JV Mules vs. Levelland (8-27-2015)

JV Mules vs. Levelland (8-27-2015)

The junior varsity Mules scored the first 20 points of the game against the Levelland Lobos. The two failed two-point conversions cost the Mules at least a tie with the class 4A Lobos. The Lobos scored the final 24 points to defeat the Mules 24-20.

The two teams battled through the first period with neither team scoring. The Mule defense forced the Lobos to punt two plays into the second quarter. The punt rolled out of bounds at the Lobo 45.

Brenden Mehl rolled right looking for a receiver and scrambled for nine yards. A facemask penalty cost the Lobos 15 yards and advanced the Mules to the Lobo 14. Mehl scrambled for two yards on first down.

Sergio Solana gave a head fake to the inside and broke hard to the front corner of the end zone. Mehl delivered a strike to Solano for a touchdown with 8:44 remaining in the first half. The two-point conversion failed and the Mules led 6-0.

The Mules kicked off and the Lobos started a drive on the Levelland 32. After six plays the Lobos were on the Mule 35. Tim Perez blasted the Lobo receiver two-yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Mehl intercepted a Lobo pass on the Mule 15. Joe Waggoner went up the middle for six yards. Israel Vasquez went wide around the right side. He triggered the afterburner as he cut up the field. Vasquez out raced the Lobos 79 yards for a touchdown with 4:44 remaining in the first half.

The Mules two-point conversion attempt failed and the Mules led 12-0.

Levelland could not move the ball after the Mule kickoff and punted to the Mule end zone.

Mehl connected with Vasquez for five yards. Mehl then scrambled up the middle for five yards and a first down. Vasquez was brought down by his facemask on his next run and the penalty advanced the Mules to near midfield.

Mehl, Vasquez and Waggoner continued to chip away at the yardage until the Mules had reached the Lobo 25. Solano ran a slant over the middle and Mehl shot him the ball for a 25-yard Mule TD. Mehl scrambled wide right for the two-point conversion. The Mules had increased their advantage to 20-0.

The Mule defense seemed to take a break after the Mule kicked off. The Lobo quarterback was quick as well as fast. He scrambled for 31 yards on first down. The Mules held for three downs with Jeremiah Smith breaking up a pass and Waggoner and Zack Atwood both made stops for no gain.

The Lobo quarterback scrambled to the Mule end zone with no time remaining in the first half. The two-point conversion was good and the Mules led 20-8 at the intermission.

The Mule offense could not get untracked in the second half while the Lobos scored twice and added both two-point conversions to defeat the Mules.

The Mules will host a second class 4A school Thursday when the Sweetwater Mustangs visit Benny Douglas Stadium.

9th Mules vs. Levelland (8-27-2015)

9th Mules vs. Levelland (8-27-2015)

The freshmen Mules hosted the class 4-A Levelland Lobos and the two teams played to a dead heat Thursday in Benny Douglas Stadium. The Mules never led during the contest but battled to a 22-22 tie. 

The Mules attempted an onside kick to start the game but the Lobos recovered on the Levelland 46. Five plays later the Lobos were in the end zone, scoring on a 31-yard scamper up the middle with 6:41 remaining in the first period. 

The Lobo two-point conversion attempt failed when Ean Hasley tackled the receiver short of the goal line. Levelland led the Mules 6-0.

The Mules returned the ensuing Lobo kickoff to the Mule 25.  It was one-play-all-the-way for the Mules. Jorge Albarran took a pitch wide right 75-yards for the Mules’ first score just eight seconds after the Lobos had scored. 

The Mules failed to add the extra points and the score was tied at 6-6 with 6:33 left in the opening quarter. 

Levelland returned the favor by scoring of the first play following the Mule kick off. Levelland returned the kick to the Lobo 35. A 65-yard pass and run put the Lobos back in the Mule end zone. The two-point conversion was good and the Lobos led 14-6 with 6:21 still on the clock in the first quarter. 

Both teams’ defense took over and the teams battled up and down the field until late in the second period. 

The Lobos had taken over on downs near midfield and picked up a first down at the Mule 39. Ryan Rodriguez stepped in front of a tipped pass and returned 60 yards for a Mule defensive touchdown. 

Rodriguez scampered wide left for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14-14 with 1:19 remaining in the first half.

The Lobos scored next with 2:46 left in the third quarter and added the two-point conversion to take a 22-14 advantage. 

Jacob Deleon returned the ensuing kickoff nine-yards to the Mule 29. Izaiah Hurtado took a pitch wide left for a 22-yard gain. Albarran scooted 20-yards up the middle on a draw play to the Lobo 26. 

Rodriguez reached the corner and cut up field for 10 yards. Albarran pounded up the middle on back-to-back plays to the Lobo two-yard line. Hurtado scooted left for the final two yards for a Mule touchdown with only one-and-a-half seconds remaining in the third period. 

Luke Del Toro connected with Yoel Reyes with a wide-receiver screen pass for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 22-22. 

Late in the final period the Lobos mounted a 14-play drive. The Mule defense was up to the task of stopping the Lobos. 

The Lobos were facing fourth down and needed nine yards for a touchdown. Both teams took a time out before the Lobos completed a pass for a first down at the Mule one-yard line. A motion penalty cost the Lobos five yards with 30 seconds remaining in the game. 

Hurtado managed to knock down a Lobo pass in the end zone. The clock stopped with 22 seconds showing. Rocky Martinez plugged a hole in the Lobo line on fourth down to make the tackle at the Mule seven. 

The Mules only had 13 seconds to work with and could not score. 

The schedule gets no easier for the Mules. The Sweetwater Mustangs will visit the Mules Thursday evening at 5:00 PM.   

2015 Mule Preview (8-24-2015)

2015 Mule Preview (8-24-2015)

The summer of 2015 has flown by for students, teachers, administrators and football coaches all of the great state of Texas. School officially started on Monday but the Mules have been officially at work for almost two weeks preparing for the 2015 season.

But the Mules have been working out on their own all summer lifting weights, running, doing agility drills and passing the football.

Excitement has been building all over Muleshoe with the month of August bringing that excitement to a peak with the two Mule scrimmages giving the fans their first real look at any changes the Mules may be making.

The Mules traveled to Idalou to scrimmage the Wildcats August 14 and hosted the Seminole Indians August 20. The Mules scored more times than both the Wildcats and Indians. That always makes the fans feel good their team.

The Mules’ head coach, David Wood, and his staff are the only ones that are really equipped to determine how the Mules actually fared. Coach Wood would say, “We were mostly pleased with how the kids performed. We are always watching for team chemistry as we rotate players in these scrimmages.”

“But at the end of the day these scrimmages are really just another practice for us.”

The Levelland Lobos will be a real test again this year for the Mules in their opening game Friday in Levelland’s new stadium.

“We are looking forward to Friday night and get the season under way,” continued Coach Wood. “The last two years, the out come of those contests came down to the final minute of the game. Levelland won in 2013 but the Mules took the 2014 game.”

“This year should be no different and should prove to be another very exciting night.”