Dimmitt fell to the Mules last night, 56-0, which makes the winning streak rise to 24. And yes, I actually took notes, but I have a feeling my sports reporting career won’t benefit much from the effort, but at least I will have some names to go with the plays.
Dimmitt started off the game with some pretty hot passes before our defense tightened up. A 15-yard penalty against Dimmitt moved us to their 15-yard line which Juan Sanchez turned into a touchdown, and with the point after we’re ahead 7-zip. Dimmitt had the ball for about six minutes but couldn’t score. Later Ryan DeLeon caught a great pass, about 70 yards, for the touchdown, but no extra point. We start the 2nd quarter with a touchdown on an Adrian Muniz reception and make the two point conversion. The score is now 21-0. We keep doing this bouncy punt, something called a squib kick, which seems to work better for us than an airborne punt. And it worked well for the Mules all night. Isaac Baca has fun going in for another touchdown, but we miss the PAT again. Bo Avia gives 110% making a tackle and getting up to do it again. And then Adrian Muniz gave everyone a smile when, after dropping a pass, dropping down to give Coach Wood a few push-ups out on the field. And Coach Wood smiled, too. Juan Sanchez carries the ball in for another TD, and with the 2 point conversion, the score is now 35-0. After that, Dimmitt tried a fake punt and made the first down, but had to actually punt after the next three plays. We did nothing great with the next three plays, and we got to punt again, too. Alas, I failed to catch the player’s name, but someone made a good catch on a long pass, after which Adrian Muniz catches a 30 yard pass, add the PAT and with 10 seconds left, we have a 42-0 half time score.
This was our rescheduled Homecoming game, so at halftime we were treated to the combined high school and junior high bands and the homecoming queen coronation of Breann Baca (yes, older sister of RB Isaac Baca) and a nice program from the Halloween-costumed Dimmitt band. At this point, what with a 42 point lead and 42 degree or so weather, people exited like they were at a Tech game. We, of course, braved the elements to see how the game played out. I mean, I had notes to take and all…
The Mules started the 3rd quarter with a touchdown thanks to a 30-yard pass to Isaac Baca and a good point after. Skip to the 4th quarter when Baca again makes an amazing run to the 1-yard line, after which we score on a pass to DeLeon, make the point after for what turns out to be the final score of 56-0. And aside from an interception by Beau Avia and a good catch by Jonathan Garcia, the game winds down with the help of the clock running. I didn’t know until this game that the decision to let the clock run is in the hands of the referee and the coach of the team that is behind. Makes sense.
Not too many Dimmitt fans made the trip over, but their team never gave up. They tried really hard for four whole quarters and their quarterback, Marty Puga, made some decent yardage and gave us a few scares on several plays. Their small band threw caution to the wind and played and played during the 4th quarter for everyone’s enjoyment.
Whew! I don’t know if taking notes is such a good idea. Makes for much more reading on your part, doesn’t it? More than you really wanted to know, I suspect. Most people will check the newspaper or Internet for all the stats, which I hope to heavens I got right. I found it hard to concentrate on silly little details like what yard line the play started on, how many yards the pass or punt or run made, you know, stuff  that all hardcore football fans expect to be reported correctly. Well, I tried.
Next week is the biggie, the final game against long-time rival Friona. If I haven’t bored  you to distraction with this installment, tune in next week for the final hurrah.