Mules vs. Littlefield (10-28-2016)
The Littlefield Wildcats had not won a “War on 84” since 2013 until this past Friday
night. The 2016 version of the annually renewed “War on 84” turned out
in favor of Littlefield because of an accidental pooch kick.
The Wildcats had tied the game at 35-35 with 4:09
left to play when Andrew Deluzio muffed the kickoff. He had been
instructed to kick the ball high and deep but instead the ball went high
and short.
The ball hit the turf at the Mule 45 and bounced back to the
oncoming Wildcats. Littlefield recovered the ball at the Mule 47. Seven
plays and four minutes later the Wildcats were in the Mule end zone for a 41-35 win. The Mules blocked the extra-point
attempt.
The ensuing kickoff took two seconds off the clock leaving the Mules seven seconds to go 67 yards to pay dirt.
Beto Diaz first pass attempt was batted down. The Mules then sent
five players wide right and Diaz connected with Jason Florez. He raced
downfield with blockers in front of him. As the Wildcats were about to
tackle him he shuffled the ball back to Dagen
Dunham.
Dunham rumbled downfield and got the ball to Javy Perez. Perez was shoved out of bounds 25-yards short of pay dirt.
“We had a great game plan and executed that plan,” said Mule head coach, David Wood. “The ball just did not bounce our way tonight. It happens sometimes. We have never shut down the Littlefield ground attack like we did tonight.”
“Maybe we were too good against the run and forced them to pass.
Even the onside kick turned out to be a mistake by their kicker. We must
now move on and keep winning. We are now in playoff mode even with one
regular season game still on the schedule.”
The “War on 84” started out as a defensive battle in the opening
period and neither team scored until early in the second period. The two
teams combined for five touchdowns in the second period and the first
half ended with the Littlefield Wildcats leading
the Mules 21-14.
The seesaw battle continued through the second half. The score was
tied four times during the game not including the 0-0 score through the
first period. Littlefield scored the decisive touchdown with just nine
seconds left in the ball game on a two-yard
run.
The Mules fumbled late in the third period with the Wildcats
leading 21-20. Littlefield recovered on the Wildcat 43. The miscue
allowed Littlefield to drive 57 yards on four plays and score on a
31-yard run by Chris Douglas. The PAT was good and Littlefield
increased the margin to 28-20.
It only took the Mules one minute to reply. Florez returned the
Littlefield kickoff to the Mule 31. A screen play to Florez lost two
yards on first down.
When the Mules snapped the ball on second down, Yoel Reyes ran
straight at the Wildcat cornerback. The defensive back froze in his
tracks and Y. Reyes broke downfield. Diaz delivered him the ball in
stride at the Littlefield 40. Y. Reyes ran away from
the defender for a 71-yard touchdown.
The Mules needed a two-point conversion to knot the score. Dunham
hit the deck while appearing to attempt to make a block. He rolled away,
popped up and scooted eight yards deep in the end zone and Diaz tossed
him the ball to tie the score with 3:09 remaining
in the third period.
The Mule defense clamped down on the Wildcats and forced Littlefield to punt on the second play of the fourth period.
Florez spotted Diaz scrambling away from a Wildcat. He broke off
his route and came back to receive Diaz’s pass at the Littlefield 32.
Florez was pushed out of bounds at the Wildcat 23.
Diaz kept the ball and ran up the middle for a six-yard gain on
first down. On second down, he rolled right, pump faked and then took
off down the field. Florez made a block at the three-yard line to pave
the way for Diaz third touchdown run. Arturo Contreras
tacked on the extra point for a 35-28 Mule lead with ten minutes left
in the game.
Littlefield scored the final two touchdowns for the win.
Diaz completed 16 of 23 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns. He
was intercepted once. Diaz rushed 16 times for 68 yards and three
touchdowns. Javy Perez carried four times for 53 yards.
Jason Florez caught nine passes for 127 yards and one touchdown.
Yoel Reyes snagged two passes for 83 yards and one touchdown. Tre Villa
caught two passes for 52 yards. The Mules rolled up 119 yards rushing
and threw for 295 yards for a total offensive
output of 414 yards.
The Mule defense held Littlefield to 161 yards rushing and 207 yards passing for a total of 368 yards.
Mario “Boo” Flores led the Mules with 17 tackles. Donovan Gutierrez
made 14 tackles and hurried the quarterback once. Dagen Dunham recorded
12 tackles and made three quarterback hurries.
Dominik Hasley and Fidel Mendoza had nine tackles each. F. Mendoza
also made one special teams tackles and one quarterback hurry. Isaac
Mendoza and Romeo Reyes made eight tackles each. I. Mendoza had one
tackle for a loss and R. Reyes made two special
teams tackles.
Carlos Meza finished with five tackles and three quarterback
hurries. Zack Atwood and Ean Hasley made three special teams tackles
each.
The Mules will travel to Shallowater for the final regular season
game. The Mules and Mustangs will battle for a playoff seeding. The game
winner will be in third place and the loser drops to fourth place in
the district.
