Mules vs. Seagraves
(9-12-2014)
Sprinkles and mist may have
blurred the officials vision Friday night in Seagraves as the Mules tangled
with the Eagles. The Mules put up a battle but in the end Seagraves limped away
with a 40-34 win and the officials may have risen to the top of the Eagles’
list of favorites for any future playoff games.
“We gave them a full game
tonight,” said Mule coach David Wood. “They had not had a whole game all
season. They are an extremely good class 2A football team.”
“Our kids played hard and we
gave them a run for their money. There were things that happened in that game
that I could have corrected before the game. I did not do a good enough job of
preparing and teaching the young kids.”
“Hopefully this was a good
teaching tool for us. Sometimes we go along and think that kids know a lot
about what to do in certain situations during the game. We were not ready to
think on our toes. So we are doing things different in practice so we can win
games at the end.”
“There are good things and
bad things that happen during a ball game and we just have to know how to
adjust to both. We seem to respond better to bad things than we do to good
things.”
“When we had something good
happen we seemed to let the opportunity to slip away from us. The stat in the
game that really sticks out to me is that we were ahead after the first, second
and third quarters and we still didn’t win the game.”
“We just did not maintain for
four quarters and we have to change that,” concluded Coach Wood.
The Eagles had not been
scored on in their first two games of the season nor had an opponent crossed
their 40 yard line.
Seagraves scored first when
Tanner Rodriguez capped a nine play drive that covered 61 yards with a screen
pass to Kory Kyle from nine-yards out. The two-point conversion was good and
Seagraves led 8-0 with 7:02 remaining in the first period.
The Mules only needed two minutes
to answer with a 67-yard scoring drive. The Mules were penalized on their first
offensive play that was a pass to Keagan Gonzales from Danny Campos that would
have gone from the Mule 33 to the Eagle 15. But instead the Mules were backed
up five yards on the penalty.
Josh Lopez went up the middle
for 12 yards for a first down. Campos again hit Gonzales on the fade down the
sideline for a 26-yard gain to the Eagle 32. Lopez went wide right to the
outside for an 11-yard gain.
Campos tossed a swing pass to
Cristian Paez for six yards. Campos then connected with Tony Castillo running a
crossing route at the Eagle seven. He blasted a defender into the end zone from
the one-yard line to score. The play covered 15 yards. The Mules faked the
point-after kick and Campos carried over for the two-point conversion to tie
the game at 8-8 with 4:55 left in the first quarter.
The Eagles picked up a first
down on an interference call after the Mule kickoff. The Mules refused to move
after that and forced the Eagles to punt for the first time from the Eagle 40.
Rodriguez, the Eagles quarterback and punter, booted the ball into the hip pads
of one of his blockers.
The ball took a Mule bounce
all the way back to the Eagle five. Lopez attempted to get outside and was
thrown for a four-yard loss. Campos connected with Gonzales on a crossing route
at the goal line for a nine-yard TD. Felipe Guerrero booted the point after for
a 15-8 Mule lead with 2:29 remaining in the opening period.
The Mule defense made a goal
line stand after the Eagles got a first down on the Mule six-yard line. Four
plays later the Mules took over on downs at the Mule five. Lopez got the Mules
out of the shadow of their own goal post with a 21-yard run. The Mules were forced
to punt. Seagraves returned the punt to mid field.
It took the Eagles five plays
to score on a four-yard run by Rodriguez. The two-point conversion was good and
Seagraves had jumped back in front of the Mules 16-15 with 2:05 left in the
first half.
The Mules started their final
drive of the half at their own 25. Campos marched the Mules down the field with
an 11-yard toss to Castillo and a 16-yard pass and run to Gonzales. Jason
Florez saved Campos from an interception by snatching the ball out of a defender’s
hands at the Eagle 37 and then raced to the Eagle 30.
Lopez bulldozed his way for
five yards. The Mules sent three receivers wide to the right side. They all
went vertical and Campos laid the ball in the hands of Florez six-yards deep in
the end zone to give the Mules the lead for the second time.
Campos was hit as he
attempted to deliver the two-point conversion pass. The ball fluttered for a
few yards before being intercepted by Kyle and he returned it 94 yards to give
the Eagles the two points. The Mules led 21-18 at the intermission.
The Mules returned the
opening kick of the second half to the Mule 37. Lopez raced through a hole in
the center of the line. He was hit from behind near the 50 and boosted on his
way to the end zone. The 63-yard touch down run and Guerrero’s point-after kick
extended the Mule lead to 28-18.
The Mule defense held the
Eagles for three downs to force a punt. A high snap sailed over Rodriguez head
and he chased down the ball and rolled to his left. It appeared that at least
two offensive linemen were down field blocking when Rodriguez threw a pass.
No flag was thrown and the
pass was completed for a first down. The Mules did not seem to recover from the
badly missed call. The Eagles went on to score on a two-yard run by Rodriguez
and the two-point conversion was added. The Mules continued to lead 28-26 with
6:27 left in the third quarter.
After the kickoff the Mules
fumbled and the Eagles recovered on the Mule three. Rodriguez ran the ball over
but the two-point conversion failed. Seagraves led 32-28 with 5:27 remaining in
the third period.
The Mule offense sputtered to
a stop but the defense stepped up to hold the Eagles to three-and-out. Castillo
gave up his body to stop the Eagle punt from bouncing inside the Mule five.
Campos and Castillo connected
for a 12-yard gain. A wide receiver screen to Gonzales moved the Mules to the
Eagle 28. Lopez gained seven yards on a run up the middle. Campos tossed from
the Mule 39 to Chamel Regalado at the Eagle 47. Regalado raced past a defender
to the Eagle 16 for a 45-yard gain.
Florez streaked down field
and then cut toward front corner of the end zone. Campos hung the ball up at
the goal line for Florez to run under for a touchdown. The two-point conversion
failed and the Mules took the lead for the third time of the night. The Mules
led 34-32 with three seconds left in the third quarter.
The Eagles scored one final
time on a 43-yard run by Kyle and the two-point conversion was good.
The Mules rushed for 167
yards and threw for 224 for a total offense of 391. Lopez led the Mules in
rushing with 11 times for 149 yards. Campos connected on 15 of 30 passing
attempts.
Regalado made three
receptions for 60 yards and Florez caught three passes for 58 yards and two
touchdowns. Castillo snagged five passes for 55 yards and one score and Saul
Sanchez caught one pass for 15 yards.
Regalado led the Mule defense
with 11 solo tackles, six assists, and two special teams tackles. Roman Franco
made five solo tackles, two assists, and two special teams tackles. Castillo
had seven solo stops, two assists and intercepted two passes.
Kevin Mendoza made five solo
tackles and three assists. Tony Vasquez had six solo tackles, two special teams
stops and broke up one pass. James Lutz made four solo tackles, two assists and
broke up a pass. Dustin Smith had two solo stops and four assists.
No comments:
Post a Comment