Mules vs. Levelland Lobos 2014-8-29

Mules vs. Levelland Lobos 2014-8-29

At the end of the first half the Mules could have chosen to hang it up and just call in the second half as they trailed the Levelland Lobos 28-7. But being as stubborn as the beast they have as a mascot, the Mules returned to the field and began to whittle away at the Lobo lead.

Just 22 minutes and 42 seconds later the Mules had not only erased the Lobo lead but had claimed the lead, 48-46, for the first time of the night.

“Tonight was the biggest comeback of my head coaching career,” said Mule Coach David Wood. “We have been behind at times in the past but over coming 21 points in the second half was huge.”

“We not only learned a lot about ourselves tonight but we also grew up as a team. We made no changes in our game plan at half time. We just challenged the kids to execute like we know they can.”

“They rallied around and met the challenge. If tonight is a sign of things to come with this team, I will take it.”

Nick Gerber, the Lobo quarterback took the deep snap at mid field. He seemed to have greasy palms as he could not get a firm grip on the ball while attempting to hand it off to his big running back, Kegan Dent.

The ball hit the ground and Nate Rosas, the Mules outside linebacker, beat both Dent and Gerber to the ball to secure it for the Mules at the Mule 46 yard line.

The Mule offense sputtered and lost nine yards before regaining traction. A penalty and four-yard loss pushed the Mules back to their 36. Danny Campos then dropped back five yards and stepped up in the pocket. He fired a strike down field to Keagan Gonzales crossing over the middle at the Lobo 46.

A delay penalty cost the Mules five yards and pushed them back one yard across mid field. Jason Florez ran an out route and Campos delivered the ball at the Lobo 43. Florez turned up field, broke an arm tackle and raced passed a defender. He was finally bumped out of bounds at the Lobo 17.

Josh Lopez battle up the middle for five yards. Tony Castillo lined up as the outside receiver, took a couple of stutter steps to allow the inside receiver to race down field first and then ran a delayed post route.

Campos delivered Castillo the ball at the four-yard line. No defender was close to Castillo as he sailed untouched into the end zone for the go ahead touchdown. Gonzales booted to point after to put the Mules up 48-46.

Gonzales kicked off high and short to the Lobo sideline and the Mules were down field to prevent a return. An incomplete pass and a sack by Gonzales set the Lobos back to the Levelland 22. The deep snap went in and out of the hands of Gerber and Kevin Mendoza raced to cover the ball at the Lobo 15 with just less than minute remaining in the game.

Campos had to run Coach David Wood’s favorite play, the Victory Knee, three times to extinguish the clock.

The Mules only score in the first half came on a 53-yard pass and run from Campos to Saul Sanchez with 9:40 left in the first half. The Mules trailed 13-7. Levelland add two more touchdowns to go up 28-7 by the intermission.

The Mules took the opening kick of the second half and marched 68 yards on eight plays. Campos tossed to Castillo for four-yard TD. But Levelland answered quickly when Gerber broke loose for a 62-yard jaunt to give the Lobos a 34-13 lead.

The Mules would not go away and scored 27 seconds later with a Campos to Gonzales pass and run that went 57 yards for a touchdown. Gonzales collected the point after to cut the Lobo lead to 34-20.

The Lobos fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the Mule 43. The Mules covered the 57 yards in seven plays with Florez catching an 11 yard TD toss from Campos. Gonzales made it a seven-point game at 34-27.

A questionable call on a possible offensive pass interference allowed the Lobos to score on a 42-yard pass and run for a 40-27 Lobo lead with 1:11 left in the third period. The Mules cut the lead to six points when Lopez blasted in from one-yard out to cap a 75-yard 15-play drive.

The Lobos managed to hang on a while longer with one final touchdown. Gerber scored from four-yards out to cap a 72-yard drive to extend the Lobo lead to 46-34 as the two-point conversion failed.

Campos showed his speed and agility as he broke for a 61-yard scamper to end a three-play 77-yard drive. Gonzales kick trimmed the Lobo lead to 46-41.

Campos ran 19 times for 128 yards and Lopez carried 13 times for 58. Campos attempted 52 passes and connected with eight different receivers for 372 yards. Florez had five catches for 92 yards and Gonzales caught three for 91. The Mules had a total of 558 yards.

The Mules’ season does not get any easier as they will host the Sweetwater Mustangs Friday night.