LINE, which had a great game last week against Georgetown, turned in another terrific performance, empowering their QB Drew Allen with ample time to pass.

QB DREW ALLEN was selected as Most Valuable Player of the game by the Texas Football Classic Staff. Drew looked solid at QB and continues to improve his timing with the offense. Drew was 9 for 30 passing on the night (most were longer passes for over 20-yards) and had 213-yards passing. This brings Drew to 487-yards passing over two games... a nice start.

BOBBY BROADNAX and CODY COURTNEY are CATCHING MACHINES!!! Bobby had his first TD catch of this season, having 2 catches for 61-yards on the night, and "Circus Catch" Cody caught two 20+ yard passes in succession leading up to a short TD-plunge by Running Back Sergio Acosta right before half time that set the dominating tone for the second half. Cody had 3 catches for 64-yards against Clark.

ANDREW BAILEY KICKED A 42-YARD FIELD GOAL with just a couple of weeks practice under his belt. That is correct sports fans! This is almost a "Rudy" story... Andrew, a Junior this year, chose last year as a Sophomore to exclusively play soccer after being a Kicker in Junior High and during his Freshman year. He was planning to once again exclusively play soccer this year. But, when our All-District Kicker, Ben Pilgrim, a Senior, hurt his back taking him out for a number of weeks just before the season, the call went out to Andrew, and on very short notice he came out of retirement and began kicking again for the Mules Football Team. The beautiful mental picture for this reporter is witnessing Senior Ben Pilgrim so graciously working with his budding prodigy, Andrew, to help him promptly succeed for the benefit of our school. I am SO PROUD OF BOTH BEN AND ANDREW!

SERGIO ACOSTA CARRIED THE BALL 29 TIMES!!!! Not to mention that he had 130-yards rushing... carrying for nearly 30 times is a significant accomplishment that takes incredible heart and conditioning to undertake. Way to go Sergio!

MULES DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEFENSE CONTINUES TO IMPRESS. If there is a better all-around defensive unit in the San Antonio area this reporter has yet to see it! A Smart and Fast Defense. Clark was in the Red Zone five times (e.g. inside their own 20-yard line trying to score) and our Mules limited them to only one 3-point field goal. AWESOME!

Here is a link to this week's Album of photos by Mary Candee:

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=428215

Relative to clicking on the link above, to work the system most smoothly, what I recommend is to FIRST look at the reduced size photos with their captions, AND THEN click on "slide show" in the upper left corner of the page and let the automated system scroll through all the photos in an much larger viewing format (the captions do not translate through when in slide show mode).

EAST CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Next week's home game on Friday, September 14th, against the 5A East Central "Hornets" should be a stiffer challenge than this week's game. The Hornets smacked down Holmes this past Saturday beating them 36-14 with 311 yards rushing and 94 passing. This is a RUNNING TEAM with three fine tail backs. The best of these might be Sophomore, #5 Chris Johnson.

If our defense shuts down the Hornets' running game, then I predict a win by two touchdowns or more (last week's prediction by this reporter was accurate in predicting a 14+ point spread).

OTHER NEWS

AHHS 2006 Graduates Charlie Thaddeus and Adam Duncan are solidly competing for playing time at Sewanee "The University of the South." Sewanee won its first game this season against Westminster 30-21.

To see #35 Charlie at Linebacker/Strong Safety go to:

http://athletics.sewanee.edu/athletics/football/roster?id=16705

To see #35 Charlie on the Tiger's Kick Off Team watch at the 13 second point for a 3-second shot of him in the lower left corner by clicking on "Westminster 3rd Touchdown" of the following video list:

http://atwsportscast.com//Colleges/Sewanee%20vs%20Westminster%20Football%202007%20video%20index.htm

To see #88 Adam at Defensive End go to:

http://athletics.sewanee.edu/athletics/football/roster?id=16716

GO MULES!!!!

Salutations Mule Fans!

Our football season began last Friday, August 31st, against the 5A Georgetown "Eagles." My report follows:

WEEK 0 - GEORGETOWN 24 and ALAMO HEIGHTS 21

From a top-level perspective this football season began just as it did last year, with a loss to the Eagles. Now, last year's State Champion Team went on to win 14-games in a row. From what this reporter saw during this year's game with the Eagles in terms of our Mule's potential, there is no reason that this Mules Football Team cannot win a whole heck-of-a-lot-of-games this year!

I mean, our Mules entered this game with a lot more unanswered questions than last year's team, and WE ARGUABLY GAVE THE EAGLES A BETTER GAME THAN LAST YEAR, WHERE THE EAGLES ARGUABLY HAVE A BETTER FOOTBALL TEAM! My point being that since the Eagles were 7-on-7 State Champs (which requires very good pass defense) and have a highly experienced Senior Quarterback these are elements that they did not have last year. Our Mules have a LOT to be proud of in terms of their performance.

Lets talk about some of those Mule positives:

- OUR OFFENSIVE LINE WAS AWESOME IN THEIR BEAUTY! My hat goes off to these guys! The Mule's O-Line gave QB Drew Allen ample time to do his passing thing! Drew looked calm and unrushed throughout his first start at QB, and a big part of the credit for this element has to go to the Offensive Line. NICE NICE WORK FELLAS!

- OUR WIDE RECEIVERS CONTINUE TO IMPRESS! Team Captain Cody Courtney caught two "circus catch" touch down passes with 6 catches for 140 yards on the night. Bobby Broadnax got off to a great start, with 5 catches for 80 yards. Finally, Stephen West caught two bee-lines passes from Drew Allen, but made one difficult snag to have 3 catches for 24 yards against the Eagles. Oh yes my friends, our gang can catch that oblong orbus!

- DEFENSE HELD THE EAGLES TO JUST SEVEN FIRST DOWNS -- THAT IS 7 AGAINST A VERY GIFTED PASSING AND RUNNING UNIT!!!!!!!!!!! Our Defense looked stout, keeping the Eagles offense off-the-field, while also making a number of key stops. Example, with our Mules trailing by 3 points with time running out in the 4th Quarter, our Defense stopped the Eagles on its first series, following a Mules punt, and got the ball back into our Offense's hands with about 3-minutes remaining. The Eagles had only one sustained drive into the end-zone the whole night, as the other TDs were scored on a perfect bomb pass and a ~70-yard run from a broken play. Minus those two plays, our "D" would have made the Eagles look silly in their ineptitude against our power Defensive Unit.

In summary, this was a very close game where I truly believe our team "out-played" the Eagles, but just happened to come up short when given a few opportunities to bring home the win. As our beloved Mules gain more experience working together and our WONDERFUL Coaches fill-in the gaps through their instruction to our team, we are talking about bringing some powerful Offense and Defense into District play.... hold onto your hats for the fireworks!

Relative to photos, the wonderful Mary Candee took SO MANY WONDERFUL SHOTS that I could not bring it down to a reasonable number (I picked 50+ photos out of nearly 1000 shots!) to place into the Mule Fan. Hence, I structured a photo album at Mary's home website that can be entered by clicking on this link below. Once you get to the display, you can read all the captions underneath of each photo and double-click on those shots you wish to blow up. Once you double-click on a photo to enlarge it, you can also click on the advance keys to cycle through all the photos... it is a cool system!

So, here is the link:

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=425937

At the top of this blog installment are some sample shots within the Album. Feel free to call Mary Candee to purchase hard copies of any photo(s) that strike your fancy! Here number is 821-5229.

CLARK INTELLIGENCE REPORT

This week's game is against the Clark "Cougars" of San Antonio, a 5A school in District 28-5A. District 28-5A includes #1 ranked Warren, #2 ranked O'Connor, #3 ranked Clark, #4 ranked Marshall, #5 ranked Jay, #6 ranked Taft, #7 ranked Stevens, #8 ranked Holmes, and #9 ranked Del Rio, as polled by the Express News Sports Staff during pre-season.

This reporter watched the "GUCCI Bowl" of Clark vs Churchill game last week on Thursday, August 30th. Churchill won the game 16 to 14, meaning that a "hungry" Clark team will similarly be entering its game against our Mules at 0 wins and 1 loss.

Prediction... Our Mules will win by two TDs or more. Clark did NOT look sharp against Churchill. They rotate the QB position between Senior Chucko Bernal and a more athletic Sophomore (don't remember his name) that did not appear to work to their advantage. Clark could never catch its rhythm against Churchill. This team is also MUCH SMALLER than Georgetown, appearing to about the size of our Mules team. Clark runs 50% and passes 50%. Our Mules have the Defensive and Offensive fire power to absolutely blow Clark off the field if we play out game.

This week's game is on Thursday at the Alamo Dome (darn near a home field for our Mules looking at how much we played there last season). This should also play into our Mules' hands as we are used to playing at the Dome.

FILM NIGHT

Don't forget film night on every Tuesday night at 7 PM in the Visitor's Locker room. This is a fine way to hear directly from Coach Byrd as to his view of the week's previous game.

OTHER NEWS

Former Mules QB Giovanni Vizza had himself a fine game against the Oklahoma Sooners. He came in during the 3rd Quarter against the Sooners and ran the offense until the conclusion of the game. He helped University of North Texas (UNT) avoid a shut-out against the Sooners (OU's stated defensive goal on National TV was to "shut-out UNT"). Until Gio came into the game the Mean Green looked ineffective on Offense. Upon entering the game, Gio promptly led his unit down the field for a field goal and then on his third offensive series, through a laser-guided-bomb-pass to his receiver for a TD!!!! See:

http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=9058&SPID=562&DB_OEM_ID_=1800&ATCLID=1206288

All for now Mule Fans!!!!