Mules vs. Slaton Bi-Dist (11-12-15)

Mules vs. Slaton Bi-Dist (11-12-15)

Motivation comes in all shapes and forms. Normally motivation follows a positive event. However, there are times when a negative incident will spur individuals as well a team to new heights.

Thursday evening saw the later happen for the Muleshoe Mules when they battled the Slaton Tigers in Frenship’s Peoples Bank Stadium. The Mules were leading the Tigers 13-6 and seemed to be driving for a third touchdown during the first quarter.

Danny Campos rolled left and made a soft toss to Jason Florez along the Slaton sideline. Florez avoided one tackler and was weaving his way through the Slaton defense when he was hit from behind.

The tackler punched the ball loose and Slaton recovered at the Mule 29. One play later the game was tied at 13-13 with Slaton scoring on a 29-yard pass from Tiger quarterback, Ryan Sykora, to Slaton’s 6-4, 230 pound receiver, Jameson Jackson.

After that the Mules almost had the stadium scoreboard smoking as they unreeled 43 unanswered points. The scoring run culminated with 22-yard TD run by Evan Paez with 10.33 left in the third period. Bryce Mauricio tacked on the point after for a 56-13 Mule lead. 

The JV Mules played all but a minute and a half of the second half. The Mules defeated Slaton 76-25.

“We got to play a lot of kids tonight,” said Mule coach David Wood. “I know it looks like we ran the score up on Slaton. But Coach Robinson was not upset and knew what happened.”

“I was proud of how all our kids played and Slaton showed a lot of sportsmanship tonight. Hopefully they are on the right track.”

Florez ran back the game-opening kickoff 10 yards to the Mule 27. He then took a wide-receiver screen pass from Campos and scooted down field for seven yards behind blocks by Dagen Dunham and Tony Castillo.

Paez galloped up the middle through a gaping hole in the defense for 12 yards on second down. Campos then connected with Florez running a hitch pattern for nine yards to the Slaton 45.

Campos faked the handoff to Paez to freeze the linebackers and passed to Dunham running a slant. Dunham made the catch at the Slaton 34 and was finally pulled down at the Tiger 29. Paez then pounded up the middle for four yards.

Campos rolled out of the pocket and fired a strike to Castillo at the Tiger 17. Jose Mendoza then blasted up the middle for seven yards on first down. Campos faked to J. Mendoza and tossed to Tre Villa running a post pattern. Villa hauled in the pass and took two steps to the end zone to put the Mules on top 6-0 with 9:54 remaining in the first period.

The two teams exchanged punts before Slaton scored a 51-yard touchdown with a pass from Sykora to Desreal Williams to tie the game at 6-6.

The Mules returned the ensuing Slaton kickoff to the Mule 39. Campos connected with Dunham at the Mule 45 and he ran behind a block by Villa for 20 yards. Campos then tossed to Florez for 12 more yards.

Slaton jumped offside to give the Mules a free play. The Mules made the most of it with Campos tossing to a leaping Castillo in the end zone. Mauricio’s PAT kick gave the Mules a 13-6 lead with 6:26 still in the first quarter.

Slaton tied the game at 13-13 after the Mule miscue.

Campos and Florez combined on a 56-yard pass and run with 4:33 remaining in the opening period. Mauricio added the point after for a 20-13 Mule advantage.

Tony Vasquez intercepted a Slaton pass to set up the Mules on the Slaton 42. J. Mendoza raced eight yards to cap the three-play 42-yard drive. The Mules faked the PAT and Campos came off the turf and fired a bullet to Javy Perez for the two-point conversion. The Mules led 28-13 with 1:20 left in the first quarter.

The Mules were back in the Tiger end zone when Dunham hauled in a Campos 12-yard scoring toss. The Mules had consumed a minute and 12 seconds on the six-play 56-yard drive. Mauricio’s kick was good for a 35-13 Mule lead with 8:42 left in the first half.

Vasquez picked off his second Tiger pass of the game and scrambled to the Slaton 24. Campos found Florez for his second TD of the evening. Mauricio added the point after and the Mules led 42-13 with 6:04 on the clock in the second period.

Mauricio demonstrated that he could do more than kick and snagged a 20-yard scoring toss from Campos with 2:52 remaining before the half. Mauricio kicked the point after for a 49-13 Mule lead at the intermission.

The Mule starters took the field when the second half started. But after Paez scored with 10:33 left in the third period and Mauricio kicked the point after the JV Mules took the field.

Slaton scored on a 15-yard toss from Sykora to Williams to cut the Mule lead to 56-19.

Mickey Lozano led the JV Mules to the end zone with a seven-yard run. Justin Carrion booted the extra point for a 63-19 Mule lead.

Lozano capped an 11-play 78-yard scoring drive with an eight yard scamper and Carrion added the point after for a 70-19 Mule advantage. The drive erased almost eight minutes from the clock.

Sykora and Williams combined for the final Slaton TD with 5:38 left in the game to cut the Mule lead to 70-25.

Tim Perez raced down the Slaton sideline to near the Tiger 10. He appeared to about to go down but managed to escape the grasp of the Tigers and sprinted to the end zone for the Mules final score.

The Mule offense rolled up a total of 613 yards with 260 yards being through the air and 353 yards coming on the ground. Campos completed 17 of 24 passes for 241 yards and six touchdowns to five receivers.

Paez led all rushers with 12 carries for 112 yards and one TD. Lozano carried six times for 64 yards and two touchdowns. T. Perez ran twice for 102 yards on one TD. J. Mendoza had four rushes for 50 yards and one TD.

Florez had five receptions for 89 yards and two touchdowns. Dunham made four catches for 55 yards and scored one TD. Castillo caught four passes for 50 yards and scored a touchdown. Villa made one catch for 10 yards and a TD.

The Mule defense held Slaton to 368 yards of offense with 208 yards being via the air and 160 yards on the ground.

Donovan Gutierrez led the Mules with nine tackles, with two being on special teams and one for a loss. Mario Flores finished with eight tackles with one being on special teams. Castillo made eight tackles, Javy Perez had six stops and Jessie Easiley made five tackles, two on special teams and hurried the quarterback twice.

Aaryn Ross made five tackles, two being on special teams and intercepted a pass. Conner Harrison had five tackles and blocked a kick. Vasquez made three tackles and intercepted two passes. Kevin Mendoza blocked a kick.

The Mules travel to Big Spring Friday evening to play the Breckenridge Buckaroos at 7:00 PM in Memorial Stadium.   

    

Lady Mules vs. Floydada (11-10-2015)

Lady Mules vs. Floydada (11-10-2015)

The Lady Mules hit the road to Floydada to open the season against the Lady Winds. The Lady Mules used a big first period to defeat Floydada 55-39.

The Lady Mules poured in 20 first period points to leap in front of the Lady Winds 20-7 by the end of the first eight minutes of play. Floydada could only get four points to fall in the second period while the Lady Mules added 14 for a 34-11 lead at the intermission.

The Lady Mules out distanced the Lady Winds 11-6 in the third period and 10-8 in the final eight minutes.

Sadie Sudduth paced the Lady Mules with 22 points. Sydnie Sudduth dropped in 11 points and Conley Niblett added eight points. Britney Mendoza, Desi Gutierrez and Reagan Reynolds made three points each. Sasha Esparza and Emily Precure scored two points each and Marissa Reyes chipped in one point.

The JV Lady Mule had a tougher time with the Lady Winds but took the night 33-29. Cassidy Cage set the scoring pace with 11 points and Lillie Barrera was not far behind with 10 points. Karla Bustillos and Marilyn Melendez added four points each. Brianna Barron dropped in three points and Val Ambriz chipped in one point.

The Lady Mules’ games scheduled for Friday in Anton against the Lady Bulldogs has been changed to Saturday morning. The JV teams will tip off at 12:00 PM and the varsity teams will play immediately after the JV game. 

Mules vs. Littlefield (11-6-2015)

Mules vs. Littlefield (11-6-2015)

The Mule defense made a goal line stand during the final two minutes of the first half. That defensive stand ignited a three-touchdown run by the Mules for a 42-25 win over Littlefield in the “War on 84” game.

The Littlefield Wildcats had driven the ball to the Mule five-yard line with time running out in the first half. A Wildcat score would have given Littlefield its first lead of the game.

Chris Douglas pounded forward for two yards before Kevin Mendoza and Tony Castillo stopped him at the Mule three. Douglas then tried the left side but Cameron Hardwick and Jose Mendoza met him a yard behind the line for a loss.

Bryson Calaway kept up the middle on a quarterback sneak on third down. Jaxon Lee, K. Mendoza and Donavan Gutierrez only allowed him to gain two yards to the Mule two.

On fourth down, Gutierrez shot the gap between the center and guard to hit Calaway as he pitched the football to Douglas. Douglas secured the ball but Hardwick was in the backfield to trip him up. Tony Vasquez absorbed Douglas’ momentum before he could stumble into the end zone, secured his arms to prevent him from extending the ball toward the goal line and forced him to the turf.

“That goal line stand turned the game in our favor,” said Mule coach David Wood. “We had talked all week about not wanting to share the District Championship gold ball. We wanted it for ourselves.”

“Tonight was the icing on the cake for our kids. They never let down all season and took the games one at a time. The War on 84 certainly lived up to its billing.”

The Mule offense took over on downs at the Mule two-inch line with 1:35 remaining in the first half with no time outs remaining. Danny Campos sent three Mule receivers wide right and Castillo all alone wide to the left. Castillo appeared to be running a slant over the middle but cut up field and ran by the safety.

Campos delivered Castillo the ball at the Mule 24. Castillo had turned to catch the ball and was hit. He spun away from the defender and reached the Mule 43 before he was forced out of bounds.

Josh Lopez slashed straight up field and cut left behind a block by Jaxon Lee. Jason Florez and Vasquez made blocks to open the gate to the Wildcat 43. The Mules demonstrated some razzle-dazzle with a double reverse. Florez took the final hand off and cut up field. Dominik Hasley and Castillo were blocking downfield to allow Florez to reach the Wildcat 11.

Lee and Hardwick blasted a hole in the Wildcat defensive line that Lopez raced through for eight yards. Campos gained a first down at the Littlefield one-yard line. Campos then fired a bullet to Florez running a slant for a one-yard TD to give the Mules a 17-11 advantage with 14 seconds left in the half.

The 99 yard plus scoring drive involved six plays that the Mules ran off in one minute 21 seconds.

The pumped up Mules returned to the field in the third quarter and Campos and Florez hooked up for two more TDs from 14 and 21 yards out to give the Mules a 29-11 lead with 2:35 on the clock in the third quarter.

The Wildcats attempted a comeback by scoring on a four-yard run by Jr. Enriquez that trimmed the Mule lead to 29-17.

The Mules got that touchdown back early in the fourth period with Campos tossing to four-yard strike to Dagen Dunham. Bryce Mauricio tacked on the point after for a 36-17 Mule lead. The Mules were attempting to deplete the clock and used up over three minutes on the 47-yard scoring drive.

The Mules ate up almost four and a half minutes on a 50-yard nine-play scoring drive later in the quarter. Campos capped off the drive with his sixth TD pass. He tossed a 25-yard strike to Tre Villa to end the Mules’ scoring at 42-17.

Littlefield’s final touchdown was a nine-yard run with three minutes remaining in the game.

The first 22 minutes of the game were a shootout with the Mules only having the ball four times in the first half. The Mules kicked off to start the game and Littlefield returned the kick to the Wildcat 35.

Aaryn Ross broke up a pass on third down to force the Wildcats to punt. The ball rolled dead at the Mule 17. It took the Mules just five plays to score the game’s first TD.

The Mules needed four yards on third down. The Mules came set in a two-tight end formation. Campos rolled to his right as Castillo ran a deep slant over the middle. Campos dropped the ball in Castillo’s hands as he ran between the safeties and galloped to the end zone with 7:27 left in the first period.

Campos attacked the line of scrimmage from the Swinging Gate formation and dumped the ball over the defense to Javy Perez for the two-point conversion to put the Mules ahead 8-0.

Following the Mule kickoff the Wildcats drove from the Littlefield 36 to the Mule 11 in eight plays. The Mule defense tightened up and forced the Wildcats to settle for a 28-yard field goal to trail the Mules 8-3 with 2:37 on the clock in the first quarter.

The Mules got the field goal back driving from the Mule 31 to the Wildcat six before Mauricio booted a 23-yard field goal.

The Wildcats made a touchdown on a Calaway four-yard pass to Douglas to tie the game at 11-11 with 9:20 left in the first half.  

The Mules rolled up 490 yards of offense with 199 being on the ground and 291 yards via the air ways. Campos was 17 of 24 passing for 290 yards, six touchdowns and was intercepted once.

Paez rushed 14 times for 105 yards and caught two passes for 28 yards. Lopez carried six times for 44 yards. Florez led the Mules in receiving with eight catches for 91 yards, three TDs and he rushed twice for 40 yards.

Castillo made four receptions to lead all receivers with 132 yards and one touchdown. Villa had two catches for 26 yards and Dunham made two receptions for 14 yards.

The Mule defense gave up 346 yards to the Wildcats with 339 being on the ground and seven yards through the air. Nate Herrera led all rushers with 26 attempts for 146 yards.

Jose Mendoza led the Mule defense with 11 tackles with one being for a loss and four coming on special teams. Mario Flores made 10 tackles and caused and recovered a fumble. Tony Vasquez had 10 tackles, Donovan Gutierrez made eight stops and Javy Perez had eight tackles.

Tony Castillo made seven tackles with one being for a loss. Cameron Hardwick had seven tackles with three being for losses and had two quarterback hurries. Kevin Mendoza made six tackles with one being for a loss and had one quarterback hurry.

Dagen Dunham had six tackles with one being for a loss. Dominik Hasley recorded six tackles with one being for a loss.

The Mules will play the Slaton Tigers in the Bi-District round of the Texas State Playoffs in Frenship’s Tiger Stadium at 7:00 PM Thursday evening.  

 

 

8th Mules vs. Littlefield (11-5-15)

8^th Mules vs. Littlefield (11-5-15)

The eighth grade Mules scrambled and found ways to win the first eight games of the season. Thursday evening was different. The Mules rolled over the Littlefield Wildcats 34-6. The victory put the cherry on top of the Mules perfect 9-0 season.

The eighth graders final win also secured an unprecedented season for the Junior High Mules. All three Mule teams were undefeated during the 2015 football season.

The Cats kicked off to the Mule 11-yard line and Matthew Alarcon returned the ball 18 yards to the Mule 29. Hector Arras scooted wide left for three yards. Damian Juarez kept the ball and rolled wide left for 14 yards.

Juarez passed to Alarcon at the Cat 20 and he raced to the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown with 6:44 remaining in the first period. Juarez added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 Mule lead.

A motion penalty on fourth down and needing one yard backed the Cats up to the Littlefield 29. Alarcon broke on the fourth down pass attempt and knocked the ball to the turf. The Mules took over on downs at the Cat 29.

Juarez made three runs for a total of 17 yards to the Cat 12-yard line. Arras hit the left side of the line for a 10-yard gain. Juarez scored on a two-yard plunge up the middle with 2:41 left in the first period for a 14-0 Mule lead.

Jesus Montiel made the tackle on the ensuing Littlefield kickoff return at the Cat 25. Jose Cardenas fought off his blocker to make the tackle on first down. A quarterback sneak gave the Cats the first of two first downs to end the first period.

A motion penalty slowed the Littlefield drive at the Mule 38. Juarez made the hit on fourth down that jarred the ball loose. ????covered the ball for the Mules at the Mule 41.

The Mules over came a pair of penalties to advance to midfield. Alarcon kept the ball through the left side for 29 yards. He carried again through the right side for eight yards to the Littlefield 21.

Alarcon bounced off a tackler for a first down at the Cat seven-yard line and then he pounded into the end zone with 52 seconds left in the first half for a 20-0 Mule lead.

The Cats scored on their first drive of the second half with a one-yard run to trail the Mules 20-6 with 4:20 remaining in the third period.

Arras returned the ensuing Cat kickoff 32 yards to the Mule 48.

Alarcon kept up the middle and then cut right for an eight-yard gain. Alarcon continued to pound the ball up the field before the Cats intercepted a Mule pass. Arras made a jolting tackle on the Cat defensive back and the ball popped out and the Mules recovered at the Littlefield 21.

Alarcon cut up field for seven yards on the final play of the third period. An offside penalty gave the Mules a first down at the Cat nine-yard line. Montiel ran a delayed draw up the middle for eight yards. Alarcon scored on a one-yard plunge up the middle for a 26-6 Mule lead with 6:50 left in the game.

The Cats ensuing drive was short lived. Nathan Rodriguez slammed into the running back and the ball fell to the ground and Alarcon recovered for the Mules at the Littlefield 33.

Alarcon and Arras combined to move the Mules to the Cat five-yard line. Arras blasted up the middle for the final five yards for a Mule TD. Alarcon tacked on the two-point conversion to end all scoring with 4:28 still in the game.

The Mules hope to carry the momentum they gained in football over to the hardwoods as they start basketball.