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!!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee Haaaw! Go Mules!

Welcome Mule Fans to the website that just Loves to Love on our Mules Football Team!

Again, please remember the Fall Kick-Off Picnic on this Wednesday, August 29th, where Volleyball and Football practice will take place from 4:00 to 5:00 PM and Bar-B-Q Dinner/H.S. Band Performance & Introductions will take place from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at Harry B. Orem Stadium.

PRE-SEASON WEEK THREE REPORT - MacARTHUR SCRIMMAGE

On Friday, August 24th, our football team scrimmaged a talented and athletic MacArthur High School squad.

The MacArthur "Brahmas" are ranked in the Express News ("EN") at #5 pre-season within their district. This 5A football team plays in the very challenging District 26-5A that includes the likes of EN ranked #1 Smithson Valley, #2 Madison, #3 Judson, #4 Reagan, #6 Churchill, #7 Wagner, #8 Roosevelt, and #9 Lee High Schools. The Brahmas #5 pre-season ranking seems to this reporter to be a little odd, as this team progressed last season all the way to the Division II Semi-Finals. With six returning Offensive Starters and five returning Defensive Starters, Mac has a core of talent that "knows how to win football games."

One may also remember that Mac came in 2nd to Temple H.S. at our own 7-on-7 tournament this past summer, showing solid capability at this schools Defensive Back, Receiver and QB positions. In summary, I hope I have clearly established in your minds that Mac has some kinda good football team!

Why is establishing that fact important? Well, for those that were in attendance at both our scrimmage with Mac and our scrimmage the previous week with Clemens, it might have appeared that during our scrimmage with Mac that we did not play quite as well on Defense, and played about the same on Offense (e.g., our Big "O" appeared to continue maturing on expected pace) as compared to the Clemens scrimmage... but, REMEMBER we likely played a more talent laden football team in Mac than we did against Clemens, and OUR MULES HELD THEIR OWN against a larger 5A school that was inches away from playing for the 5A Division II State Championship last year!

Note to self, Mules are tough animals that know how to work together as a Mule Team.

What this reporter was pleased to watch at our scrimmage with Mac was our young men playing together as a COHESIVE TEAM of Mules. No droopy heads, always patting each other on the backs, giving each other power fist butts, etc. This here is a TEAM supporting each other like a TEAM in the midst of a number of difficult position adjustments to find just the right blend of position-by-position talent and skill for our Mules to make the utmost of this football season.

Our Mules have already demonstrated C-H-A-R-A-C-T-E-R. YEAH BABY, when it comes down to that one play with everything on the line when perhaps things have not been going just as well as we would have liked up to that point, I'll take the character of our young men to stick together, not get down on each other, but truly buck each other up, and play tough!!!! This is what makes our Mules GREAT! "We is the Key!"

Note, we played two quarters in game-like fashion against Mac and ended up with a tie score of 6 to 6. Our touchdown came on a pass from Cody Courtney to Bobby Broadnax (Sorry, no pics this week, as the wonderful community photo-whiz, Mary Candee, was on travel this week).

One last thing to keep in mind about our scrimmage with Mac... our Coaches played it very close to the vest relative to play selection on Offense and the Defensive Sets we showed during Defense. We saw our Mules play at about half throttle... YOU GOT THAT MULE FANS, WE PLAYED AT HALF THROTTLE.... get ready Georgetown, HERE COMES DA MULES AT FULL POWER!!!!!

GEORGETOWN INTELLIGENCE REPORT

So, as I was think'n to myself about our upcoming game with the Georgetown "Eagles" this Friday, August 31st, at 7:30 PM at Georgetown, I was wondering about how them Eagles being the reigning State Champs and all in 7-on-7 Summer League Football might trans-o-late into success during regular 11-man High School Football? In erudite form, my research turned up some interesting stats....

Here is a link to an article from the Austin Statesman newspaper with a list of past 7-on-7 State Champions and what happened to them during the H.S. football season immediately following their 7-on-7 success:

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/highschool/08/20/0820georgetown.html
Now, the article in the above link makes a big deal that six out of the past nine 7-on-7 state champs have gone on to participate in the state play-offs... but conversely, THREE out of nine teams did not make the play-offs, and (un-analyzed by the Statesman) FOUR out of nine had only "so-so" fall season records: two teams with 6-4 records, one team with a 5-6 record, and another with a 1-7 record (that is a one win season gang)... sooooooooooooooooooooo, just being 7-on-7 State Champion, in my book, has a pretty low correlation with fall season success.

This jives (e.g., 7-on-7 State Champs might only be so-so football teams during fall) with Georgetown's gridiron performance this reporter witnessed last Friday, August 29th, during an evening scrimmage between Georgetown and Seguin at Seguin's Jack Taylor Stadium. I was sitting in the stands at that scrimmage with Andy Allen and his son Drew Allen, Matt Vizza, my son Terry Andersen, and nearly the entire AHHS Football Coaching Staff. Chatting between Andy, Matt and I, we jointly agreed that Georgetown looked entirely beatable by our beloved Mules.

What we saw at the scrimmage was an Offense that ran the ball roughly 50% of the time and passed 50% of the time. Georgetown's QB, Morgan Mickan, IS A SOLID ATHLETE. He is a Senior that has already been recruited by University of Texas to play baseball. Mickan can run (as you might remember from last year's game). One of Georgetown's best offensive plays is for Mickan to roll-out like he is going to pass, and then tuck the ball and run. It seemed like Mickan picked up between 7- to 15-yards every time he did this to Seguin. Mickan looked a lot like New Braunfels QB Ryan Perez that we saw in the play-offs last year.

However, Mickan's receivers surprisingly dropped a number of easy catches. Also, Geogetown's Offensive line while HUGE, was sssssssllllllooooowwwwww offfffff thuuuuuuuuuu ballllllllll and stood straight-up (rather than driving out) when blocking. Do be ready Mule Fans for the visual impact of watching about six kids take the field during this Friday's warm-ups that are 6 feet 4 inches tall or larger and that weigh 270+ lbs pounds each, and one MONSTER that is probably 6 feet 8 inches and has to be a 320+ pounder.... just keep telling yourself, "slow and will be tired after one quarter" when you look at them.

On defense, Georgetown is on average about the Mule-D's size, if maybe a bit larger, and they have appear to have very good and smart Defensive Backs. This is to be expected from a good 7-on-7 team. However, Seguin did move the ball against them both on the ground and in the air.

Also, remember that Georgetown was only a 5 win 5 loss team last year that did not even qualify for the play-offs. Despite providing our Mules its sole blemish to last season's win record, the Eagles have traditionally been only a so-so football team in their own 14-5A District. Take a look at this article:

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/highschool/08/20/0820prepbox.html
In the above article, Georgetown is picked ranked 10th in Central Texas by the Austin Statesman Sports Staff.

Based on all that I have seen, I truly believe our Mules can DESTROY Georgetown if we play up to our capability... this will not likely be anywhere near the challenges last year's team faced during the State Play-offs. Georgetown is an improving ball club, but does not appear to yours truly to be a "great team." Our Mules can beat'em... endastory

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING NEW VARSITY PLAYERS

In addition to last weeks move-ups, the following Mule Players were moved up to Varsity following our scrimmage with MacArthur:

#44 Stewart Korde, Junior, Defensive End
#57 Chase Munster, Junior, Defensive Lineman
#32 Rich Garza, Junior, Linebacker
#65 Rory Godley, Junior, Defensive Lineman
#11 Cullen Mills, Sophomore, Quarterback
#26 Tyler Marshall, Junior, Wide Receiver

Congratulations to all the above!!!

OTHER NEWS

Looking at recent Mule Quarterback grads, Alamo Heights might become known as the Future College Quarterback Kingdom.

Mule QB product Chase Clement, starting Rice University QB, is on the Davey O'Brien "Watch List" the end-of-season award for the best college quarterback:

http://www.daveyobrien.com/Pages/PressRelease-07_WatchList.htm

And, any serious Mule Fan might like to keep their eye on the Oklahoma University (OU) and University of North Texas (UNT) game this coming Saturday, September 1st, 6:10 PM, being shown on Fox Sports Network, that is taking place in Norman, OK, to watch Mule QB product Giovanni Vizza, at present UNT's #2 QB option for the OU game, to watch Gio get some serious playing time:

http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=9058&SPID=562&DB_OEM_ID=1800&ATCLID=1178782

I have it from a very reliable source that Gio has a very high probability to get, again, "serious playing time" during this game.

All for now Mule Fans!

GO MULES!!!!

Howdy Mule Fans!!!!

Don't forget about the Fall Kick-Off Picnic on August 29th, 2007. For complete details scroll down to the top of previous posting (at the bottom of this posting).

PRE-SEASON WEEK TWO REPORT - CLEMENS SCRIMMAGE

Our beloved Mules scrimmaged Samuel Clemens High School at Harry B. Orem Stadium of Alamo Heights this past Saturday, August 18th. I submit that the Varsity Football Team performed perhaps better than expected on Defense (e.g., our Defense absolutely shut down Clemens' Offensive Unit), and that our Offense appeared to be "maturing on an acceptable and expected pace" as reported by Head Coach Don Byrd at the Varsity Football Dinner on the evening following the scrimmage.

Clemens runs an Offense that uses a running game to open up the passing game. The Buffaloes' First Team Offensive Unit never scored against the Mules' First Team Defensive Unit. In roughly 40 First Team Offensive plays I estimate that Clemens achieved only two or three first downs. I mean, our Defensive Unit SMACKED DOWN Clemens.

Here are some Defensive shots that capture the Defensive Unit-wide spirit of achievement of this past Saturday.

Mules Team Captain, Jacob Aguirre, Defensive End takes down Clemens' QB.

Linebacker, Beau Wilson, a Junior, shown here wearing Jersey Number 17 for the scrimmage breaking out of the huddle with other Defensive Starters, had a "stand-out performance day" seemingly in the middle of just about every other defensive play, making a number of solo tackles, and also caused a fumble.

Defensive Lineman, Chris Layne, a Senior, demonstrates in this pic why I gave him the nick name "Big Stick." Clemens Running Back goes doooowwwwwwn after getting hit by our Big Stick! YA MUN!

Relative to the Mules' Offensive Unit, we moved the ball at times, but did suffer from early season timing issues at points. The consensus amongst the football dad's was that our Offensive squad's efforts were consistent with last year's first offensive scrimmage performance by our State Champion Football Team... we did some things well, but need to work on our timing. Another scrimmage and two more weeks of football practice before our first game against Georgetown should help us unleash the powerhouse offense us ardent fans are confident will strongly begin coming to the forefront by the start of the first game.

Here are some Offensive Unit shots.

Team Captain, Cody Courtney, breaks the First Team Varsity Offense from the huddle operating at the QB position.

Running Back, Sergio Acosta, a Junior, makes a nice open field move on a Clemens Defender.

Team Captain and Wide Receiver, Bobby Broadnax, catches a TD pass from Drew Allen.

Bobby Broadnax breaks a couple of tackles to run it home for the TD! Get used to this shot, because it is likely one that will be repeated many times this season.

Junior Quarterback, Drew Allen, shows his 4.6 second 40-speed on a roll-out.

In summary, our young men comported themselves well during the scrimmage against a Clemens team that was ranked by the Express News as the Pre-Season #7 Sub-5A Football Team in the Region. Note, that the same article had Alamo Heights ranked #2 Sub-5A behind the #1 Sub-5A New Braunfels Unicorns.

EXPRESS NEWS PRE-SEASON RANKINGS ANALYSIS, SUNDAY AUGUST 19 NEWSPAPER, SECTION M, 2007 FOOTBALL HIGH SCHOOLS

While ranking our reigning 4A Division I State Champion Football Team as the #2 Sub-5A in their readership area, I suppose the Express News Sports Staff looked at the how many Seniors we lost from last year's team, and then looked at the fact that the New Braunfels Unicorns have a very good All-District QB, in the form of Ryan Perez, returning to lead his team's offense, as well as, 5 other offensive and 4 defensive returning starters, as compared to our 3 returning "O" and 3 returning "D" starting players. This element, combined with the solid play New Braunfels gave us last year during the State Play-Offs gives an air of logic to the Express News Sport Staff's pre-season ranking of our beloved Mules.

HOWEVER, I believe we will very quickly show the Express News Sports Staff that their logic may have been faulty should we beat 7-0n-7 State Champion Georgetown in their own backyard at the first game of the season. This will simply be a HUGE WIN for our Mules should we prevail.

Here is the Express News complete Sub-5A Pre-Season Rankings:

1. New Braunfels, District 26-4A

2. Alamo Heights, District 27-4A

3. N.B. Canyon, District 26-4A

4. Kerrville Tivy, District 27-4A

5. Boerne, District 27-4A

6. Brackenridge, District 28-4A

7. Clemens, District 26-4A

8. South San, District 29-4A

9. Sam Houston, District 28-4A

10. Pleasonton, District 27-3A

Now, also take a gooooooooooooood look at where our very ownest own conference foe Kerrville Tivy stands in the above listing. This will be our last game of the regular season AT KERRVILLE. Kerrville has 7 returning offensive starters and 9 (that is right, 9 out of 11) returning defensive starters. cough, ahum. The returning Antlers include 6 foot 4 inch, 190 lbs, QB Colton Palmer and 6 foot 2 inch, 210 lbs, All-Area/All-District Linebacker Kyle Prater. Anyone doubt that this game will be very un-cake-walk-like? I did not think so.....

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING NEW VARSITY MULE PLAYERS

Following our scrimmage with Clemens the following players were moved up to Varsity:

#25 John Cabell, Sophomore, Wide Receiver

#40 A.J. Lewis, Junior, Running Back/Linebacker

#59 Kody Bowen, Sophomore, Defensive Lineman

#79 Forrest Hagar, Sophomore, Offensive Lineman

#80 Trevor Lovelady, Sophomore, Wide Receiver

Congratulations to all the Mules above!

VARSITY DINNER

On the evening of Sunday, August 19th, the Varsity Players and their families were treated to some Southern Hospitality by Bob and Pam Broadnax who volunteered their beautiful home in Terrill Hills to host this year's Varsity Dinner. The event primarily took place "pool side" in the multi-terraced backyard of "Casa Broadnax." The terracing of Bob and Pam's place made this truly perfect venue as it was easy for all diners to see all the speakers and our boys.

Here is a Casa Broadnax backyard hillside photo of our Varsity Football Mules as joined by the terrifically talented Varsity Cheerleading Squad:

I am biased, but are not these all handsome young people!

That some of which, OF COURSE, had to get into the pool in their street clothes!

OTHER NEWS

I think everyone should keep their eyes and ears open for some likely college football season accolades former Mule Football Player Patrick Bailey who is entering his Senior Year at Duke University. Patrick is the son of Mickey and Linda Bailey. Mr. Bailey is head of the Math Department at Alamo Heights High School who lavishes his prodigious teaching skills and TLC on our students. Colonel Linda Bailey, USAF, I am proud to report, is a fellow alum with yours truly of the USAF Academy, that CONTINUES to serve our Country. THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE FAMILY.

Patrick has been the starting Defensive End at Duke since his Freshman Year (I MEAN HE STARTED AS A TRUE FRESHMAN!), likely resulting in his being a 4-year Varsity Letterman. Significantly, Patrick carries a 3.2+ Grade Point Average in Electrical and Computer Engineering at one of the top ranked academic universities in the Nation. Please see this link:

http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22667&SPID=1843&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=157288&Q_SEASON=2007

Be sure to thank Mr. Bailey for his service to our Community, his wife, Colonel Bailey for her service to our Nation, and shake Patrick's hand when you see him for being an inspiration both on- and off-the-field for our young people.

2006 4A Division I State Champ Offensive Lineman and former Mule Football Player Connor Cook has played well enough to make Angelo State's published Team Roster. Please click on the following link and then scroll down to Connor's Jersey Number 75:

http://www.angelosports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12200&KEY=&SPID=5085&SPSID=50605

For those former Mules that are out-of-town, here is a picture of our new press box... note, that there will be a large "2006 4A Division I State Football Champions" sign at the top of the press box that has yet to be added. Unlike much of the new construction at the High School which is being done by professional contractors, this structure was constructed under the care of Alamo Heights School District Mike Hagar (proud papa of #75 Forrest Hagar) and the Alamo Heights ISD Maintenance Staff.

The Mule Fan website is pleased and thankful to have the photographic support of Mary Candee at Dulce Design Photography who makes the bulk of wonderful photos our site presents available to us. There are many more of the photos that Mary takes from Alamo Heights sporting, school and community events that can be viewed and easily purchased online at http://www.dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com/. Also, please feel free to call Mary to support any of your personal events at (210) 821-5229. Mary Candee is a standout person in our community, so please support her business!

GO MULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Howdy Mule Fans!!!!!! HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL IS HERE!!!!

First this important news:

FALL KICK-OFF PICNIC

Date: Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
Place: High School/Harry B. Orem Stadium
Time: 4:00-5:00 PM Football and Volleyball Practice
5:00-7:00 PM Bar-B-Q Dinner/Enjoy a Performance of our H.S. Band & Introductions

Kick-off the 2007 Season! Come out and support the players, meet the coaches, leaders and families of this year's sports teams, band and spirit groups. Let's build community spirit for the upcoming season!

Bar-B-Q Dinner Plates are $6.00 per plate and tickets can be purchased at the picnic. Dinner plate proceeds go towards the direct cost of the event.

SPONSORS ARE NEEDED AND WILL RECEIVE BANNER RECOGNITION AT ALL HOME FOOTBALL GAMES. If you would like to become a sponsor please send a check for $200.00 (or More) PAYABLE to: "The Mule Team" and return to: Brent Marshall @ 505 Terrell Road, San Antonio, Texas 78209. Names on banner will be the name printed on the check unless otherwise noted. Should a sponsor choose to designate their contribution to a particular team or school organization please note that team or organization on the check. Any undesignated contributions will go into the athletic fund and used at the discretion of the athletic director. Checks need to be received by August 24th for banner recognition. Non-Sponsorship donations are appreciated and welcomed.

To help the event organizers to plan for enough food, please indicate to your coaches or group leaders before August 27th, 2007, via written communication how many family members will be attending. A flier is in distribution, but if you do not see a flier turn up very soon, please feel free to communicate with your most logical contact point as to your head count.

PRE-SEASON WEEK ONE REPORT

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaallll righty gang... here is "da plan" for reporting this year. I am going to make every effort to have a report ready each week this season by Monday evening (could be very late Monday evening) for posting on the previous week's football endeavors. So, herewith is Alamo Heights Mule Football Pre-Season Week One Report.

This week started with equipment issue on Monday and practice to follow. Players practiced in helmets, T-shirts and shorts from Monday through Thursday for "Two-a-day-practices" from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

Friday, was "HIT-DAY" as our beloved Mules donned pads for the first time this season... and there was some serious up-close-and-personal-hitting going down on that football field, aahuh aahuh, as yours truly (with some other Mule-Dad misfits) could not help ourselves to stray from our work desks into the stands.

For those that might be checking up on Mule Football without an active player in your close-in midst, as is the tradition here at Alamo Heights, the Varsity and J.V. practiced together, as they do all season long. This is a WONDERFUL tradition, as it sets a tone of continuity as players progress in skill from J.V. to Varsity, and keeps the more experienced players in position to help younger players along. It REALLY WORKS!

As a matter of fact, this reporter asked our Defensive Coordinator, Coach Bobby Newton, for a quotable quote at the end of the 1st week of practice, which was provided as follows:

"I think we have gotten off to a terrific start thanks to our more experienced players stepping in to provide the leadership needed to help our less experienced players quickly begin to adjust to the demands of their respective skill positions. I look forward to this kind of team work throughout the season, it is one of the attributes that makes Alamo Heights Football so special... our older players truly trying to HELP the upcoming athletes."
Coach Bobby Newton, Defensive Coordinator

I think the general consensus of the football dads that watched the first week of practice was that our Defense looked fast and athletic, and that our Offense appeared to continue the tradition of having multitude of receivers that can CATCH THE BALL with incredible skill and grace. I MEAN IT! This team can CATCH.

It should be a very exciting year with this much Defensive and Offensive talent in Mule Football Uniforms!

OTHER NEWS

Some updates on other former Mule Football Players:

To gasp the quick progress 2007 AHHS Graduate Gio Vizza appears to be making up the Quarterback depth chart at University of North Texas (UNT) see:

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/sports/stories/DRC_UNT_Scrimmage_0812.2641ff05.html

If you would like to see the welcome news that 2007 AHHS Graduate Colton Haverda has made the 105 player roster at Texas A&M University following summer practice and has AN AGGIE JERSEY NUMBER at Running Back see:

http://www.aggieathletics.com/bios.php?SID=MFB&PID=8080&YOS=2007

For the latest Houston Chronicle News Article on Alamo Heights product Chase Clement, a Red Shirt Junior Quarterback at Rice University see:

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/college/5029268.html

GO MULES!!!